SBIR Phase I: Emissions Assessment For A Natural-Gas Fired Furnace For Melting Iron

The broad impact of this SBIR Phase I project is in the development of a new cokeless process to melt iron and scrap steel while meeting stringent environmental regulations. The process being investigated will potentially shift the paradigm of difficult pollution control to the use of a clean fuel, such as natural gas. It has the potential to cut down 75% of the greenhouse gas emissions by comparison with coke fired cupolas that continue to cover 70% of the world production of castings. By leveraging the existing network of natural gas pipelines, it intends to put back the US at the forefront of developing clean technologies for metal casting and provide opportunities to expand to new foundries. The proposal focuses on a specially designed furnace that primarily incorporates two interconnected chambers with two different zones of melting and superheating. This design is aimed at overcoming the limitations of natural gas fired cokeless cupolas and rotary furnaces,and rapidly dwindling coke-fired open hearth furnaces. The key objective of this project is to demonstrate that the innovative furnace can melt pig iron at the required rate, but with lower pollution emissions than competitive technologies, and in compliance with stringent environmental regulations. In particular emissions of CO2, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates will be lowered by finding a range of favorable operating conditions through systematic experimentation. Slag damage to furnace lining will also be managed.