SMS group offers a broad portfolio ranging from lateral and radiant burners to combustion optimization systems for reheating furnaces. Due to changing industrial conditions in lower-emission steel manufacturing, the entire portfolio is focused on sustainable and efficient operation. To enable maximum flexibility, all burners are multi-fuel capable and hydrogen-ready, thus facilitating a smooth transition to a hydrogen economy when a local fuel infrastructure is in place.
If the local fuel infrastructure is able to provide rich gases, such as coke oven gas (COG) and natural gas (NG), the flexible SMS ZEROFlame burner family is a suitable choice. This burner family offers optimal combustion control, energy efficiency, and high flexibility, with the choice of flameless, flame, and booster mode providing exceptional performance at all times in terms of flame pattern and extra low NOx emissions. Moreover, the SMS ZEROFlame is available in the Hydrogen Hybrid HY2, Dual, and Regen configurations:
- The Hydrogen Hybrid HY2 configuration offers additional fuel flexibility. It can be operated with hydrogen, coke oven gas, or natural gas with any hydrogen content (up to 100%) in the fuel mixture.
- The Regen configuration is equipped with a heat recovery system that uses the waste gases to preheat the combustion air up to 1,100°C. In this way, energy efficiency and high environmental performance are achieved.
- The Dual configuration was specifically designed to exploit lean gases like BFG (blast furnace), BOFG (basic oxygen furnace gas), and syngas. The lean gas is used in flame mode, while a separate set of lances for flame and flameless mode is fed by natural gas. The dual flame technology enables the full power of the available lean gas to be used and the required amount of natural gas to be injected only when the power or flow of the syngas is insufficient to sustain the heat demands of the specific combustion control zone.
Fuel flexibility with dual flame technology
Dual flame technology for reheating furnaces offers greater flexibility, as different fuels can be mixed in the burner. This results in less dependence on just one fuel and enables a wider use of locally available fuels. However, in the past, this flexibility was limited either to the use of lean gases or rich gases in the same burner.
Flame mode, flameless, rich or lean gases – is there no universal solution?
To be able to react as flexibly as possible to changing local fuel infrastructures, the reheating furnace must be capable of processing a range of lean and rich gases. A universal burner technology offers not only the most flexible and cost-effective operation for reheating furnaces but also a wide fuel choice in the event of future fossil fuel shortages.
The SMS ZEROFlame system, equipped with the dual configuration, combines the flexibility of dual flame technology with the advantages of flameless technology. It is SMS group’s best and latest technology for using flameless mode in combination with lean gases. Thanks to its exceptional design, the lean gas (BFG, BOFG, syngas, etc.) is burned by a special central lance in flame mode, while the rich gases (NG, COG, hydrogen) can be injected either in flame mode or in flameless mode. With this configuration, SMS group customers can exploit all the energy from the lean gases and enjoy all the exceptional performance of SMS ZEROFlame technology.