Conclusion
Steel conversion - Operational aspects, equipment and engineering

At the start of the 21st century, new technologies in measurement, automation, maintenance management, refractory repair, planning and mixed refining are improving the performance achieved by conversion steelworks:

• the metallurgical results are close to the limits defined by the physico-chemical tests;

• Productivity can reach impressive levels, for example nearly 1,000 tonnes per hour of production in a 2-converter steel mill with a 300-tonne capacity;

• the dispersion of results has been reduced, resulting in a decrease in the frequency of corrective actions at the converter and downgrading of castings;

• Pollution from various fumes has been considerably reduced by the systematic introduction, in developed countries at least, of efficient secondary dust collection systems. The recovery of combustible...