Over the years WLP has always been committed to design and manufacture technologies and applications which can contribute to solve the problems related to the suppression of fine dust and odours in industrial fields, which are often subjected to the respect of the legislation to control odour and fine dust emissions released to the atmosphere.
In the last decades a significant quota of the steel production comes from the ferrous scrap melting in steel plants. A standard EAF plant produces an average of 13 kilos of dust per every ton of produced steel; taking into consideration that in 2010 the steel production in electric furnace amounted to about 410 millions of tons of steel worldwide, it is estimated that more than 5 millions of tons of dust can be released. Dust produced by fusion is classified as special waste which is generally disposed of in landfills.
The reduction of emissions connected with the steel production in electric arc furnace (EAF) is a problem that WLP has been facing and solving for more than 10 years with several applications such as suppressing fine dust in the storage sites of raw materials, reducing the temperature or cooling down the coke, cooling down the continuous casting, cold and hot rolling and cooling down the rolls.
The major by-products of this production are the fine dust which is first aspirated and then stored in specific silos and the slags. Such by-products can anyway be treated in order to reduce the environmental impact caused by their disposal and in this way other raw material can be extracted and used in new industrial processes.
WLP systems minimize the emission of fine dust during the storage and the handling and significantly reduce its quantity during all operations producing dust and during the movement in the site.
The slag, as well, can be disposed of with fewer costs if treated appropriately.
During the hot storage in parks, slags release a considerable quantity of fine dust, which is characterized by a high escape velocity due to the very high temperature.
WLP systems enable to considerably reduce the amount of fine dust released thanks to the technology applied which contributes to the quick lowering of the slag temperature and to the consequent reduction of the escape velocity of the dust itself. But not only that. The strong evaporation also brings to the decrease of the average dimension of the slag, increasing its value because the processes to be carried out on the cold slag in order to obtain the correct commercial size are fewer. The use of WLP systems on the slag pile also reduces the wear of the machinery employed for the handling of the same because the average temperature decreases.
The WLP systems can successfully support also during the slag discharge from the ladle, reducing the quantity of dust released before it reaches the suction port of the filter, ensuring the undeniable advantage of considerably limiting the wear of the filter bags and consequently, extending the period between the maintenance operations and the substitution of the filter.
Thanks to the know-how and to its team of technicians WLP can also offer the design of completely automatic plants with the aim of completing the production cycle with the suppression systems. The Software WERPICO has been developed by WLP and can be integrated with the SCADA which are possibly present in the steel mill, ensuring a very efficient use of the dust suppression systems.