Gases for Melting and Casting in Cast Iron and Steel Foundries

Technologies include: oxygen fuel (oxy-fuel) and oxygen-enhanced (air/oxy-fuel) combustion systems; nitrogen and argon blanketing (shrouding / inerting); stirring using gases; and other industrial gases applications. These offer significant financial benefits for preheating, melting, holding and casting in cast iron and steel foundries.

Offerings applicable to:

The electric arc method of melting metal is inefficient until a flat bath is achieved. By using a fuel-efficient oxy-fuel flame at the beginning of the melting process, a greater overall melting efficiency is achieved with a faster melt rate. Further temperature homogeneity benefits can be achieved by using these burners to direct thermal energy at cold spots caused by uneven energy distribution from the electrode arcs. Additionally, the burners can be positioned in front of the slag door to enable early, efficient oxygen lancing, or over the tap hole area to promote quick, trouble-free tapping. Electrical savings of 80kWh/tonne and 20% production increases have been achieved.

Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) - Foaming Slag Practice

Lances are hydraulically manipulated through the slag door to inject oxygen, carbon and lime into the surface slag layer during the electric arc melting process. This action decarburises the melt and aids formation of an insulating foamy slag layer which decreases heat loss from the melt surface and therefore reduces energy costs.

Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) - Post-Combustion

Oxygen is injected into the post-combustion zone of electric arc furnaces to promote combustion of carbon monoxide inside the furnace rather than in the off-gas handling system. This reaction produces heat that is transferred to the charge, reducing energy consumption (typical electrical savings of 10-20 kWh/tonne) and increasing productivity by up to 4%. Additionally the post-combustion injectors reduce loading on the EAF baghouse and improve environmental compliance with respect to carbon monoxide.

The melt surface is blanketed with argon or nitrogen in order to produce an oxygen deficient atmosphere using a patented vortex sprayer or swirl cone. This reduces oxidation and inclusions to improve yield, productivity and reject rate.

A datasheet on Molten Metal Blanketing is available in pdf format

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Cupola - APCOS™

APCOS™ combines a unique oxy-fuel burner with the ability to inject solids through the tuyere to greatly enhance the flexibility of a cupola. Savings in raw material cost, efficient disposal of waste materials and increased melt rate can all be achieved.

A datasheet on APCOS™ is available in pdf format
An APCOS™ case study is available in pdf format


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Complete burner and control packages have been developed to efficiently preheat ladles using non-water-cooled oxy-fuel burners. 70% fuel savings and 50% reductions in heat-up rates are typical.

Ladle - REHeat® heating

Using nitrogen to displace the oxygen in a holding furnace atmosphere reduces the formation of oxides at the melt surface providing a higher yield and improved quality.

Holding Furnace -Pressurising

Nitrogen can be used to pressurise the holding furnace for greater control during tapping.