At Ferriera Valsabbia Italy an Efsop process control system was commissioned on their 80-t electrical arc furnace to improve its performance while increasing safety utilizing water detection technology. The new system and closed loop control are described. The Efsop system measures and analyzes the offgas composition (CO, CO₂, H₂ and O₂) at the fourth hole of the EAF in real time and uses this information for closed loop control (CLC) process optimization. Additionally, off-gas analysis provides useful information for operators and production personnel to help better understand the EAF operation and to reduce overall conversion costs.The improvements were achieved in post-combustion, an overall reduction in consumption costs and therefore a more efficient furnace operation. Examples of H₂ alert threshold bins for single charge are shown. H₂ and H₂/CO trends relative to the set-point during water trials are displayed. Efsop HMI water detection alert configuration screen is observed. The trials and results discussed above gave very optimistic results for the online detection of abnormal water events. The water detection software is currently being tested and further tuned to better quantify the false alert rate before being implemented by the plant. The water detection technology provides alerts that indicate to the operator the possibility of abnormal water events in the furnace.

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