KHI in oxygen service (steel plant)
Location: Austria
Ballostar KHI DN200 in trouble-free
operation for 30 years
Operating Conditions
Operating Temperature: max. 60ºC
Operating Pressure: 12 bar
Media: Oxygen
KLINGER Product: Ballostar KHI
Size: DN200
Material: Stainless Steel
Sealing: KFC-25
Description
The plant, where the operator decided to use KLINGER Fluid Control Ballostar KHI, is used to reduce the carbon content from approx. 4,5% to 0,03-0,04% by the use of the Linz Donawitz process (LD process). This process requires to blow pure oxygen at a pressure of 12 bar on the raw iron for about 15 minutes to finish that process.
The KLINGER Fluid Control Ballostar KHI DN200 ball valves are used to control the oxygen flow since 1988. The KHI ball valves are fullfilling up up to 10.000 openening cycles (with a maximum closing time of 3 seconds) per year.
Since 30 years, the operator did not have a malfunction occurence or any other problem related to the installed valves.
To ensure maximum operational safety it was essential for the operator that valves in oxygen service are certified according to the lastes version of "Operation of resources; Chapter 2.32: Operation of oxygen equipment" by BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung- und Prüfung) in Berlin.
This certification confirms the resistance of the equipment to internal ignition when it is utilized in combination with gasous oxygen.