Finkle & Sons Enclosed Ladle Preheater

Finkle & Sons, a specialty steel maker located south of Chicago, IL, USA, has purchased the engineering, equipment, and project management from INTECO PTI for the delivery and installation of an enclosed ladle preheater.  The enclosed ladle preheater is designed to capture the VOC gases emitted during the ladle drying process, then burn these gases in order to comply with local environmental regulations.  An existing ladle repair pit will be used as the location for the preheater.  Two thirds of the ladle will sit inside the pit while the rest is exposed above. 

The project  purchased includes the design, engineering, and project management to enclose the exposed sides of the pit and create an upper wall to enclose the exposed ladle that sits above the pit.  INTECO PTI will also deliver a lift on refractory lid that sits atop the ladle enclosure and allows a standard air/fuel burner to preheat and dry the bricks on the inside of the ladle.  The VOC gases escaping outside the ladle and the gases from the air/fuel burner firing inside the ladle are captured and blown into a post combustion chamber.  An oxy-fuel burner in the post combustion chamber fires into the mixture of ladle exhaust and VOC gases, burning all remaining CO and VOC gases while minimizing NOx formation.