Design Decomposition for Selecting an Electric arc Furnace Off-gas System for SDI Butler Flat Roll Division

This paper illustrates how systems requirements (i.e., safety) are decomposed to define manufacturing process requirements and design. Steelmaking is an energy intensive process; utilizing vast amounts of electricity, oxygen, and natural gas to liquefy scrap steel. While the electric arc furnace process is used extensively around the world to melt steel, it is inefficient. Hot gases are lost to fume collection systems and not reused in other parts of the process. Unknown water leaks inside a furnace can potentially result in catastrophic explosions which can injure personnel or damage equipment. Carbon monoxide (CO), the largest gas by product of steelmaking, has caused several large scale explosions globally resulting in large repair bills. A system to not only detect gases present in the gas steam exiting the furnace but to quantify the amounts being produced can lead to ensuring the furnaces are safer for employees to work around. This paper will break down the decision process in selecting the hybrid probe-laser off-gas system by means of axiomatic design decomposition at an American mini-mill located in Butler, Indiana using the Collective System Design (CSD) methodology utilized at IPFW Center of Excellence in Systems Engineering.