Design and evaluation of a heat recuperator for steel slags

• A new design of a heat recuperator for slags energy recovery is presented.
• The effects of the design parameters have been studied with a numerical model.
• Refractory materials with high thermal conductivity improve heat recuperation.

New techniques for emissions reduction and energy efficiency are important challenges of the steel industry. Although great advantages have been reached in these fields, there are still new opportunities. One of them is the possible development of systems to recover energy from slags.The recent policies that encourage the use of renewable and alternative energies determine a favorable scenario for the development of new techniques of heat recovering. In this context, this article presents a new heat recuperation system for the slags produced in the factories of Arcelor–Mittal in Asturias (Spain) and study in detail the design of an innovative slags heat exchanger. To adjust its performance and to determine the influence of the geometric and flow design parameters, the heat exchanger has been simulated using numerical analysis software (CFD).