ENERGY INDUSTRIES OF OHIO, REPUBLIC ENGINEERED PRODUCTS WINS
GOVERNOR’S AWARD
November 15, 2006
 Energy Industries of Ohio and Republic Engineered Products’
Lorain Hot Rolled Bar Plant were awarded the 2006 Governor’s
Award for Energy Efficiency in a ceremony at the Statehouse on
Wednesday, November 15th. Energy Industries of Ohio was the lead
organization of a consortium funded by the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Industrial Technology Program that examined the current
situation involving the service life of electric arc and basic
oxygen furnace hoods, roofs and side vents. Continued material
failures in this equipment is a major source of lost
productivity and energy inefficiency in steel operations as a
result of the continual maintenance required to insure the
safety and operability of steel making systems.
 As part of this effort, Republic Engineered Products agreed
to replace the carbon steel “skirt” portion of their BOP hood
system with a skirt made from an aluminum bronze alloy that was
identified as a potentially superior material during early
phases of the project. This patented alloy and the design and
fabrication of the new skirt were obtained from AmeriFab, Inc.
of Indianapolis, IN.
The results obtained have been impressive. According to
Lawrence C. Boyd Jr., Director of Core Technologies at Energy
Industries of Ohio and Project Manager for this effort, “This
skirt has processed nearly 1,000,000 tons of steel without a
single failure for water leaks resulting from corrosion, erosion
or thermal stress cracking. With the old design Republic would
have had to take 40 to 50 shutdowns by this time for equipment
maintenance.” Mr. Boyd continued, “Leaks in this equipment have
been the major cause of reduced energy efficiency, reduced
productivity and increased operating costs. The results of this
project demonstrate that this new approach can eliminate these
problems.“
This installation has been so successful that Republic
decided used the new alloy in other equipment, replacing the
flux chutes in their furnaces with aluminum bronze chutes to
remove another source of maintenance downtime and energy losses.
Calculations performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory under
the direction of Dr. Vinod Sikka, Corporate Fellow and Manager
of Research and Technology Development, indicate that the energy
savings attributable to the skirts improved performance is 5.3
billion btu/year with another 4 million btu/year saving
anticipated from the new flux chutes. This savings is the
equivalent of 9.3 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Additional benefits have also been documented. Since the
aluminum bronze does not allow slag to stick to the skirt,
maintenance and environmental incidents related to these
occurrences have also been eliminated. In addition, maintenance
free operation of the skirt has allowed Republic to increase
their steel production by an additional 1,200 tons per month
with a yearly value of approximately $11.5 million.
Mr. Robert M. Purgert, President of Energy Industries of
Ohio, states, “This effort demonstrates the ability of a focused
consortium of industrial companies, federal laboratories and
non-profit research organizations to improve operations in our
basic industries and to provide solutions to long-standing
problems that have made it difficult for these companies to
compete on the world stage. It also demonstrates the value of
the funding provided by the US DOE’s Industrial Technology
Program in making these efforts possible. We hope that this
award will lead to additional programs to assist the basic
industries that are the backbone of the manufacturing economy in
Ohio and the nation.”
Energy Industries of Ohio (EIO) is a 501.c.3 non-profit
organization that was established to facilitate technology
research, development and deployment in Ohio’s energy power
generation and energy intensive user industries. EIO
accomplishes this mission by fostering collaborations between
among private industry, universities and national laboratories
in response to targeted federal and state funding opportunities.
EIO was established in 2000 and since that time has initiated
over $40 million in projects.
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Aluminum
Bronze Skirt in operation at Republic Engineered
Products Lorain Hot Rolled Bar Plant. |
Governor Bob Taft congratulates
the major participants in the project that won the 2006
Governor’s Award for Energy Efficiency at Republic Engineered
Products. From Left to Right, Mr. James Vogt, Vessel Manager and
Mr. Nathan Goebel, Department Manager, Steelmaking at Republic
Engineered Products; Governor Taft; Mr. Lawrence C. Boyd Jr.,
Director, Core Programs at Energy Industries of Ohio; and Mr.
Gabe Carinci, President of AmeriFab, Inc.
Additional Information can be obtained through:
Mr. Lawrence C. Boyd Jr.
Director Core Programs
Energy Industries of Ohio
216-323-1889
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