Refractory Life Extension and Fluorspar Elimination in the AOD Process
REFLOAD
Provide a short description of the aims and goals of the project, as well as a list of all collaborators. This can be copied from the funding agency website or any other source.
The REFLAOD project combines the ideas of two previous projects (HASAOD, ELDMEK) and aims at identifying suitable slag fluxing agents for replacing fluorspar while minimizing the refractory wear in the argon-oxygen-decarburization (AOD) process during stainless steel production. The project involves four main areas of development. The first area involves verification of the use of calcium aluminate synthetic flux as a replacement for fluorspar through conducting extensive industrial trials. The correlation between refractory wear and slag compositions will be studied through analyzing historical plant data. The second area concerns the investigation of the relationship between slag properties and refractory wear. The main aim is to compare the refractory wear between today’s production conditions (using fluorspar) and a future scenario where there will be no or reduced fluorspar use. Hot finger test will be conducted to evaluate the refractory wear in different slag compositions and the correlation with slag properties (e.g. melting temperature, viscosity) will also be explored. The third area concerns the minimization of mechanical refractory wear in the AOD process through conducting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, such as by varying the gas injection rates and the placements of the nozzles. The fourth area concerns the valorization potentials of fluorine-free AOD slags, and the aim is to reduce the amount of AOD slags landfilled in Sweden and find suitable applications for it to close the material loop.
Funding agency
The research is conducted under the project REfractory Life Extension and Fluorspar Elimination in the AOD Process (REFAOD), 2025-03134.
The authors would like to express gratitude to the financial support from Vinnova (Sweden’s Innovation Agency), Swedish Energy Agency, and Formas under the scope of Impact Innovation Program - Metals and Minerals.
Beginning and End Dates
November 2025 – November 2029
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