Linde Displays Technology For More Cost-Effective, Consistent, And Environmentally Friendly Steel Processing At Aistech 2009 Conference In St. Louis


Murray Hill, New Jersey, U.S., April 28, 2009 - With the increased pressure to reduce operating costs, rationalize operating capacity, improve product quality, and minimize carbon footprint, steel producers and processors around the world are looking for proven and economical solutions to their reheating and annealing needs.

Linde North America, a member of The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company, continues to provide its proven technologies to the steel industry in the form of REBOX® Oxyfuel solutions in reheating and annealing furnaces.

"REBOX® technologies and know-how have proven effective in reheating and annealing furnaces throughout Europe for years," said Tony Palermo, metals segment manager for Linde in North America. "Now steel companies in the Americas and Asia have adopted these technologies and are realizing the same benefits."

Linde's customers will be presenting two papers (co-authored with Linde) detailing the effectiveness of REBOX® technical solutions at the AISTech 2009 Conference to be held May 4-7 at the America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

One paper will provide the background and results of the use of REBOX® HLL technology in a walking beam slab reheat furnace at SSAB's Borlänge mill and the application of REBOX® technology in the stainless steel slab walking beam furnace at Outokumpu Stainless' mill in Degefors, both in Sweden. By applying different versions of REBOX® technical solutions to these furnaces, operating costs were improved significantly, and scale losses and emissions of CO2 and NOX were substantially reduced.

Another paper covers recent installations of the Linde REBOX® Direct Flame Impingement (DFI) oxyfuel technology at ThyssenKrupp Steel's plants in Finnentrop and Bruckhausen, Germany, where they have delivered up to 30 percent increased throughput capacity in the galvanizing and aluminizing lines with no extension of the furnace length. In addition, coating adhesion and surface appearance were improved due to DFI's effective pre-cleaning properties. NOx emissions were also reduced substantially.

Visit booth #2230 at the exhibition and meet with the Linde experts who have first-hand knowledge of these installations. You may also meet representatives of steel companies who have used REBOX® technical solutions successfully in their reheating and annealing furnaces.

The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 52,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.7 billion (USD 15.9 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.
Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment - in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com

All Topics