In the steel mill sector, industrial plants producing semi-finished steel products such as billets and slabs require the presence of a cutting system to fit the products within the standard shipping dimensions for the loads of ferrous materials.
Cooling systems on burners are crucial in slab and billet oxy-fuel cutting plants for a series of reasons:
- Prevention of overheating: burners operate at extremely high temperatures. Without a proper cooling, they could overheat, causing structural damages or failure.
- Maintain efficiency: a properly cooled burner operates more efficiently. Cooling prevents excessively high temperatures from altering performance, maintaining a precise and constant cut.
- Safety: cooling reduces the risk of fire or explosion due to overheating, improving the safety of the entire system.
- Component life extension: a regular and controlled cooling reduces wear on burner components, extending the life of the system and reducing maintenance costs.
Cooling of burners in oxi-fuel system employs water for obvious, with dissipation that can often be carried out using free-coolers, as the temperature levels are not particularly high.