The aim of the steel converter process is to reduce by oxidation the contents of carbon, silicon and other contaminating components in the hot metal from the blast furnace.

The main quality measure of the final product is the carbon content since no silicon is normally left in the metal by the end of a heat. However, direct measurement of the carbon content during the heat is not possible due to the high temperature and hostile environment in the converter.

If the predefined carbon content is not achieved, the process needs to be repeated with a significant loss of energy and other resourcesm as a result. When the final carbon content is too low, compared to the ordered quality, then some superfluous oxygen has been spent and the process has not been run efficiently. At present, the converter process stands for at least 60% of the total world steel production.

This project is a part of a major Scandinavian research program carried out under auspices of Jernkontoret and aiming at complete automatic control of the steel converter process. The program is a co-operation between leading Swedish and Finnish university research teams, industry research institutions and steel mills. The projects being carried out within the framework of the program cover a broad spectrum of research problems whose solution is expected to drastically bring down energy consumption in steel production.

At Uppsala University, two specific problems related to mathematical and physical modeling of the converter process are addressed.

1. Estimation of phenomena in a water model of the converter process by means of video.

2. Converter process parameter estimation from off-gas analysis.