Location: Fos-sur-Mer, Southern France

Product: EXPEL compressed air filter

Application: Removing water and solid particles from compressed air in the central fan unit

The Customer

ArcelorMittal Méditerranée is the world’s leading steel and mining company committed to producing safe and sustainable steel for use in such markets as automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging. At its Fos-sur-Mer site in Southern France, where around 4.6 million tonnes of steel a year are produced, energy efficiency is a major issue for the company. Dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of its processes, ArcelorMittal is at the forefront of developing lighter-weight steels and is one of the largest steel recyclers in the world.

This commitment to protecting the environment saw the company set up a joint venture in 2018 with France’s Veolia Industrie Global Solutions. The aim was to modernise equipment at Fos-sur-Mer that would improve energy performance while also reducing the amount of CO2 emissions. Upgrading boilers, rotating machines and auxiliary equipment, for example, would improve the efficiency of converting steel-making gases into vapour, electricity and compressed air for supplying blast furnaces and various steel production facilities.

Why EXPEL

The central fan unit in the factory is involved in recovering iron and steel gases from the manufacturing process in the form of steam, electricity and compressed air. However, because of the extreme length of some of the pipes used – as well as their poor condition – there was always an excess of water, dust and rust being produced. The company needed an effective air filter for compressed air lines capable of filtering other contaminates.

After two years of looking at various options for tackling the problem, ArcelorMittal and Veolia decided to install EXPEL compressed air filters because EXPEL is the only product on the market that is capable of removing all water and solid particles in compressed air without the need for electricity, consumables or any level of maintenance.

EXPEL has proved invaluable in protecting such equipment at the Fos-sur-Mer power plant as pneumatic control valve actuators which convert energy (typically in the form of compressed air) into mechanical motion. Similarly, EXPEL protects pneumatic cylinders in the factory which also use the power of compressed gas to produce linear motion.

To date, 30 EXPEL units have been installed and they have proved so successful that another 30 are due to be in place by the end of 2019.

Key benefits

• Zero maintenance on the EXPEL units
• No expensive technical call-outs
• Extended life for all pneumatic equipment at the Fos-sur-Mer site
• No downtime due to damage of equipment by contaminated air
• Improved productivity due to technical personnel no longer spending time tackling equipment failure
• Better worker safety due to zero intervention