The objective of this study was to utilize an electric arc furnace ¡]EAF¡^in a steel mill to melt municipal incinerator fly ash ¡]MIFA¡^of different sources ¡]Plants K1 and K2¡^ and evaluate its effectiveness in aspects of environment and economy. The results of full-scale tests have shown that slag thus generated by the EAF was found to be non-hazardous based on the TCLP result and also met the standard of CNS 14602. However, EAF dust thus obtained remained hazardous as it was originally a listed waste by Taiwan EPA. Test results have indicated that this novel treatment technology would not deteriorate the quality of steel billets and bars produced. Moreover, when melting MIFAs from Plant K1¡]with 2.00 wt¢H of MIFA¡^ and Plant K2 ¡]with 3.28 wt¢H of MIFA¡^, the air quality in the steel mill surroundings and off-gas from the stack were all below the regulatory limits. Thus, it would not cause additional pollution problems from this practice. Based on the total capacity of EAFs in Taiwan, it was estimated that these EAFs would be capable of melting fly ash generated by municipal incinerators in Taiwan. From the economic perspective, this melting practice would not lower the production rate of EAF steel-making and increase the tap-to-tap cycle time, consumption of electrical energy, consumption of oxygen, and consumption of graphite electrodes. Furthermore, through this novel practice, the contents of MIFA have turned out to be able to replace some portions of quick-lime and coke powder required for steel-making. Test results have also shown that 1 wt¢H of MIFA injection would generate additional 8.93 kg of slag and 2.76 kg of EAF dust. It was found that an additional cost of NT¢C318 per ton of MIFA treated would be resulted through this practice. This treatment cost is very low as compared with NT¢C8,000 per ton of waste treated by solidification and followed by landfilling. Assuming a melting cost of NT¢C5,000 per ton of MIFA is charged by EAFs, it would save more than ten million NT¢C per year for a municipal incinerator with an annual generation of 5,840 tons of MIFA. On the other hand, for a mini-mill with an annual capacity of 264,000 tons of billets, it would have an additional income of 37 million NT¢C if 3 wt¢H of MIFA is melted while making steel.

In this work, feasibility of utilizing municipal incinerator fly ash (MIFA) of different sources as a substitute of raw materials for steel-making in a mini-mill was studied. Also studied included the efficacy of this mode of melting treatment and recycling. Under the condition of adding 1 wt% MIFA to scrap iron/scrap steel for partial replacement of lime, the L9 orthogonal arrays of Taguchi methods were utilized to investigate the effects of MIFA melting treatment of different sources by an electric arc furnace (EAF). Four experimental factors (i.e., scrap iron mass, lime mass, coke mass, and MIFA mass) were selected to study their effects on Pb leaching of EAF dust and slag. Test results for MIFA obtained from Plants K1, K2, and K3 show that EAF dust remains hazardous as it is originally a listed waste. On the other hand, slag so generated remains nonhazardous based on the TCLP results. The experimental results of EAF dust and slag were further subjected to the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regular analysis. Using this process, the optimal operating conditions with respect to the leached Pb concentration would be as follows: (1) Plant K1(injection mode operation)--87 tons of scrap iron, 1.4 tons of lime, 0.4 ton of coke, and 0.9 ton of MIFA; (2) Plant K2(injection mode operation)--90 tons of scrap iron, 1.4 tons of lime, 0.7 ton of coke, and 1.1 tons of MIFA; (3) Plant K2(one-time-charge mode operation)--90 tons of scrap iron, 1.4 tons of lime, 0.9 ton of coke, and 0.7 ton of MIFA; (4) Plant K3(injection mode operation)--85 tons of scrap iron, 1.4 tons of lime, 0.7 ton of coke, and 0.9 ton of MIFA; and (5) Plant K3(one-time-charge mode operation)--87 tons of scrap iron, 1.5 tons of lime, 0.4 ton of coke, and 0.7 ton of MIFA. In this study, using MIFA from Plant K2 as an example, it was found that it required 29-35 kg of lime per ton of steel billets produced when MIFA was added. Under a normal operation of EAF steel-making, however, it required 35-45 kg of lime per ton of steel billets produced based on the past experience. In average, when MIFA is added, it needs only 32 kg of lime per ton of steel billets produced as compared to 40 kg of lime for regular steel-making. In other words, it would result in a reduction of 8 kg of lime per ton of steel billets produced by using this novel process. Based on an average monthly production of 20,973 tons of steel billets and a unit cost of 2,200 NT$ per ton of lime, a monthly saving of lime cost would be 369,125 NT$. Namely, about 4.4 million NT$ per year. In addition, it was also found that using this novel process to melt MIFA would not deteriorate the quality of steel billets and bars produced.