Inner Mongolia 1.2 Million Tons Special Steel Project LF Refining Furnace Transformer Supply

Inner Mongolia 1.2 Million Tons Special Steel Project LF Refining Furnace Transformer Supply

With the growing demand for high-end special steel, a leading steel enterprise in Inner Mongolia launched a 1.2 million tons annual special steel upgrade project. The project added electric arc furnaces, LF refining furnaces and continuous casting production lines. DHDL supplied 64 dedicated refining furnace transformers for the LF refining furnace systems, supporting continuous steelmaking production under high-impact and heavy-load operating conditions.

Project Background

The project is located in an industrial park in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. To meet the rising demand for high-end special steel, the customer built eight steelmaking production lines with multiple specifications of refining furnace systems.

Different furnace positions required different transformer capacities. Since LF refining furnace transformers operate under frequent current impact and heavy load fluctuation, the project required dedicated furnace transformers rather than conventional power transformers.

The project adopts 5MW-class wind turbines. Each turbine is equipped with a nacelle transformer to support power conversion and transmission after power generation. Due to the operating environment and limited installation space inside the nacelle, the transformer needed to meet special design requirements for compact size, lightweight structure, insulation reliability and vibration resistance.

Products Used in This Project

Customer Challenges

Why the Customer Chose DHDL

During the bidding and technical evaluation stage, the customer focused on furnace transformer design experience, product reliability, continuous operation capability and cooling system reliability. Compared with conventional transformers, LF refining furnace transformers require higher winding mechanical strength, stronger heat dissipation capability and better short-circuit withstand performance.

DHDL has long served the metallurgical industry and has accumulated rich project experience in electric arc furnace transformers, refining furnace transformers and submerged arc furnace transformers. This enabled DHDL to fully understand the special operating requirements of steelmaking production processes.

The customer also paid special attention to winding short-circuit withstand capability, long-term overload operation, insulation system life, cooling system stability and failure rate control. After comprehensive evaluation, DHDL’s technical solution was considered suitable for continuous production and long-term stable operation.

DHDL Solution

To meet the continuous production characteristics of the steelmaking industry, DHDL strengthened the transformer design during the engineering stage. A reinforced winding clamping structure and high-strength support system were adopted to improve short-circuit withstand capability and resistance to mechanical stress.

For long-term heavy-load operation, DHDL used high-temperature-resistant insulation materials and optimized the insulation structure to improve operational stability and extend equipment service life.

To ensure stable heat dissipation under metallurgical operating conditions, the transformers were equipped with an OFWF forced oil circulation water cooling system. DHDL optimized the oil pump, water circuit and heat exchanger arrangement, and added multiple monitoring and protection mechanisms to improve cooling reliability under high-load operation.

Customer Feedback

After the project was put into operation, all 64 refining furnace transformers were gradually connected to the steelmaking production lines. So far, the equipment has continuously served the production system, with no unplanned furnace shutdown caused by transformer failure. The customer’s equipment management team stated that DHDL’s refining furnace transformers maintained stable performance under long-term high-load operation and provided reliable support for continuous production.