Furnace with glowing metall in a hall at SANDVIK factory, Sweden, retouched version

REBOX® flameless oxyfuel solution for permanent increases in furnace performance

REBOX® flameless oxyfuel solutions are targeted at operators of continuous and batch-type reheating furnaces looking to maximize production capacity.

Building on its long-standing and close ties with customers in the steel industry, Linde developed REBOX® flameless oxyfuel technology to significantly boost furnace efficiency. It is designed to give operators of reheating furnaces maximum production capacity while optimizing energy consumption.

REBOX® flameless oxyfuel replaces the nitrogen ballast in air (around 78%) with pure oxygen. As nitrogen is not combustible and is also poor at radiating heat, it only makes a marginal contribution to the heating process at high temperatures. By comparison, combustion gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour (H2O) are good at radiating heat. Consequently, nitrogen results in low thermal efficiency and high volumes of exhaust gases and emissions. The REBOX® flameless oxyfuel combustion system replaces the existing air/fuel burners with burners that run on 100% oxygen. This improves heat transfer by increasing the concentration of radiating compounds such as CO2 and H2O. By improving heat transfer, REBOX® flameless oxyfuel can reduce CO2 emissions and cut fuel bills by up to 50%.

In addition, the flameless combustion creates a more uniform temperature inside the furnace by distributing radiating gases more evenly. Lower peak flame temperatures reduce the formation of NOx and lower the risk of refractory damage caused by hotspots.

Benefits of REBOX® flameless oxyfuel

  • Up to 50% throughput gains due to improved radiation and low flue gas volumes
  • Lower flue gas temperatures and volumes allowing a shorter dark/recuperative zone
  • Significant reduction in fuel consumption (up to 50%) by eliminating nitrogen ballast
  • Lower NOx emissions, CO2 emissions and fuel-based SOx emissions
  • Fuels with low calorific values can be burnt more efficiently using pure oxygen, enabling it to be used even in high temperature processes



Download the REBOX® brochure

Find out how Sandvik maximizes production capacity with fewer furnaces

Customer: Sandvik Materials Technology is a world-leading developer and manufacturer of advanced stainless steels, special alloys, titanium and other high-performance materials for the most demanding industries. The company’s aim is to increase the efficiency, profitability and safety of industrial processes, also by fully integrating sustainability into its offerings and operations.
Sandvik specialises in tubes, pipes, wires, strip and metal powders as well as industrial heating products.

Challenge: Sandvik was keen to modernize its reheating operations by adding four new pit furnaces. It wanted to improve environmental performance by reducing fuel consumption along with emissions of harmful substances such as nitrogen oxides (NOx). Sandvik also wished to increase heating capacity and create a more uniform heating effect for better product quality.

"REBOX® flameless oxyfuel allowed us to maximize production capacity with fewer furnaces, less fuel and lower emissions – all of which translates into lower investment and operating costs.”

Peter Andersson, Senior Advisor Investments at Sandvik

Find out how Linde could solve these challenges

Download the reference case
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