For an optimal design and control of metallurgical processes, a deep understanding of the
thermodynamics of the governing reactions is required. Modelling the thermochemical behaviour of
those reactions is complex, as it involves multi-component and multi-phase systems. For this
purpose, thermodynamic computing systems such as FactSage™ (Bale et al, 2016), which combine
Gibbs energy minimisation routines with large databases of optimised thermodynamic data of
solutions and compounds, have been used within the SMS group GmbH.
Recently, the successful integration of those thermodynamic computing systems into the digital
platforms of SMS has been achieved through ChemApp, which made running complex
thermochemical calculations in Python-integrated development environments possible. ChemApp is
a programmer’s package for thermochemistry and incorporates the Gibbs energy minimiser of
FactSage™ as reported by Petersen and Hack (2007) as well as by Zietsman and Petersen (2018).
The digital platforms link the fundamental and the industrial aspects together and can be applied as
a process advisor, or for the evaluation of the environmental footprint and the economic implications
of different process routes, as discussed by Reuter (2023). Two examples illustrating the progress
of the developments in this regard will be introduced:
1. The Tilting Refining Furnace (TRF) for copper scrap recycling and refining to anode copper
(the BlueControlApp).
2. Dephosphorisation control for the oxygen steelmaking process (Basic Oxygen Furnace
(BOF)).