1. Architecture of a Brazilian integrated steel mill
An integrated steel mill starts from iron ore and coal and ends in coils, plates or rebar.
In the blast furnace–basic oxygen route, burden preparation may include sinter, pellets and lump ore; sintering and pelletising are distinct processes. The blast furnace produces pig iron, which is refined into steel in the melt shop. Casting and rolling then shape the product; pickling, cold rolling and coating depend on the production line.
Each of these stages has its own pump set with specific requirements.
The electric arc furnace route uses electricity to melt scrap and may incorporate direct-reduced iron or pig iron, depending on the plant. Its cooling and utility circuits also need to be identified separately. The metallurgical route helps map the process, but does not by itself provide the flow or pressure of each pump.
At FB Bombas, the manuals for the FBCN (MTEC-03/00), the FBME (MTEC-08/01) and the FBE (MTEC-01/01) list the steel industry among their applications, on p.1 of each: the two centrifugal pumps for clean or turbid liquids, and the external gear pump for viscous fluids. All three require consulting FB when the fluid carries suspended solids (item 2.3).
The listing indicates the family of duties and does not approve a circuit: each stream still needs fluid analysis, an operating point and suction conditions. The table below summarises what the next sections detail.
| Circuit | FB series to assess | Documented point |
|---|---|---|
| Non-contact cooling: blast furnace, lance and mould | FBCN; FBME when the head exceeds the FBCN range | FBCN up to 2,200 m³/h and 135 m; FBME up to 400 m³/h and 300 m (p.1 of the manuals) |
| Scale-bearing water and auxiliary sprays | FBCN, after consulting FB | Suspended solids: item 2.3; S2 or S3 seal chamber (item 10) |
| High-pressure descaling (about 200 bar) | Outside the documented range | 200 bar in water equals about 2,040 m of column |
| Cold-rolling emulsion recirculation | FBCN, with confirmed materials | Product, concentration, metal particles and elastomers |
| Concentrated oil, lubrication, hydraulics, burners and filter presses | FBE | Metallurgical card (FBE 2026 catalogue, p.3); maximum viscosity by size (Table 2); up to 22 kgf/cm² for the line |
| Acid pickling | Only with a corrosion assessment | The FBCN manual documents neither C-22 nor lining |
| Heat-transfer-fluid loop, where one exists | FBOT | Organic thermal oils, up to 350 °C (MTEC-16/00, p.1) |
2. Blast furnace and coke plant: separate water circuits
At the blast furnace, identify each cooling circuit and its function. Water circulating through exchangers and cooled elements should not automatically receive the same specification as water in contact with process gases or residues. The piping diagram, the heat balance and the equipment supplier’s criteria guide the selection.
Record normal, minimum and contingency flows, supply and return temperatures, inlet pressure and losses. Water systems may have primary and secondary circuits, with direct or indirect cooling, as SMS group describes. Do not derive pump flow solely from annual steel production capacity.
The FBCN publishes general limits of 2,200 m³/h and 135 m, subject to configuration; this performance is not attributed to each model. Compare curve, speed, power, casing pressure and materials with the actual duty. Redundancy, power supply and the response to loss of water belong to the process safety design, not to a generic catalogue rule.
On construction, the FBCN manual documents a cast-iron casing (Figure 1) or a carbon-steel A216 WCB and stainless-steel A743 CF8M casing (Figure 2, p.6). Item 6 (p.8) limits peripheral speed by impeller material: up to 40 m/s in cast iron, 60 m/s in ductile iron or carbon steel, and 80 m/s in stainless steels. That is why speed and impeller diameter enter the selection together with the material, and not with the curve alone.
At the coke plant, distinguish cooling water, wet quenching where it exists, and gas-cleaning liquids. Contaminants and solids must be included in the fluid analysis. Do not choose CF8M merely by the name of the sector: composition, concentration, temperature and sealing must be assessed for each stream.
For toxic, aggressive or foul-smelling liquids, item 10 of the FBCN manual (p.11) provides the S1 seal-chamber arrangement, with clean liquid from an external source and temperature up to 105 °C; with an external source, a cooling chamber cannot be used. With a mechanical seal, the arrangement follows the application and the order (line S).
3. BOF steelmaking and continuous casting
The melt shop’s oxygen lance and other cooled elements have requirements defined by the process manufacturer. To quote the pump, send flow, pressure, temperature, water quality, failure scenarios and the acceptance criteria for the assembly.
The number of pumps, redundancy, changeover time, instrumentation and emergency power must result from the system analysis. The FBCN documents consulted do not establish a universal ten-second starting time for lance cooling. The proposal needs to state what the pump delivers and what depends on the installation’s controls.
In continuous casting, separate mould cooling from the sprays applied to the product. Each circuit has its own water quality, filtration, pressure and control. Conductivity, chlorides and materials must follow the equipment specification and the chemical analysis; no universal 5 μS/cm limit applies, nor is 316L mandatory for every installation.
Warning
Critical duties require documented process requirements, instrumentation and failure-response criteria. The choice of an alloy alone does not guarantee the safety of the circuit.
4. Hot and cold rolling: sprays and emulsions
Hot rolling receives slabs or billets heated in a reheating furnace and reduces them by successive passes between work rolls, transforming them into coils, heavy plates or profiles.
Separate descaling, interstand cooling and final strip cooling. Nozzle pressure, water quality, scale content and demand cycles differ between these duties. Water returning with solids needs proper analysis and treatment before the pump is selected.
The manual does not present the FBCN as a multistage descaling pump. Its general head limit of 135 m does not authorise 200 bar duty. For lower-head auxiliary circuits, selection still depends on the specific curve, the material and the solids content.
FB’s multistage pump, the FBME, publishes head up to 300 m, with DN 80 to 150 and up to 400 m³/h (MTEC-08/01, p.1), as series maxima. In water, 200 bar corresponds to about 2,040 m of column: descaling lies outside the documented range of both centrifugal pumps and calls for equipment designed for that pressure.
In auxiliary circuits carrying scale, item 2.3 of the FBCN manual requires consulting FB when there are suspended solids. Item 10 (p.11) describes two packed seal-chamber arrangements for these cases: S2, with lubrication and sealing by liquid from an external source, for suspended solid particles or small fibres; and S3, with flushing by clean liquid, for abrasive particles or a risk of crystallisation. Both go up to 105 °C.
In cold rolling, separate emulsion recirculation, filter feed and concentrated-oil transfer. State the product, concentration, temperature, viscosity, metal particles and planned cleaning. Compatibility must include casing, impeller, seal faces and elastomers; bronze or CF8M are not universal upgrades for any emulsion.
5. Acid pickling and galvanizing: aggressive chemistry
In pickling, identify the acid, concentration, temperature, contaminants and the shutdown and cleaning conditions. The name HCl or H₂SO₄, without these data, does not allow materials or sealing to be selected. The safety data sheet and the bath specification must accompany the enquiry.
Outokumpu explains that non-oxidising acids, such as HCl, can destroy the passive layer of stainless steel. Therefore, do not approve a CF8M FBCN for hot hydrochloric acid without a corrosion assessment. The manual consulted does not document the FBCN in C-22 or with PTFE or rubber lining as standard options.
When the chemistry exceeds the documented construction, the selection must remain open to equipment specific to the bath. Compare proven chemical resistance, pressure, temperature, sealing and maintenance conditions; a generic alloy recommendation does not replace this verification.
Galvanising does not imply a furnace heated by thermal oil. SMS group documents lines with direct heating and radiant tubes, including electric solutions. The FBOT only enters the assessment when the design contains a separate circuit of compatible heat-transfer fluid, within the pump’s temperature, curve and construction limits. It does not pump the molten zinc bath.
According to manual MTEC-16/00 (p.1), the FBOT was developed for organic thermal oils, with 350 °C, 2,200 m³/h and 135 m as series maxima, and the fluid must not contain abrasive particles or materials that chemically attack the pump’s components. The maximum discharge pressure varies with temperature (Figure 1, p.5), so the operating point is checked at the circuit’s actual temperature.
6. Gear pumps in metallurgy: lubrication, hydraulics, burners and filter presses
The FBE 2026 catalogue (p.3) lists, in its Metallurgical card, hydraulic machines and equipment, filter presses, lubrication systems and oil burners among the applications of the external gear pump, and manual MTEC-01/01 (p.1) cites the steel industry for viscous fluids. These are oil circuits, different from the process-water circuits of the previous sections: selection starts from viscosity, not from the curve of a centrifugal pump.
In Table 2 of the manual, maximum viscosity increases with size: 2,500 SSU from 1/8″ to 1/4″, 7,500 SSU from 3/8″ to 1″, 50,000 SSU from 1.1/2″ to 2″ and 100,000 SSU from 3″ to 6″. Speed drops from 1,750 down to 150 rpm as viscosity rises, with a pulley or gear reducer between motor and pump.
For heated oil, such as burner fuel oil, the heating chamber is available from 1.1/2″ to 6″; the criteria for fuel-oil circulation are on the fuel transfer page.
The FBE has no impeller and no rolling bearing: the helical gears turn on shafts supported by bushing bearings, and a rolling bearing exists only in the optional external bearing. The 2026 catalogue (p.3) lists bushings in self-lubricating bronze, cast iron, PTFE, graphite or babbitt, sealing by packing, mechanical seal or lip seal and, among the accessories, an internal relief valve in brass or AISI 304 stainless steel.
If the return oil carries suspended solids, item 2.3 of the manual (p.6) requires consulting FB.
For the line, the catalogue publishes a discharge pressure of up to 22 kgf/cm² (p.3), with lower limits by configuration in the selection table (p.6). For hydraulic machines and equipment, transfer, circulation and lubrication are assessed within that range; power generation at pressures above it is excluded, and the difference between these functions is explained in the hydraulic gear pump guide.
For a filter press, state the fluid, the solids content and type and the maximum cycle pressure: with suspended solids, selection goes through consulting FB.
7. Brazilian steel sector context
World Steel in Figures 2026 records Brazil in ninth place in 2025 crude steel production, with 33.4 million tonnes. The figure describes the sector in that year; it does not measure FB Bombas’ market share or supply history.
When procuring pumps, the plant’s circuit map is more useful than the sector’s aggregate capacity. Separate utilities, direct product contact, corrosive fluids, solids and safety duties before comparing proposals.
Instituto Aço Brasil is a body representing steel-producing companies, not a regulator. Installation requirements must come from the design, the applicable standards and the competent authorities.
The FBCN, FBME and FBE are manufactured in Cabreúva, São Paulo, where FB has CNC machining, assembly and a performance test bench conforming to ANSI/HI 14.6, the test standard for rotodynamic pumps such as the FBCN and FBME. A certified curve and FAT are included when they are part of the contracted scope.
For an assessment with FB Bombas, send the list of duties, data for each fluid, operating points, drawings of the existing installation and the required documents. The proposal must identify configuration, curve, materials, tests and supply limits. This allows solutions for a planned shutdown or a new project to be compared with verifiable criteria.