Drainage

Each furnace pit must have a drainage system!

Water pouring into the run-out pit must be able to drain off as quickly as possible.

Emergency run-out pits must be dry, or they must be designed in such a way that no dangerous pressure build-up can occur in the floor area or within the partition and surrounding walls if moisture or water is present.

Water that has entered the emergency run-out pit must therefore be removed as quickly as possible. A prerequisite for this is the use of water- and water-vapor-permeable material wherever contact with molten metal may occur.

About 1,700 liters of steam can be generated from one liter of water. To keep this quantity as small as possible, the water must be removed from the pit by means of drainage pipes or/and drainage hoses, which seems quite practicable if the quantity is small. The near past has shown that emergency retention pits can also be effectively flooded (groundwater, heavy rain, pipe burst and emergency water).  Such volumes cannot practically be discharged within a reasonable period of time. For large systems, this would take days, apart from clogging drainage pipes. External pumps only manage a partial volume, as they do not cover the ground area.