6/22/2023 0 Comments Electric arc furnace steelmaking![]() The United States’ steel industry is cleaner relative to international steel production. 2 Although making steel requires lots of heat and historically has produced significant emissions, several new technologies promise to improve the industry’s carbon footprint. 1 People have a long history with it too – humans have been making steel for 4,000 years and developed various types of steel despite the production process staying relatively the same. Iron, the key ingredient in steelmaking, is the fourth most abundant element in the earth’s crust and the key ingredient used to produce steel. Since metals are widely available, generally affordable, strong, and durable, they are a major component of our everyday lives. Ranging from basic steels to high-performance alloys, metals are a necessary resource in transporting electricity on the grid, constructing buildings, producing everyday kitchen and household items, creating bridges and tunnels, and building trains, cars and even planes. The personnel required to operate the new equipment are already being trained, and the necessary know-how is being established.Īs the transformation of steelmaking progresses, experienced blast furnace operators are also upgrading their skills in order to operate the EAFs: an essential step on the path to greentec steel.Metals are an integral part of our society. Annual deliveries of 420,000 tons of HBI are contractually secured for the long term.Ĭonstruction at our Donawitz and Linz sites is especially designed to allow molten pig iron to be directly fed into the electric arc furnace, because during the hybrid phase of greentec steel the blast furnace will be operated using less equipment. The primary source of the necessary HBI is the direct reduction plant in Texas/USA in which voestalpine has held a 20% stake since 2022. The proportions of the three iron-supplying input materials in the EAF charge (e.g., 50% scrap, 25% HBI, and 25% pig iron) are adjusted according to the nature of the steel being produced. Thanks to our experienced employees, it is possible to overcome these challenges ever more effectively by optimizing the secondary metallurgy and continually improving scrap processing. In the EAF process, more effort is required to adjust the content of byproducts introduced into the steelmaking process by iron carriers in order to meet the target values. Lower CO 2 emissions and greater flexibility in the choice of input materials, as well as aggregate availability, are offset by the high electrical energy requirements and limitations in the metallurgical work. Transitioning steelmaking from the blast furnace-converter route to the electric arc route poses a number of challenges. Once melted, the slag is removed, the steel is tapped off, and the still hot furnace is recharged. Supported by burners in the furnace, with a temperature of over 3,000 ☌ the electric arc heats and melts the furnace contents in about 48 to 50 min. ![]() 80,000 amperes of current flows through these electrodes to form an electric arc. Once the furnace is charged, the lid is closed and the three graphite electrodes, each approx. As the name suggests, the melting process is accomplished using electrical energy to generate an electric arc in the furnace. ![]() What happens in the EAF?ĮAFs essentially melt down the input materials for further processing and perform basic metallurgical work. ![]() Starting this year, EAFs (electric arc furnaces) will replace two blast furnaces and reduce CO 2 emissions by 30%. Electric arc furnaces powered by green electricity will become the core of our steel production as of 2027. In April 2023, the Supervisory Board of the voestalpine Group approved EUR 1.5 billion to be invested in the further decarbonization of steel production. Once all outstanding funding issues have been resolved, in 2024 we will start converting our Austrian steelmaking sites. The voestalpine Group is embarking on a new stage of low-emission steel production and setting up electric arc furnaces in Donawitz and Linz. ![]()
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