New Energy Saving Electric Arc Furnace Designs

Gerhard Fuchs, Chairman, Fuchs Technology AG, Friedbergstrasse 68 CH- 8200 Schaffhausen Switzerland, Phone: +41 52 624 9061, Fax: +41 52 620 0521, E-mail:g.fuchs@fuchs-technology.ch Knut Rummler, President, Fuchs Technology AG, E-mail: k.rummler@fuchs-technology,ch Manfred Haissig, M.H.Consulting, 4839 Huddersfield Drive, Harrisburg, NC 28075. Phone and Fax: 704-455-5017, E-mail: manfredeaf@aol.com Keywords:Environment,ScrapPreheating,ShaftFurnaces,Consteel,COSS,TelescopicEAF,EnergySaving INTRODUCTION

Fortunately for the steel industry and their suppliers global demand for steel continues to grow. Figure 1 shows the development of the crude steel production world wide as well as in Japan, China and the EU. Whereas the growth of crude steel production in the EU and Japan is marginal, it almost doubled during the past 5 years in China. 1

Figure1.Transitionofcrudesteelproduction

In order to participate and be successful in that steel boom, high productivity and low conversion cost is a must. The key to achieve these tasks lies in the hands of operators and furnace designers. The increase in energy cost - electric energy as well as fossil energy - and the increasing raw material cost are demanding actions from steel makers and furnace designers to be able to optimize the conversion cost of the melting operation and increase the productivity of the electric arc furnace to gain a competitive edge. On the other hand, the threat of green house gases to climate change has captured not only the worlds attention but also that of engineering companies who provide EAF designs, as well as that of steel companies who use the Electric Arc Furnace to produce liquid steel.2 Sources of green house gases (GHG): Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4).Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorcarbons (HFCs) and Perfluorinated carbons (PFCs) The majority of U.S. and global greenhouse gas emissions come from fossil fuel combustion for energy. About 35% of all carbon emissions are generated by the industrial sector. This sector includes both Electric Arc Furnace steelmaking and electricity generation.