Electric Arc Furnace: Key Aspects of Intensified Smelting and Process Energy Efficiency

Electric Arc Furnace: Key Aspects of Intensified Smelting and Process Energy Efficiency

What are the primary focus areas for intensifying the smelting process and achieving energy savings in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking? In recent years, Chinese EAF steelmakers have implemented various advanced process technologies and equipment, achieving significant progress in enhancing production efficiency, reducing specific power consumption, and recovering secondary energy.

The main energy-saving technologies and intensified smelting approaches in the EAF process can be categorized into the following key aspects:

(1) Enhancing Electrical Power Input and Efficiency

This focuses on improving the power utilization per ton of steel. Key technologies include:

   Adopting Ultra-High Power (UHP) and DC electric furnaces.

   Utilizing high-impedance or variable-impedance AC furnace technologies.

   Optimizing the power supply system and short-network configuration.

   Implementing conductive electrode arms.

   Employing long-arc operating strategies.

   Applying long-life bottom stirring (stirring gas injection) technology.

(2) Supplementing Physical and Chemical Heat Sources

These methods aim to provide additional energy beyond electricity to accelerate the process:

   Charging hot metal (molten iron).

   Preheating scrap charge (e.g., via shaft furnaces, conveyor preheaters).

   Using furnace-door carbon-oxygen lances and furnace-wall carbon-oxygen-burning composite cluster lances for chemical energy input.

   Implementing bottom-blown oxygen technology.

(3) Optimizing Operational Practices

These improvements streamline the process and reduce non-productive time:

   Utilizing eccentric bottom tapping (EBT).

   Implementing mechanized and continuous feeding systems.

   Adopting rapid temperature measurement and sampling analysis for faster process control.

(4) Recovering Waste Heat from Flue Gases

This involves capturing and reusing the substantial thermal energy in the off-gas:

   Using waste heat to generate steam, which can be supplied to vacuum refining units within the plant or used for electricity generation via connected turbines.

   Currently, EAF shops utilizing hot metal charging are typically equipped with flue gas waste heat recovery systems.

   In China, complete waste heat recovery systems for EAF off-gases have been successfully developed and demonstrated at an industrial scale.

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