Please visit our website for more information on this topic.

The Electric Arc Furnace ' Advantages & Deficiencies

This article is transferred from The Graphite Network

There is a lot of material covered. After reading the posts, you will be expert in the following topics:

• Advantages vs Disadvantages of EAF-use (part 1)
• history and UHP concept (part 2)
• Operation mode (part 3)
• EAF vs other furnaces (part 4)
• Construction (part 5)

Industrial arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one ton capacity (used in foundries for producing cast iron products) up to about 400 ton units used for secondary steelmaking) (average is 80 to 120 MT).

Arc furnaces used in research laboratories and by dentists may have a capacity of only a few dozen grams. Industrial electric arc furnace temperatures can be up to 1,800 °C (3,272 °F), while laboratory units can exceed 3,000 °C (5,432 °F).

The electric arc furnaces are the most widely used steel furnace around the world. It can be used to smelt high-quality steel and other special steels.

• capabable of producing the full range of steel grades
• not dependent on a particular type of charge (scrap, sponge, iron, pig iron, hot metal),
• low capital outlay,
• melting process can be programmed and automated
• high efficiency and flexibility

Another benefit is flexibility: while blast furnaces cannot vary their production by much and can remain in operation for years at a time, EAFs can be rapidly started and stopped, allowing the steel mill to vary production according to demand.

Although steelmaking arc furnaces generally use scrap steel as their primary feedstock, if hot metal from a blast furnace or direct-reduced iron is available economically, these can also be used as furnace feed.

As EAFs require large amounts of electrical power, many companies schedule their operations to take advantage of off-peak electricity pricing.

A typical steelmaking arc furnace is the source of steel for a mini-mill, which may make bars or strip product. Mini-mills can be sited relatively near to the markets for steel products, and the transport requirements are less than for an integrated mill, which would commonly be sited near a harbour for access to shipping.

The supply and the price of electricity become stable, which makes it possible to generalize the arc furnace;

Zhongsheng Product Page

• The arc furnace tends to be larger and more powerful;
• Less investment, quick to construct and fast cost recovery;
• The temperature and the component of the molten steel can be controlled with accuracy. The arc furnace can also smelt various kinds of different steels.Compared with others, the arc furnace also has several obvious advantages:
• The arc can heat the furnace and the steel up to -'directly and smelt special steels that contain refractory elements like W and Mo.
• The arc furnace could remove the toxic gases and the inclusions while deoxidizing and desulfurating.
• High flexibility. The arc furnace is capable of engaging production continuously or intermittently.
• Currently, owing to the development of related technologies, the electric arc furnaces could be well -integrated with traditional steel-making processes. But there are also several deficiencies
• The arc can only generate point-like heating sources, which will cause uneven heat distribution in the furnace.
• The arc will react with the furnace gases and vapor and release large quantities of H 2 and N 2.

(1) Electric arc furnace

     Advantages: secondary use of scrap steel alloy elements, arc high temperature can melt refractory alloy elements, can accurately control the furnace temperature. According to the foregoing, the electric arc furnace uses scrap steel as the main raw material, so the electric arc furnace steelmaking can reuse the alloy elements in the scrap steel; The temperature in the zone is above ', which enables the electric arc furnace to smelt refractory alloy elements; at the same time, the temperature inside the furnace is controlled by precisely adjusting the current size. The electric arc furnace can accurately control the temperature of the molten steel for a long time; the electric arc furnace process is flexible and can meet the requirements of small smelting. Batch / multi-species special steel.

      Disadvantages: The quality of molten steel is greatly affected by scrap steel, the smelting period is longer, and the power consumption is larger. According to the above, the electric arc furnace uses scrap steel as the main raw material. During the smelting process, more impurities may be introduced into the molten steel, resulting in low quality of the molten steel; according to our "Carbon Industry Special Report" released on June 25, One: Carbon for Iron and Steel (I)-New electric furnaces are put into operation to drive the demand for graphite electrodes, technological progress and concentration increase help long-term development. In-depth report, the average tapping time of the fourth generation electric furnaces currently widely used is 55 ~ 60 minutes The smelting cycle is longer than that of converter steelmaking; the power consumption is 500kWh / t, which puts a greater pressure on the power supply pressure of the local power grid.

(2) Converter

      Advantages: higher purity of molten steel, shorter smelting period, and lower power consumption. According to the foregoing, the converter uses hot metal produced by the blast furnace as the main raw material, so the steel purity of the converter steelmaking is higher and the impurity alloy elements are less; the converter steelmaking process is completely dependent on the chemical and physical heat brought by the oxidation of the hot metal. External energy input, so the power consumption is low; the smelting cycle is 20 ~ 30 minutes, which is shorter than the electric arc furnace steelmaking smelting cycle, and the production rhythm is faster.

     Disadvantages: The lower furnace temperature is not suitable for melting refractory alloy elements, the larger the furnace capacity, the less flexible the process. The converter steelmaking process is entirely based on the chemical and physical heat brought by the oxidation of molten iron, without external energy input, so the converter furnace temperature is usually below ', not suitable for smelting refractory alloy elements;

The company is the world’s best Electric Arc Furnace Electrodes supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.