Steelmakers have traditionally viewed electric arc furnaces (EAFs) as unsuitable for producing steel with the highest-quality surface finish because the process uses recycled steel instead of fresh iron. With over 100 years of processing improvements, however, EAFs have become an efficient and reliable steelmaking alternative to integrated steelmaking. In fact, steel produced in a modern-day EAF is often indistinguishable from what is produced with the integrated blast-furnace/oxygen-steelmaking route. Improvements in design, coupled with research developments in metallurgy, mean high-quality steel produced quickly and energy-efficiently.
Especially since the mid-1990s, there have been significant improvements in the design of EAFs, which allow for better-functioning burners and a more energy-efficient process. Now, EAFs often utilize as much oxygen per ton of steel as does “oxygen steelmaking.” The unique design of the burners in an EAF increases throughput of the process, improves heat transfer and protects the steel against contamination from elements in the air. These burners evenly supply most of the energy requirements of melting down recycled steel by injecting oxygen and fuel to create combustion energy.