This study presents a state-of-the-art CFD methodology to simulate the industrial EAF refining stage. The model incorporates jet-induced cavities within a volume-of-fluid representation of the molten steel, slag, and freeboard regions, capturing oxygen-steel reactions, decarburization, oxide formation, and oxide migration from metal to slag and freeboard. Validation against theoretical predictions demonstrates accurate modeling of decarburization and FeO/MnO generation across both high and low carbon regimes. The model is then applied to evaluate reduced oxygen injection scenarios by turning off oxygen jets at 200 sec and 400 sec. Results show that lowering the O2 injection rate could decrease decarburization performance by similar to 5% while reducing FeO formation by up to 53%. This FeO reduction lowers carbon-injection requirements for slag foaming, offering potential decreases in operating cost and CO2 emissions in EAF operations.
n the blooming market of minimill plants, our latest plant at Hybar, Osceola, Arkansas, started up 630,000 tpy re-bar production in September 2025, setting new benchmarks for productivity, performance, safety, and environmental emissions while fully meeting the requirements of a CMT minimill. This paper presents the latest EAF technologies, including the X-Pact (R) AURA DC power supply, Condoor (R), X-Pact (R) Sampler, SafEBT equipment, as well as the Spray Systems design, and their impact on green steel production.
The expansion of EAF production, alongside with the large-scale deployment of renewable energy sources, has significant impact on network stability and local capacity. Steel producers are facing growing pressure to minimize disruptions to the electrical grid and meet ever increasing utility requirements. To tackle these challenges a novel multilevel converter for the decoupling of EAF operation from the medium voltage grid supply was developed, installed and commissioned in a German steelmaking plant in December 2024. This Direct Feed (DF) Power Supply enables steelmakers to increase both power quality and EAF performances. Key benefits demonstrated during full heat cycle operation in the nominal power range (up to 130 MW) include a flicker reduction factor above 10, EAF operation with individually controlled electrode currents, and related EAF performance and operational flexibility benefits that are highlighted in separate EEC 2026 conference papers [1, 2]. Thanks to the gains in controllability, power quality and EAF performance, five large steelmaking plants have decided to build on this new type of MV MMC DF power supply, the largest one is a 340-metric-ton Consteel EAF that will support the customer's target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Improving the quality of steel has been a matter of routine for metallurgical engineers and steelmaking companies in a demanding market for quality products. The traditional Electric Arc Furnace process has the lowest carbon emission compared to the integrated route, making it the best route for green steel production. In addition, the industry is focused on ensuring that high-quality steel products can be produced smoothly, immediately after the transition. One of the challenges is controlling sulphur residual in steel, which is critical for certain applications and has "secondary / additional" impact on overall steel cleanliness. Lesson learned from market with different feasibility studies, investigations and accumulated know how from long list of projects for different flat products, including thick and thin casting processes are summarized and reported in article.
Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking plays a central role in the transition toward low-carbon and re-source-efficient steel production. Increasing energy costs, environmental regulations and needed raw mate-rial flexibility demand continuous improvements in energy efficiency and process performance. The operat-ing personnel in steelmaking plants getting younger, more than 10 years in the same profession has be-come rare. Building and maintaining deep-experienced staff as well as achieving highest level of safety is difficult. This paper outlines key strategies for reducing electrical energy and material consumption in EAF opera-tions through advanced process control, supportive smart-tools, and real-time data utilization. The integra-tion of smart add-ones around the EAF combined with dynamic furnace control systems, including elec-trode regulation, foaming-slag control, and optimized oxygen and carbon injection, enables more stable process conditions, increased safety and lower downtimes. Raw material flexibility in EAF steelmaking is becoming increasingly important as the availability of high-quality scrap declines and competition for scrap intensifies which makes the entire situation even more dif-ficult. The need to work with ore-based iron units is driven by quality requirements and the demand for cleaner steel. As a result, advanced process control and adaptive operating strategies are essential to maintain productivity, energy efficiency, and final steel quality under more variable raw material conditions. Well-proven and reliable solutions for EAF process optimization from scrap yard until tapping are presented in this paper.
