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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Ferrous scrap preheating system. Phase 2, Final report

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10107741· OSTI ID:10107741
Utilization of electric arc steel making has allowed many smaller producers to compete with the large mills. An electric arc furnace (EAF) melts scrap metal to produce a variety of steel products. Using scrap as the metal source is less costly than refining from ores, but the metal is of a lower quality due to impurities in the scrap. Over the years, methods have been developed to improve EAF metal quality and reduce the cost of production. As a result, an increasing share of total steel production is shifting to EAFs. By recent estimates, EAF production is growing at a rate of about 10% per year, and currently accounts for nearly one half of all US steel production (US Department of Energy and Electric Power Research Institute Project 2787-2, 1987). The subject of this report is Scrap Preheating, a new method of preheating scrap metal before it is charged into an EAF. In scrap preheating, a portion of the energy is supplied in a separate vessel, causing the EAF to use less energy, which shortens the heating time. The general effect is that the arc furnace can produce more steel in a given time at a reduced cost per ton of molten metal.
Research Organization:
Surface Combustion, Inc., Maumee, OH (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-89CE40874
OSTI ID:
10107741
Report Number(s):
DOE/CE/40874--4; ON: DE94004170; BR: ED0110000/ED0310000
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English