Industrial and Agricultural
Published by The EPRl Center for Materials Production
Jntroduction
The total energy required to
produce one ton ofliquid steel in an
electric arc furnace (EAF) by melting
scrap is only one third ofthat
required to produce a ton ofsteel
from ironore using theblast fur-
nacelbasic oxvgen furnace method
of the integratedsteel producer. As
a result of the energy efficiency,
high productivity, and comparative-
ly lowcapital cost of new modern
EAFs, the percent of steel produced
by this process reached 39% in 1996
and couldapproach 50% by the
year 2000.
A typical energybalance for a
modern EAF is shown inFigure 1.
Depending upon the meltshop
operation, about 60 to 65% of the
total energy is electrical, the
remainder being chemicalenergy
arising from the oxidation ofele-
ments such as carbon, iron, and sili-
con and the burning of natural gas
with oxy-fuel burners. About 53% of
the totalenergy leaves the furnace
in the liquid steel, while the remain-
Figure 1. Energy Patternsin an
Electric ArcFurnace.
SCRAP
TEMPERATURE
HEAT
CONTENT
300°F (150°C) 22kWhh
500°F
(260°C) 4OkWhh
700°F
(370°C) 57kWhh
1OOO"F (540°C) 8lkWhh
Table 1. Heat Contentin Preheated Steel Scrap
der is lostto the slag, waste gas,
and coolingwater. The 20% normal-
ly leaving thefurnace in the waste
gas represents about 130 kWhhon
of steel produced. Using thisgas to
preheat the scrap being charged to
the EAF can result in recovering
some of thisenergy and to offset
some of theelectrical energy
required to meltsteel scrap. The
heat content ofpreheated scrap,
shown in equivalent kWh/ton, is
given in Table 1. Additional advan-
tages for scrap preheating include:
Increased productivity.
Removal of moisture from
the scrap.
Reduced electrode
consumption.
Reduced refractory
consumption.
All ofthese advantages can
help improve the competitiveness
Figure 2. Schematic Diagramof Scrap Preheatingin a Charging Bucket.
Technologies and9rvices
of individual steel plants;
however, thehigher cap-
ita1 costs and associated
operating costs of scrap
preheating systems
must be considered.
Conventional Scrap
Preheating
Scrap preheating
has been used for over
30 years primarily in countries with
high electricitycosts such as Japan
and Europe. Conventional scrap
preheating involves theuse of hot
gases to heat scrap in the bucket
prior to charging thescrap into the
EAF. The source of the hot gases
can be either off-gases from the
EAF or gases produced by burning
natural gas which will be discussed
later.
Conventional scrap preheating
can be accomplished by delivering
the hot furnace gases to thescrap
charging bucket by piping the off-
gases from the fourth hole in the
EAF to a special hood over the
charging bucket. A schematic of a
typical conventional scrap preheat-
ing system is shown inFigure 2.
Typically the gases leave the EAF at
about 2200°F (1200"C), enter the
bucket at 1500°F (815"C), and leave
at around 400°F (200°C). The
Waste
Gases to
Bag House

amount ofpreheating depends on
the heat transfer to the scrap which
is a function ofscrap size and time
at temperature. Typically the scrap
is preheated to a range of 600" to
850°F (315" to 450°C). In some cases
higher temperatures have been
reported. This amount ofpreheat-
ing willtypically.reduce energy
consumption by 40 to 60 kWhhon,
electrode consumption by 0.6 to 0.8
Ibhon (0.3 to 0.36 kg/mt), refractory
consumption by 2 to 3 lbhon (0.9
to 1.4 kg/mt), and tap-to-taptime
by 5 to 8 minutes. Some of the
disadvantages to conventional
scrap preheating include:
Inconvenient to operate such
as scrap sticking to bucket
and short bucket life.
Poor controllability of preheat-
ing due to cycling of the
off-gas temperature and
flowrate through variousEAF
operating phases.
For tsp-to-tap timesless than
70 minutes the logistics of
conventional scrap preheating
lead to minimalenergy
savings that can not justiv
the capitalexpense of a
preheating system.
Conventional scrap preheating
has not been used to any extentby
US steelmakers because of the
aforementioned disadvantages.
However, new modern methods,
which are discussed later, are find-
ing use in the US.
Natural Gas Scrap
Preheating
Preheating of scrap with natural
gas originated in the 1960s and
usually involves a burner mounted
in a refractory-lined roof which sits
over thetop of the scrap bucket.
Scrap is typicallypreheated to
1000" to 1200°F (538" to 650°C)
before beingcharged to the fur-
nace. Above 1200°F (65OoC),scrap
oxidation becomes a problem and
yield loss becomes a factor.
Advantages for this type scrap
of
preheating as compared to using
the EAF off-gases include:
The preheating process
is decoupledfrom EAF
operations andas a result
is much morecontrollable
leading to a more uniform
operating practice.
The process is unaffected by
tap-to-tap cycles.
TechCommenrary
Figure 3. Diagram of Fuch's Shaft Scrap Preheater.
Figure 4. Schematic of Fuch's Double Shaft Furnace System.
The major disadvantage for the
process compared to using EAF
off-gas is the additional
cost of the
natural gas.
Modern Processes
More elaborate processes for
scrap preheating have been devel-
oped in thelast decade. It is not
possible t o describe them all in this refractory lined, and occupies about
brief overview. Therefore, only sev-
eral of the more prominent process-
es, particularly those thathave
reached commercialization, will be
covered.
BBS Brusa Process
This Italianprocess consists of
a rotary kiln inclined12 degrees to
the horizontal and positionedsuch
that thescrap exiting the kiln drops
into thefurnace through the roofof
the EAF. The off-gases flow counter
current t o the scrap and reportedly
can heat the scrap to 850°F (450°C).
Benefits for theprocess include
decreased energy, electrode, and
refractory consumption.Also, nat-
ural gas burners can be used to
supplement theoff-gases to heat
the scrap to as high as 1800°F
(982°C). However,sticking of the
scrap, which makes it difficult to
move thescrap through thekiln,
may become a problem. No steel
Shaft
Scrap
Scrap Charge
Off-Gases
EAF
EAF
Molten Metal Furnace\
c
\
\
Off-Gas Flow
company in the United States has
used this process.
Fuchs Shaft Furnaces
The Fuchs single shaft furnace
i s a batch-type preheater. The sys-
tem can be used with either dc or ac
furnaces. The shaft furnace is situat-
ed on top of the EAF as shown in
Figure 3. The shaft is watercooled,
35 percent of the roofsurface. The
operation beginsby initially cold
charging about 1/3 of thescrap to
the EAF. The balance of thefurnace
charge is added by scrap bucket
through thefurnace shaft, normally
one or two additional bucket
charges. In theshaft, scrap is pre-
heated by low-velocityoff-gases
and then droppedinto theEAF. It
has been reported thatthe system
can reduce electric consumption up
to 18%, and increase production by
17 to 20%. With thesystem provid-
ing a more stable operation, flicker
and harmonicsare reduced. In addi-
tion, some of the furnace dust is
trapped by the scrap and returned
to the furnace thus reducing EAF
dust generation anddisposal. Fuchs
estimates EAF dust reductionto be
as much as 20%. Initial installations
of theFuchs shaft furnace occurred
in the UK and Europe. Based on the
excellent experience with these
installations, North Star Steel has
2
 .
Magnct should be charged not later than 15
minutes after tapping to achieve the
full benefits ofscrap preheating.
The same advantages reported for
the singleshaft furnace are
-_ obtained with the double shaft;
however, productivity is further
increased and electric usage is
lower. The joint venture North Star
Steel-Broken Hill Proprietary Co.
plant in Delta, Ohio has installed a
double shaft ac furnace system.

-
CONSTEELQContinuous

-1
ScrapPreheater
CONSTEEL@is a patented con-
To tinuous feeding, preheating, and
Bag melting steelmaking process devel-
oped by lntersteelTechnology Inc.
’ Off-Gases
A schematic of theprocess is
shown in Figure 5. In theprocess
I
c- Scrap scrap is placed on a conveyor and
Charge passes through a seal into thepre-
2onnecting Car heating section. Off-gases coming
’\Foamy Slag from theEAF flow through the pre-
heater (countercurrent to the scrap
oxygenInjection ‘~olten steel charge direction) and into the duct-
work leadingto thebag house.
Figure 5. CONSTEEL@
Preheating System. After moving through thepreheat-
ing section, the scrap is discharged
onto a connecting conveyorcar
installed a 100-ton, single shaft, dc refining mode, the hotoff-gases which enters the side of the furnace
Fuchs furnace at their 500,000 from thisfurnace are directed to and drops thescrap into the molten
ton/yr. minimill bar and rod mill pass through ductwork to heat the steel bath, see cross section of fur-
complex in Kingman, Arizona. scrap in furnace B and in its shaft. nace in Figure 5. Reportedly, scrap
To maximize the advantage of When vessel A is ready to tap, the has been heated to 600°F (316°C) by
the shaft technology, Fuchs has electrodes are moved tofurnace B the off-gases. A continuous hot
designed a double shaftfurnace and themeltdown procedure metal heal is alwayskept in the fur-
operation, see Figure 4. The double begins in thisfurnace and the nace to meltthe incomingscrap.
shaft furnace arrangement consists process is reversed. Tap-to-tap The arc primarily isused only to
of two furnaces each with a shaft cycles have been reported to be as keep the bath molten. This way, the
and one common electrode mast low as 40 minutes. In order to furnace maintainsa constant flat
and set of electrodes to serve both achieve the full benefits of the dou- bath condition, whichmakes it pos-
furnaces. The dual furnace opera- ble shaft system, it is importantto sible to continuously refine the bath
tion begins with chargingscrap to manage the materialflow ontime. while scrap is beingmelted.
furnace A and itsshaft. During ini- Scrap management has to be care- Advantages for theCONSTEEL@
tial meltdown in furnace A, furnace fully planned since power-on times Process include:
B and itsshaft are charged with for thefurnace are generally around
scrap. When furnaceA is in the Low electricity usage, about
32 to 34 minutes. The idle furnace
360 kWhhon.
Tap-to-tap times under50
Jersey New Nucor
Ameristeel minutes.
Low electrode consumption
Startup Date 12-895-94 9-95 about 3.3 tbhon (1.5 kg/mt).
Furnace Type AC DC AC Reduced harmonic and flicker
ew Newhetrofit problems.
Transformer A reduction in dust generation
capactty (MWI 24 39 35 of about 30%.
Capactty Wh) 60 100 90 Reduced shop noise.
Energy Usage The CONSTEEL@Process has
kWh/ton 373 351 been installed at three steel plants
Electrode Usage in the UnitedStates: Ameristeel’s,
lbhon
3.1 4.1 5 42 Charlotte, NC plant; Nucor
kg/mt 1.7 1.3 1.75 Corporation’s Darlington, SC plant;
and New JerseySteel‘s plant in
Sayreville. Data on theperformance
Table 2. Comparison of Performance Plants in the US.
Data for Various CONSTEEL@ of these plants is shown inTable 2.

3
 Environmental Issues
EAF dust has been declared
a hazardous waste and it is an
added expense for steelmakers
to have the dusttreated for safe
disposal in accordance with
Environmental Protection Agency
regulations. As mentioned earlier,
scrap preheating by theCONSTEELQ
Process and Fuchs Shaft Furnace
results in appreciably less dust
(20% to 30%) going to the bag
house. Consequently,this reduces
the amount of dust needing to be
treated and is a cost savings for
the steelmaker.
There has been some discus-
sion thatscrap preheating systems
cause odors and result in the
formation of dioxins(hazardous
gaseous emissions). This is primari-
ly a function of the quality scrapof
being fedto the EAF. The higher the
amount oforganic substances in
the scrap, shch as plastics, the more
likely it is that odors and/or dioxins
may be formed.
Summary
Preheating steel scrap prior to
charging to the EAF, using modern
methods such as the CONSTEELO
Process and Fuchs Shaft System,
offers the potentialfor reducing the
overall energy consumption of the
furnace. Other potential major bene-
fits include increased productivity,
reduced electrode consumption,
and reduced dust generation. Conference, Chicago, Dct 1993.
Although, only a small numberof Giving EAFs the Shaft to Recoup
steelmakers have taken advantage Energy, 33 Metal Producing,
of these processes, the application November 1990.
of this technology isexpected to OperationalResults of a Double
grow as steelmakers look forways Shaft Furnace at Sam Montereau
to reduce costs and increase pro- France (Usinor Sacilor).1994
ductivity to remain competitive. Electric Furnace Conference
Proceedings.
In Conclusion
Overview of Scrap Preheating
Technologies, Donald E. Klesser,
This TechCommentary is intend- 1991 Electric Furnaceconference
ed to give youa basic understand- Proceedings.
ing ofscrap preheating systems. For
help with individualapplications; Technoeconomic Assessmentof
talk to your electric utility marketing Electric Steelmaking Through the
representative or anequipment Year 2000, EPRl Report EM-5445.
manufacturer. 3

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CMP
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Goodwill, Directorof CMP. Edited by John
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Key Words: Electric Arc Furnace, Scrap
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