Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Steelmaking

The Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) melts steel primarily from scrap — solid steel returned from the manufacturing chain, end-of-life vehicles, demolition, and industrial offcuts — using the intense heat of an electric arc struck between graphite electrodes and the metallic charge. EAF steelmaking accounts for approximately 29% of global crude steel production and is growing as both a recycling-led and low-carbon ironmaking route.

A modern UHP (Ultra-High Power) EAF is a water-cooled steel shell of 80–420 tonne capacity, fitted with three graphite electrodes (400–750 mm diameter) suspended from a retractable roof. The electrodes carry alternating current (AC) at 40–60 kA and 600–1,100 V, generating arcs of 2,000–3,500 °C between the electrode tips and the metallic charge. DC EAFs, with a single electrode above and a billet electrode below, are also widely operated, offering lower electrode consumption and quieter electrical behaviour.

The EAF operates in discrete heats of 60–120 minutes tap-to-tap, melting 80–420 tonnes per heat. Unlike the BOF, which receives 300 °C hot metal requiring only 300 °C of temperature rise, the EAF starts cold — charging scrap at ambient temperature and raising the bath to 1,620–1,670 °C entirely from electrical and chemical energy. This makes the EAF far more energy-intensive per heat, but it requires no blast furnace, no coke plant, and no sinter plant — the capital and operating cost advantage is decisive for smaller-scale, recycling-led steelmaking.