Against the backdrop of accelerating decarbonization in the global steel industry, electric arc furnaces (EAFs) are evolving from mere "scrap recycling tools" into green steelmaking platforms that integrate multiple cutting‑edge technologies. Recent technical breakthroughs and the implementation of major projects reflect the vigorous innovative vitality in this field.
Technological Iteration: From Equipment Innovation to Process Reengineering
On the equipment front, Primetals Technologies' EAF Ultimate Move electric arc furnace adopts an innovative process of changing the furnace shell toward the casting bay direction, combined with a mobile furnace shell support frame and adaptive hydraulic tilting system, which significantly reduces footprint and investment costs. Danieli's ECS Zerobucket™ electric arc furnace supplied to Henan Jiyuan Steel in China, through technological upgrades, notably lowers energy consumption and dioxin emissions.
On the process front, ABB is strongly promoting the comeback of its ArcSave® electromagnetic stirring technology for electric furnaces. This old technology, first introduced in 1937, achieves contactless stirring of molten steel through electromagnetic induction at the furnace bottom, saving 10‑20 kWh of comprehensive energy per ton of carbon steel. In green processes such as hydrogen‑based direct reduced iron, electromagnetic stirring has become a necessary measure to prevent the "iceberg effect" and ensure production stability.
Energy substitution has also made breakthroughs. The hydrogen‑fueled burner jointly tested by RWTH Aachen University and SMS Group can operate under 100% hydrogen conditions; switching a single burner to hydrogen can reduce CO₂ emissions at the combustion end by up to 27%.
Global Practice: Major Projects Accelerate Implementation
POSCO of South Korea has built the country's largest electric arc furnace at its Gwangyang plant, with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons and a total investment of about 600 billion won, reducing carbon emissions by up to 75% compared to traditional blast furnaces. Germany's Salzgitter Group has announced the construction of a new electric arc furnace with a tapping weight of 285 tons in Duisburg, with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons, which will become the largest in Germany and the second largest in the EU. Nippon Steel has also started the transformation from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces.
Domestically, Hebei Zhongshou Special Steel invested over 5 billion yuan to build an "EAF + ESP" short‑process production line, obtaining the first authorization for the national short‑process ultra‑low emission steel label; Baosteel Zhanjiang, through the combination of "hydrogen‑based shaft furnace + electric arc furnace," has opened a brand‑new short‑process low‑carbon metallurgical path, with an annual carbon reduction capacity of 3.14 million tons.
From electromagnetic stirring to hydrogen burners, from equipment innovation to global capacity expansion, electric arc furnaces are using technology as an engine to reshape the green future of steelmaking.