An energy optimization study of the electric arc furnace from the steelmaking process with hot metal charging

A study of energy optimization derived from simulation software has been done for the high-intensity energy of an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), hot metal charging within the cooler duct dedusting system. The present work aims to develop a dynamic model of the EAF operation based on mass and energy balances integrated with simulation of the dedusting system with hot metal charging system using MATLAB® and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The effect of various percentages of hot metal charging on EAF performance and the dedusting system was simulated and validated from the real EAF data plant from one of the steel manufacturer companies in Indonesia. Three cases for the EAF with various hot metal (HM), sponge iron, and scrap iron charging compositions and four cases for the EAF with post-combustion CO have been developed. Careful observation shows that the electric arc power consumption can be reduced down to 72.9 MWh from 87.4 MWh (ca. 16% more efficient) while at the same time increasing the HM charging temperature at the endpoint of the duct dedusting system up to 900 °C from 540 °C (app. 65% higher). Additionally, advanced simulation of an EAF with post-combustion CO shows that power consumption can be decreased to 59.9 MWh (ca. 30% more efficient).