Head of Proposal Department, EAFs and LFs
What happens when two leading technology providers in the metals industry join forces, united by their passion for sustainability? By pairing Tenova’s expertise in the highly efficient EAFs with ABB’s know-how in advanced electromagnetic stirrers, the two companies have designed the most sustainable, reliable, and safe solution on the market to date, whose productivity rivals that of fossil-fuelled blast furnaces.
One of the biggest challenges facing the green energy transition is ensuring energy resilience and affordability while significantly reducing emissions. For decades, electric arc furnaces (EAFs), the front runners for green-powered steel manufacturing, have not been as productive as fossil-fuelled blast furnaces by a factor of about 15-20%. This is quickly set to change, however, thanks to Tenova’s collaboration with ABB, resulting in a Consteel® EAF equipped with the electromagnetic stirrer Consteerrer®. These two integrated technologies offer a solution that is virtually at par with the dominant method for primary steelmaking – the integrated blast furnace‑basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF). Crucially, this makes it the most sustainable, reliable, and safe option available on the market.
Tenova’s collaboration with ABB goes way back, but it is our early belief in the importance of sustainability and passion for innovation that truly united us. Drawing on our joint heritage of technological advancements, in 2017, we decided to pool our expertise and bring together two key technologies to both increase the efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of steel production: Tenova’s EAF Consteel® technology and ABB’s electromagnetic stirrer. By integrating these two innovative technologies, we could now offer significantly low operating costs, extremely reliable and safe operations, as well as superior quality steel, all while contributing to sustainability.
Head of Proposal Department, EAFs and LFs
“It was not so common to talk about sustainability in steel manufacturing in 2017. But the two companies each had a proud history of constant technological development, so we put on the table this heritage, to squeeze the most from our experience, from working reference cases, and in that moment we started to talk about sustainability.”
Back in 2017, Consteel® had proved itself in more than 75 installations worldwide. Its unique process of preheating and continuous charging into a liquid steel bath was far more efficient than conventional systems that used direct energy transfer to solids in conventional top-charging EAFs. There was, however, room for improvement, especially in the persistent issue of hot and cold spots in the Consteel® furnaces. This is where the innovative features of the electromagnetic stirrer proved pivotal: the Consteerrer® enhanced the Consteel® Evolution process with ABB’s ArcSave® non-contact electromagnetic stirring of the furnace’s liquid bath. It could also optimize the use of direct reduced iron (DRI), hot briquetted iron (HBI), and beach iron (low-purity pig iron) as available, and as needed.
Last but not least, the Consteerrer® also significantly contributed to safety in steelmaking: by providing process control of the bath, temperature, and homogeneity, the non-contact process is more reliable and safer. While there are still challenges to overcome in more widespread adoption of a sustainable EAF technology – including access to renewables and policies that incentivize large-scale investments in green technologies over high-performing fossil-fuelled ones – the steel industry recognizes the urgency for a green energy transition. Improving sustainability is, in fact, one of the primary drivers for steelmakers to adopt new solutions. We are proud that our joint technology is playing such a crucial role in revolutionizing our sector.
Tenova has continuously enhanced the Consteel® system to cater to the specific requirements of its clients since its first industrial deployment in the USA in 1989. Today, it is the most applied EAF solution for continuous scrap charge and waste heat recovery. In the Consteel® system, the fumes produced by the EAF serve to pre-heat raw materials in the pre-heating section, while scrap is delivered to the crucible in a steady, controlled flow. Thanks to the uninterrupted charging process, the organic compounds developing from the non-metallic portion of the scrap undergo thorough pyrolysis and combustion within the system. This ensures the minimal generation of harmful substances, such as dioxins and furans.
The Consteerrer®, jointly developed by ABB and Tenova under an exclusive global partnership agreement, is an application of ABB's distinctive ArcSave® non-contact electromagnetic stirring technology, explicitly tailored for continuous charging EAFs. This innovation brings about several advantages, including the reduction of thermal losses, an increase in melt rate, rapid homogenization of the liquid steel, and a decrease in the oxygen content within the bath. In addition, this technology can be customized to align with the specific requirements of various EAFs, even as a retrofit option for existing units.
Global Sales Manager Metallurgy Products, ABB
“Our shared passion for innovation and belief in the importance of sustainability is what brought ABB and Tenova together but when I look back on my career it will be the team spirit of the people I remember most. I’m excited to see what more we can do together to increase efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of steel production”.
Due to its intrinsic characteristics, the Tenova Consteel® system is the best environmentally friendly technology for melting steel and is currently the best choice for the energy transition of the steel industry. Its benefits include optimal combustion of CO in the primary fumes, low NOx, dioxin, and furan emissions in the fumes, less dust production thanks to the primary separation in the heating tunnel, and the use of scrap surrogates and carbon substitutes. The Consteerrer® provides homogeneous temperature distribution within the EAF melt, accelerated scrap melt rates, reducing energy use and facilitating smooth tapping without delays. When integrated with the Consteel® EAF, its efficiency and flexibility improve overall sustainability.
For example, for Ternium’s state-of-the-art new steel mill in Pesquería, Mexico, the pairing is one of the main technologies of a US$2.2 billion development. The Consteerrer® will deliver efficiencies that help improve the sustainability of the plant, and lower operating costs. Meanwhile, in Osmaniye, Turkey, Hasçelik’ steel plant will use both technologies which will lead to a reduction of about 15 kilowatt hours in energy consumption, allowing Hasçelik to have one of the most sustainable and efficient EAFs in Turkey.
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