Experience gained in the operation of a ladle furnace at the basic oxygen steelmaking plant of Eko Stahl GmbH

Objective. At Eko Stahl GmbH in Eisenhuttenstadt, a ladle furnace was brought on-stream in June 1996 to increase the effectiveness and operative capability of the basic oxygen steelmaking plant and to improve the metallurgical work at the ladle metallurgy stage. Summary. The new ladle furnace is designed to treat heats with a weight of 240 t and has a transformer rating of 30 MVA. A reheating rate of 3.4 to 4.1 degrees C/min is achieved at the highest reheat setting. Precise alloying is assured by means of a six-strand wire injection machine and the connection to the converter alloying system. The heats are stirred using automatic argon and nitrogen stirring-gas double couplings or a stirring lance. With an energy consumption of 9.86 kWh/t, the costs of liquid steel production have been lowered by 0.59 DM/t, primarily by prolonging the converter life and by reducing the tapping temperature, casting temperature, amount of returned steel, and hot metal charge. (E 29905).