Milestone for carbon neutrality
SMS group was awarded a contract to supply one of the world’s strongest Alternate Current-Electric Arc Furnaces (AC-EAF) and its auxiliaries to Saarstahl in Völklingen, Germany. This will contribute to SHS’ goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.
Superlatives are part of this project: the new 185-tons EDGE EAF will be built within a brownfield area already defined by the customer and being equipped with a transformer capacity of 300 MVA, it will be one of the most powerful EAF in the world, capable of an outstanding 39-minute tap-to-tap time. Featuring a 9.3-meter lower shell-diameter, it will also be the largest EAF ever built by SMS group with an capacity of 1.9 million t/year of liquid steel.
Thanks to its flexibility, it will be able to process a mix of up to 100% scrap or 80% Cold Direct Reduced Iron (CDRI)/Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) and 20% scrap, significantly reducing carbon emissions.
Among the extensive SMS scope of supply is Condoor®, the enhanced slag door which ensures significant advantages in terms of safety, productivity, energy savings, and environmental impact. Condoor® enables automatic operation, reduces power-off time, ensures a clean slag door sill, saves energy, and lowers NOx emissions with a sealed shell. Additionally, it optimizes slag residence time, improving flux and raw material use while reducing electrode, carbon, and lime consumption, ultimately lowering the CO2 footprint.
Part of the scope is also a material handling system which will deliver the required amount of alloying elements and CDRI to the EAF for specific production grades.
Two fume treatment plants with the energy recovery system will ensure strict environmental emissions while the proper design of the SMS equipment will limit the noise in the adjacent city. Even the hybrid power feeding for scrap bucket and shell maintenance cars will contribute to these targets.
In addition, a water treatment and compressed air plant, as well as bay and field piping, will feed the furnace area with required media.
To complete the supply, a liquid steel handling area with an energy recovery system at preheating and the refractory repair area within the existing building will ensure the smooth maintenance of the furnace.
Medium and low voltage equipment with relevant cables will feed the EAF and its auxiliary system.
Cutting-edge automation and digital solutions will ensure enhanced operational efficiency and safety since the new EAF will feature SMS group’s advanced X-Pact® automation, including X-Pact® Sense for leakage detection and X-Pact® AutoTapping for safe and automated tapping. Genius CM® will be implemented for predictive maintenance, enhancing operational efficiency and safety. Additional innovations include SafEBT-clean for automatic cleaning of the Eccentric Bottom Tapping (EBT) channel to ensure the highest rate of spontaneous EBT opening, and SafEBT-fill for automatic sand filling, temperature taking, and exchange of probes.
We are proud to play a key role in Europe's green steel transformation with this major project for Saarstahl and SHS - Stahl-Holding Saar. The project highlights the long-standing partnership between SHS and SMS group. With an installed power of 300 MVA the new EAF is the biggest ever built by SMS group and will set a new milestone in a carbon-neutral future for the steel industry in Europe.
Main data
- 1 x 185 t EDGE AC-EAF
- Upper shell diameter : 9.4 m (one of the largest installation in the world)
- Transformer capacity: 300 MVA
- Capacity: 1.9 million t/year
- Product mix: Bearing steel, engineering steel, free-cutting steel, leaded steel, spring steel
- Input materials and mixes: flexible mix from 100% scrap up to 80%CDRI/HBI and 20% scrap, with future provision for hot metal charging.