Method for operating an electric arc furnace

A method for operating an electric arc furnace having at least one electrode, the method comprising the steps of:

• introducing material as an actual mass flow into the electric arc furnace, wherein the electric arc furnace is an electric reduction furnace for melting and reducing the material introduced;
• feeding electrical energy via the at least one electrode into the electric reduction furnace to melt the introduced material according to a required electrical energy input determined previously;
• and
• determining the required electrical energy input into the electric reduction furnace depending on the mass flow qmactual input into the furnace, wherein the required energy input is determined as a power setpoint value Psetpoint and is introduced into the electric reduction furnace by either a power open-loop control or a power closed-loop control, wherein the step of determining the required energy input comprises the following sub steps:
• predefining or determining a specific energy demand as an energy demand parameter k1, wherein the determining is effected depending on a predefined expected energy value for operation of the electric reduction furnace, the mass flow qmactual input into the electric reduction furnace, and/or depending on properties of the input material;
• predefining or determining thermal energy stored in a vessel of the electric reduction furnace in relation to a mass of slag and to a mass of the material tapped from the electric reduction furnace as a loss parameter k0;
• and
• determining the required electrical energy input as a power setpoint value Psetpoint for the electric reduction furnace depending on the mass flow qmactual input into the electric reduction furnace, the energy demand parameter k1 and the loss parameter k0.