Method for making steel in an electric arc furnace

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of metallurgy, and specifically to a method for producing steel in an electric arc furnace. A known method for making steel in an electric arc furnace includes, at least, loading, into the working space of a furnace, a solid metal charge and, at least, solid carbon-containing materials, melting the charge using electric arcs, carburizing the metal using the solid carbon-containing materials during melting, and outputting metal and slag from the furnace. It is proposed to conduct the melting process with the addition, to the working space of the furnace, of a high-carbon carburizer in the form of a liquid phase of iron recovered from the arc combustion zone for the additional carburization of the metal, wherein the high-carbon carburizer is obtained from iron oxides and carbonaceous material. The iron oxides and carbonaceous material are fed into the arc combustion zone, the dimensions of which are limited by D=dp+6del, where dp is the electrode pitch circle diameter and del is the diameter of an electrode. The total carbon content, in free and dissolved forms in the liquid iron phase, does not exceed 30%. The total amount of carburizer used in melting does not exceed 20% of the mass of the metal charge. The carburizer is fed continuously or periodically into the working space of the furnace during the charge melting process. The feeding of carburizer begins as charge melting begins. The use of the invention results in increased liquid metal output by means of regulating carbon content in the course of melting, increasing the carburization level of metal from the very beginning of melting, and reducing the loss of iron to slag and smoke.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.