Comparative Assessment of LD Converter and Electric Arc Furnace Steelmaking in Terms of Removal of Undesirable Tramp Elements

摘要

It can be stated, by way of summary, that the EAF process incurs significant disadvantages compared to the LD converter process in terms of achievement of low non-removable tramp element contents. This signifies that, in general, tungsten, copper, molybdenum, nickel and cobalt contents in steel from the EAF are higher than in the case of LD steelmaking. The electric arc furnace also produces steel with higher tin, arsenic and antimony contents than the LD converter process. However, the occurrence and accumulation of the harmful tramp elements in the materials cycle of steel will deteriorate this situation in the future. Nevertheless it is difficult to predict the future trend of tramp elements in the scrap qualities. As an example Figure 10 illustrates an attempt of the Nippon Steel Corporation to predict the Cu and Sn contents in heavy and bar scrap in Japan9.