This article popularizes the difference between electric arc furnace and blast furnace and their respective advantages and disadvantages.
Key words: electric arc furnace; blast furnace; advantages and disadvantages
Electric arc furnace
1. Use obsolete waste as the main source of material.
2. Use electricity as its main energy source to melt the scrap and adjust the performance of the ladle furnace.
3. Reduce initial cost and take up less space.
4. Less time to manufacture products.
Electric arc furnaces are smaller and more efficient. They do not require a constant supply of coke; instead, they use electricity carried through graphite electrodes to create an arc. The metal used in electric arc furnaces is usually steel scrap. Temperature management within the system is easier and more efficient than in a blast furnace. Another benefit of using the electric arc furnace process is that all types of steel can be manufactured.
Blast furnace ironmaking
1. Iron ore is used as raw material and coke is used as main fuel and energy.
2. Melting iron ore and coke, so pig iron with high carbon content can be produced, which is then sent to the converter to remove impurities.
3. It requires a lot of investment in the development of facilities and takes up a lot of space.
4. Easier to produce clean steel.
5. Emission of large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Still, the blast furnace symbolizes the metal-smelting industry as most people know it. We see in the photos that this is a huge furnace system involving multiple components. Coke is used to melt iron ore to produce pig iron. Oxygen is then used to convert the pig iron into steel. However, this method produces high CO2 emissions due to the constant demand for coke. Blast furnaces are also an essential link in the current process of increasing production capacity in the steel industry. However, in the future, more advanced manufacturing and short-process steelmaking are required. This is the real goal of reducing carbon and controlling production capacity in the future, and it needs to be popularized.
The construction period of blast furnace is long, the cost is high, and the later maintenance is difficult. It is a high-energy-consuming project, but its high output is also a major feature.
