Processing granulated metallic units within electric arc furnaces, and associated systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025084496-A1
Application number	US-202418882501-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 11, 2024
Priority date	Sep 11, 2023
Publication date	Mar 13, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

Processing granulated metallic units within electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and associated systems, devices, and methods are disclosed herein. A representative method can include receiving granulated metallic units in an EAF, wherein the granulated metallic units comprise no more than 0.05 wt. % of sulfur and at least 50% of particles in the granulated iron material have a particle size of at least 6 millimeters. The method can include applying electrical energy to the granulated iron via electrodes and melting the granulated iron material to form a molten steel product. The method can also include tapping the EAF to remove the molten steel product from the EAF.

First claim

I/We claim:

1 . A method for producing steel from granulated metallic units using an electric arc furnace (EAF), the method comprising:
receiving granulated metallic units (GMUs) in an EAF, wherein the GMUs comprise no more than 0.05 wt. % of sulfur and at least 50% of the GMUs have a particle size of at least 6 millimeters; applying electrical energy to the GMUs via electrodes; melting the GMUs to form a molten steel product; and tapping the EAF to remove the molten steel product.

1 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the GMUs comprises no more than 0.01 wt. % of sulfur.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the GMUs comprise between 0.0001 wt. % and 0.01 wt. % of sulfur and between 0.8 wt. % and 4.0 wt. % of carbon.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the GMUs comprise between 0.0001 wt. % and 0.01 wt. % of sulfur and no more than 2.0 wt. % of carbon.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the GMUs comprise granulated pig iron (GPI) particles and at least 4 wt. % of carbon.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the GMUs comprise 1 wt. % to 4 wt. % of carbon.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the GMUs comprise granulated steel particles and no more than 1 wt. % of carbon.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the GMUs comprises 94 wt. % to 96 wt. % of iron.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the GMUs comprise 0.01 wt. % to 0.1 wt. % of phosphorus, 0.1 wt. % to 2 wt. % of silicon, and 0.1 wt. % to 1.0 wt. % of manganese.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least 50% of particles of the GMUs have a particle size between 6 millimeters and 10 millimeters.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the molten steel product has a sulfur concentration below or equal to 0.05 wt. %.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising producing slag as a by-product, wherein the produced slag is less than 10 wt. % of the produced molten steel product.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an average particle size of the GMUs is between 6 to 25 mm.

13 . An electric arc furnace (EAF) system for producing steel from granulated metal units (GMUs), the EAF system comprising:
a furnace shell positioned to receive a plurality of the GMUs, wherein individual GMUs comprise: a mass fraction of phosphorous of at least 0.025 wt. %; a mass fraction of silicon between 0.325 wt. % and 1.5 wt. %; a mass fraction of manganese of at least 0.2 wt. %; a mass fraction of carbon of at least 0.8 wt. %; a mass fraction of sulfur between 0.0001 wt. % and 0.08 wt. %; and a mass fraction of iron of at least 94.0 wt. %; electrodes configured to conduct electrical energy into the furnace shell to melt the GMUs to form a molten steel product; and a tapping system configured to remove the molten steel product from the furnace shell.

14 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the GMUs comprises no more than 0.01 wt. % of sulfur.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the GMUs comprise between 0.0001 wt. % and 0.01 wt. % of sulfur and between 0.8 wt. % and 4.0 wt. % of carbon.

16 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the GMUs comprise between 0.0001 wt. % and 0.01 wt. % of sulfur and no more than 2.0 wt. % of carbon.

17 . The system of claim 14 , wherein at least 50% of particles of the GMUs have a particle size between 6 millimeters and 10 millimeters.

18 . The system of claim 14 , wherein an average particle size of the GMUs is between 6 to 25 mm.

19 . The system of claim 14 , further comprising a charging system positioned to receive the GMUs from a GMU source and charge the GMUs to the furnace shell.

Assignees

• Suncoke Tech & Development Llc

Inventors

• Quanci John Francis
• RICHARDSON John Michael
• Mullarkey Patrick James
• Schwake David James
• Butor Andrew Michael
• Perkins Jonathan Hale
• Choi Chun Wai

Classifications

• B22F2009/0832

  Handling of atomising fluid, e.g. heating, cooling, cleaning, recirculating · CPC title

• B22F9/08

  by casting, e.g. through sieves or in water, by atomising or spraying (using electric discharge B22F9/14) · CPC title

• B22F2009/0828

  with water · CPC title

• B22F9/04

  starting from solid material, e.g. by crushing, grinding or milling ({C22C1/1084 takes precedence}; crushing, grinding or milling, in general, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. B02C) · CPC title

• C22C33/0257

  characterised by the range of the alloying elements · CPC title