Introduction:

Steelmaking in electric arc furnace has emerged as an important steelmaking process in recent years .The flexibility and easy adoptability of EAF steelmaking to accommodate the fluctuating market demand have evolved into the concept of mini steel plants to produce different grades of finished products (long or flat or mixed ) of plain carbon or alloy steels from scrap and other metallic charge materials. Although scrap is the preferred raw material but sponge iron and iron carbide are being used regularly in most plants because of shortage of steel scrap and to dilute the concentration of tramp elements.Several developments in the design and operation have made EAF steelmaking to contribute significantly to the overall total production of steel in the world. According to an estimate, the proportion of electric steel is around 40 to 45% in the total world steel production. It must be noted that EAF consumes lot of electric energy and hence the cost and availability of electrical power are important issues in electric steel development.

Type of Electric furnaces: 
       
In principle an electric arc is formed between the electrode and the metallic charge and charge is heated from the arc radiation. Electric arc furnaces are of two type (a) alternating current and (b) direct current. In alternating current, furnace operates by means of electric current flowing from one electrode of three to another through the metallic charge. In direct current, the current flows from carbon electrode, which acts as cathode, to an anode embedded in the bottom of the furnace.