How Much Power Does an Electric Arc Furnace Require?

The power demand of an electric arc furnace depends on the type, capacity, smelting materials and process stages of the industrial electric furnaces. Let's understand and analyze it together below:

Electric Arc Furnace Power

1. Typical power consumption range

• Ordinary electric arc melting furnace (30~100 tons capacity)

• Unit power consumption: 350~600 kWh/ton steel

• Total power demand: 40~100 MW (depending on the size of the furnace and the capacity of the transformer)

• Smelting time: about 60~90 minutes/furnace (including melting, refining and other stages)

Large steelmaking electric arc furnace (more than 100 tons)

Power consumption may be as low as 300~450 kWh/ton (due to scale effect and efficient technology).

2. Power demand by stage

Melting period (highest power consumption):

• Accounting for 60%~70% of the total power consumption, and the power peak can reach 80%~100% of the rated capacity of the industrial electric furnaces.

• For example, a 50-ton electric arc furnaces may require 60-80 MW of instantaneous power during the melting period.

Refining period:

• The power is reduced to 30%-50%, mainly for temperature control and composition adjustment.

3. Influencing factors

Raw material type:

High purity scrap or hot-charged hot metal (DRI/HBI) can reduce power consumption by 10%-20%.

Technical configuration:

Oxygen-fuel melting and scrap preheating (such as Consteel process) can reduce power consumption to 280-400 kWh/ton.

Ultra-high power (UHP) electric arc furnace shorten time and improve energy efficiency through high current.

Grid requirements:

Stable high-voltage power supply (usually 10-35 kV) is required, and dynamic reactive power compensation (SVC) is equipped to suppress flicker.

4. Economic & environmental considerations

Cost estimation:

If the electricity price is $0.1/kWh, the electricity cost per ton of steel is about $35-60.

Carbon emissions:

The full electric melting furnace process emits about 0.4-0.6 tons of CO₂ per ton of steel (depending on the cleanliness of the power grid), which is significantly lower than the traditional blast furnace (~2 tons).

5. Example reference

A 70-ton EAF Melting furnace:

• Transformer rated power: 80 MVA

• Actual power consumption: 380 kWh/ton

• When producing 500,000 tons of steel per year, the annual power consumption is about 190 million kWh.

The power demand of the electric arc furnace needs to be evaluated in combination with specific production parameters. Modern efficient designs are driving power consumption to less than 300 kWh/ton. In practical applications, it is necessary to integrate transformer capacity, process optimization and energy management to reduce the cost of industrial electric furnaces.