Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee

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MISSION: To serve and support the ESTC members and the iron/steel industry by providing forums for technical information exchange, personal development and networking. The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee will accomplish this Vision through the development of a technical training seminar, AISTech annual conference and technically focused committee meetings.

Past AIST Committee Activities

Current Activities

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met in Charleston, S.C., during AIST’s 19th Modern Electric Furnace Steelmaking Specialty Training Seminar. The ESTC AIST Process Benchmarker (APB) development meeting was held on Monday, 6 February 2012 before registration opened for the joint training seminar. Sam Matson and Francesco Memoli, APB chairs, presented module development options and guidelines. The ESTC met on Wednesday morning, 8 February 2012. There were 31 ESTC members in attendance. A review of the 2011 Steel Industry Fatalities Report was followed by a safety roundtable discussion. Greg Buragino, ESTC papers chair, presented the AISTech 2012 session schedule for this year’s conference. Memoli, ESTC chair, reviewed the 2011 AIST Electric Arc Furnace Roundup. Matson, ESTC vice chair and ESTC APB chair, updated the committee on EAF benchmarking and the development of the APB module. Matson encouraged participation from everyone in the creation of a benchmarking questionnaire to capture necessary process parameters that would be valuable to compare. Patrick Hansert, BSE America, provided a questionnaire format that could be implemented. Memoli announced the 2012 Charles W. Briggs Award winners for their paper entitled, “Dragon Steel Corp. in Taiwan Boosted 150-Ton EAF Twin Shell by Continuous Hot Metal Charging Process”: Christophe Solver, Jean-Luc Roth, Mathias Hoffman, René Stoltz and Michel Houbart. The next ESTC meeting will be held on Monday, 7 May at AISTech 2012 in Atlanta, Ga.

2012 John Bell Award for EAF Innovation, Improvement and Education — Established in 2011, this award honors John Bell, a tireless innovator and educator who was active in the exchange of concepts and ideas that advanced the knowledge and understanding of electric arc furnace steelmaking. He took every opportunity to teach and exchange his knowledge and understanding with operators and professionals alike and cultivated many strong relationships. John Bell, executive vice president and manager of operations at Severstal Columbus LLC, died on 24 September 2011. This award will be presented posthumously to Jacobus Marthinus Andreas “Kobus” Geldenhuis, of Nucor Crawfordsville, who was the 2011 ESTC papers chair. Mr. Geldenhuis passed away on 5 August 2011.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met on Saturday and Monday, 27 and 29 August 2011 in Scottsdale, Ariz. The ESTC paid tribute to Kobus Geldenhuis, of Nucor Steel–Crawfordsville and the ESTC papers chair, who passed away on 5 August. Kobus’ dedication to family, Nucor and this committee was recognized. The 2011 Steel Industry Fatalities Statistics were reviewed, followed by a safety roundtable discussion. Saturday’s meeting started with an overview of CMC Arizona plant operations by Randy Marsh. The ESTC meeting theme involved electrode benchmarking. The following committee members gave presentations: Jeremy Jones, WorleyParsons; Kyle Hanover, Steel Dynamics Inc. – Flat Roll Div.; Fernando Martinez, AMI GE; Wayne Adams, GrafTech International; and Francesco Memoli, Tenova Core. These presentations are available for review on the ESTC members website.

The ESTC met again on Monday, 29 August to discuss the AISTech 2012 Call for Papers, nominate and elect a papers chair, review the joint training seminar in Charleston, S.C., on 6–10 February 2012, the EAF Roundup and progress made on the AIST Process Benchmarker (APB) module for EAF steelmaking. Greg Buragino of Air Products was nominated and elected as the ESTC papers chair. AISTech 2012 paper sessions were discussed, and abstracts were selected for presentations. Scott Swanson, the ESTC education chair, reviewed the committee’s program outline for the joint training seminar with Electric Steelmaking and Specialty Steelmaking, taking place in February 2012. Nucor Steel – Berkeley will serve as the plant host. Francesco Memoli, the ESTC chair, reviewed the 2011 EAF Roundup, and the committee hopes to expand on the number of EAF facilities listed for 2012. Sam Matson, ESTC vice chair, has accepted the role of ESTC benchmarking chair. A subcommittee was formed to develop an EAF benchmarking questionnaire to distribute to ESTC producer members, in an effort to create an effective benchmarking tool. This subcommittee is comprised of Sam Matson; Francesco Memoli; Eugene Pretorius; Stephan Ferenczy; Colin Butler; Ricardo Anawate, AIST Division III board of directors representative; and Barry Schrader, past ESTC chair.

The ESTC would like to acknowledge CMC Arizona’s Alan Jackson, director — operations; Randy Marsh, operations manager, and the rest of the CMC Arizona family for an excellent tour of their facility on Monday, 29 August 2011.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met on 2 May 2011 in Indianapolis, Ind. There were 58 members in attendance with current ESTC membership at 84 members. The 2011 Steel Industry Fatalities Statistics were reviewed and it was noted that 11 fatalities occurred in the first quarter of 2011. Sam Matson reviewed the AISTech paper sessions and encouraged committee members to support by attending ESTC sessions. Scott Swanson updated the committee on the joint EAF and Specialty Steelmaking Training Seminar scheduled for 6–10 February 2012 in Charleston, S.C. Nucor Steel–Berkeley will be the host plant. ESTC members recognized Larry Heaslip, Jeremy Jones and Dave Bauer as seminar presenters for the last 18 years. The ESTC officer elections were approved: Francesco Memoli, chair and roundup chair; Sam Matson, vice chair; Kobus Geldenhuis, papers chair; Stephan Ferenczy, membership chair; and Scott Swanson and Brett McGee, education co-chairs. The 2011 Charles W. Briggs Award was presented to Brian Butcher, Yury Krotov, Robert LaRoy, Kyle Vanover and Steven Meyer for their paper, “Single Charge EAF Modification: Installation and Experience.” The 2012 EAF Roundup will concentrate on completing the North and South American electric steelmaking operations. Roundtable/panel discussion participants will be Eugene Pretorius, Harriet Dutka, Stewart Robinson, Jeremy Jones, Kobus Geldenhuis and Dennis Rodal. The committee presented Barry Schrader with the ESTC chair plaque. The next ESTC meeting will be at the 2011 Globe-Trotters Annual Meeting on 27–30 August 2011 in Scottsdale, Ariz. 

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met on 9 Feb 2011 in Mobile, Ala., during the EAF Training Seminar. There were 28 ESTC members in attendance, while the current ESTC roster has 88 members. The 2010 and 2011 Steel Industry Fatalities report was reviewed, followed by a roundtable safety discussion. The ESTC paid tribute to Stuart Gray of Gerdau Ameristeel for his years of committee participation. Sam Matson, papers chair, discussed the paper sessions scheduled for AISTech 2011. The Electric Steelmaking Roundup was reviewed by Roundup chairs Scott Swanson and Francesco Memoli. Values were converted to metric units in order to encourage global participation. The ESTC will look into adding transformer information to next year’s Roundup. The ESTC reviewed the AIST Process Benchmarking (APB) program, which will provide producer members with the opportunity to develop benchmarking practices. Scott Swanson, education chair, updated the committee on this year’s EAF Training Seminar. There were 135 attendees at the seminar. Harriet Dutka made a motion to combine the EAF Training Seminar with the Specialty Steelmaking Seminar in order to offer a more comprehensive seminar for electric steelmakers. The ESTC approved this motion, as did the Specialty Alloy & Foundry Technology Committee one week later to combine the seminars. Next year’s combined EAF and Specialty Steelmaking Training Seminar will take place 6–10 Feb 2012 in Charleston, S.C., with Nucor Steel–Berkeley as the plant host.

Sam Matson announced the winners of the 2011 Charles W. Briggs Award for Best Paper: Brian Butcher, Yury Krotov, Robert LaRoy, Kyle Vanover and Steven Myers, for their paper entitled “Single Charge EAF Modification: Installation and Experience.” Francesco Memoli announced the 2011 AIST Distinguished Member will be James Simmons, who is retired from Tenova Core. Ted Leczo made a motion to develop an AIST Association Award named for the inventor of the electric arc furnace, Paul Louis-Toussaint Heroult. This association-level award would be named the Paul Louis-Toussaint Heroult Commemorative Medal. The ESTC approved this motion, and Mr. Leczo volunteered to write a letter to the AIST board of directors.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the Globe-Trotters Member Chapter annual meeting, on 28 and 30 Aug. Barry Schrader, ESTC chair, welcomed 22 ESTC members and six guests. The ESTC discussed a recent survey that asked what schedule they prefer for the AISTech 2011 Town Hall Forum. This committee voted unanimously to schedule the Town Hall on Wednesday afternoon. The committee reviewed the 2010 Steel Industry Fatalities Statistics, including the most recent fatality at Gerdau Ameristeel involving a piece of mobile equipment. Scott Swanson updated the group on the 2011 AIST EAF Roundup. The ESTC approved the inclusion of the hot heel practices of EAF shops as a new statistic within the Roundup. The AISTech 2010 Best Paper Award nominating committee was selected: Sam Matson (chair), Ricardo Anawate, Stewart Robinson, Richard Phillips, Ted Leczo and Stuart Gray. The AIST glossary was discussed, and ESTC members were encouraged to submit EAF-related terminology. The ESTC membership has collected 30 nominating letters in support of Jim Simmons for the Distinguished Member Award at AISTech 2011. Mr. Swanson reviewed the 2011 EAF Training Seminar scheduled for 7–11 Feb 2011, in Mobile, Ala. A new feature will be a panel discussion after the plant tour of SSAB Mobile on Wednesday afternoon, 9 Feb, with an expert panel consisting of Stuart Gray, Kobus Geldenhuis, Stewart Robinson and Eugene Pretorius.

On 30 Aug, the ESTC held a paper session meeting, during which session topics, papers and session chairs were scheduled for AISTech 2011. The two-hour ESTC session on Tuesday morning at AISTech 2011 will consist of an EAF Safety Panel Discussion featuring representatives from Nucor, Gerdau Ameristeel, CMC and Steel Dynamics Inc., along with a safety professional from AIST’s Safety & Health Technology Committee. The next ESTC meeting will be held on 9 Feb 2011, during AIST’s EAF Training Seminar in Mobile, Ala.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met on Monday, 3 May at AISTech 2010, with 45 members in attendance. Jeremy Jones began the meeting by reviewing the 2010 Steel Industry Fatalities Statistics and opened up discussion regarding recent injuries, near misses, and corrective actions that have been successful. The ESTC officers for the 2010–2011 term are as follows: Barry Schrader, chair; Francesco Memoli, vice chair; Sam Matson, papers chair; Kobus Geldenhuis, membership chair; and Scott Swanson, education chair. Past chair Ricardo Anawate has been elected as the AIST Division III board of directors representative for the 2010–2012 term. Mr. Swanson presented an update on the 2011 EAF Training Seminar, which is scheduled for 7–11 Feb 2011, in Mobile, Ala., with SSAB as the host plant. The 2010 Charles W. Briggs Award was presented to Kenneth Coley, Fuzhong Ji, Matthew King and Gord Irons for their paper, “Kinetics of Carbon Reaction With Electric Arc Furnace Slags During Slag Foaming.” The AIST template was used by 60% of this year’s presenters. Mr. Swanson has asked ESTC members to revise/update/increase statistics for the 2011 North American EAF Roundup, to be published in the February 2011 issue of Iron & Steel Technology. Secondary steelmaking processes will be added to the existing EAF Roundup to provide the process method before casting for each EAF shop. To conclude the meeting, Barry Schrader and Scott Swanson presented Jeremy Jones with the ESTC chair plaque for the 2009–2010 term.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met in Columbia, S.C., with 18 members in attendance. Committee reviewed the 2009–2010 Steel Industry Fatalities statistics, along with two 3-year graphs depicting the reason and type of fatalities. Safety round table discussions followed. Scott Swanson, ESTC education chair, reviewed this year’s EAF Training Seminar. Plans for next year’s training conference have begun, with plans to hold the conference in Mobile, Ala., on 7–11 Feb 2011. Jeremy Jones, ESTC chair, and Scott Swanson reviewed the EAF Roundup published in the Iron & Steel Technology February issue. This roundup will be updated every year and published in the February issue of I&ST. The ESTC recognized the effort Scott Swanson made in compiling new EAF data for this roundup.

Francesco Memoli, ESTC papers chair, discussed the scheduled sessions at AISTech 2010. There are seven sessions scheduled involving electric steelmaking. The ESTC 2011 Call for Abstracts was reviewed and approved. Mr. Jones encouraged everyone to solicit at least one paper for next year. The 2010 Charles W. Briggs Award for Best Paper was given to M.P. King, Dr. Fuzhong Ji, Dr. Gordon A. Irons and Dr. Kenneth S. Coley for their paper entitled, “Kinetics of Carbon Reaction With Electric Arc Furnace Slags During Slag Foaming.” Mr. Memoli asked the committee their opinion on switching the AISTech Town Hall Forum to Wednesday afternoon for AISTech 2011, which the ESTC found appealing. Ricardo Anawate, ESTC past chair, has been nominated for the 2010–2012 term as the AIST Division III Board of Directors representative. The ESTC officer rotation for the 2010–2011 term will be as follows: Barry Schrader, chair; Francesco Memoli, vice chair; Sam Matson, papers chair; and Kobus Geldenhuis, membership chair. The fall ESTC meeting will be scheduled before the Globe-Trotters event, which is scheduled for 28–31 Aug 2010, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The next ESTC meeting will be at AISTech 2010 in Pittsburgh on Monday, 3 May.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met on 18–19 Nov 2009, at the headquarters of WorleyParsons, Irving, Texas. Jeremy Jones, ESTC chair, welcomed the 23 committee members in attendance and three ESTC members who participated via the WorleyParsons Genesys conference calling option. Current ESTC membership stands at 74 members, with 22 members (30%) as producer members. Mr. Jones encouraged each attendee to invite one AIST producer member to the next ESTC meeting. Previous AISTech 2009 meeting minutes and an ESTC conference call were reviewed and approved. Mr. Jones and Francesco Memoli represented the ESTC at AIST’s Leadership Development Conference the preceding week. Safety round table discussions started with the 2009 Steel Industry Fatality Statistics developed by the AIST Safety & Health Technology Committee. A personalized safety fatality report encouraged dialogue across many Technology Committees. The ESTC recognized C/G Electrodes LLC as a recipient of the 2009 Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Safety Excellence. Ten companies were given this prestigious award out of 75 nominated.
Mr. Memoli, ESTC papers chair, reported that more than 390 abstracts have been submitted for AISTech 2010. ESTC sessions were discussed in detail, with session title topics, session chair assignments, and joint session participation highlighted. Session chair responsibilities were reviewed, and each session will have three chairs. EAF abstracts are still being accepted, and Mr. Memoli will keep the session chairs informed of any revisions. Scott Swanson reviewed the 2009 EAF Roundup, which is published in this issue of Iron & Steel Technology (see pp. 122–141). The previous EAF Roundup was completed in 2003, and a significant effort was made to identify the new EAF community. Mr. Swanson continued to review the 2010 EAF Training Seminar, to be held in Columbia, S.C., with CMC South Carolina as the host plant. Besides Mr. Swanson and Mr. Jones, EAF Training Seminar chairs will include Richard Phillips, Jim Fortier and Sam Matson. ESTC officer nominations were discussed, and a new ESTC chair will be nominated at the February meeting. Mr. Matson, CMC Americas, was elected as the ESTC papers chair for 2010–2011.

Four presentations were made by the following members: Andy Akers, Superior Machine; Sam Matson, CMC Steel Texas; Francesco Memoli, Tenova Core; and Jeremy Jones, WorleyParsons. These presentations are available on the Members Only area of www.AIST.org.

The meeting concluded with a tour of Gerdau Ameristeel Midlothian and its meltshop. The tour group was taken through the scrap yard, meltshop, rolling mill and finishing mill. Plant housekeeping was excellent. The tour was followed by a Q&A session. The next ESTC meeting will be Monday, 22 Feb, before the EAF Training Seminar in Columbia, S.C.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met on Tuesday, 5 May 2009. There were 48 committee members in attendance. Ricardo Anawate reviewed the ESTC activities from the past year and thanked Francesco Memoli, papers chair, and Scott Swanson, education chair, for their dedication to this committee. Mr. Memoli reviewed the AISTech 2009 presentations, which included six joint papers, six producer papers, four university papers and 11 supplier papers. Mr. Memoli also urged committee members to give presentations at AISTech 2010. ESTC members should contact Mr. Memoli if they know of someone who would like to make a presentation. Mr. Anawate discussed the 2009 EAF Training Seminar, with 62 attendees participating in Ontario, Calif. Mr. Swanson reviewed the 2010 EAF Training Seminar, scheduled for 15–19 Feb with ESTC member Jonathan Ridgeway as tour host at CMC Steel South Carolina. The ESTC presented the Charles W. Briggs Award for Best Paper to Raimundo Fortes, Hiroyuki Matsuura, and Richard Fruehan for their paper, “Decarburization and Slag Formation Model for Electric Arc Furnace.” Raphael Costa accepted this award on the authors’ behalf. ESTC officer elections for 2009–2010 were completed with the following results: Jeremy Jones, chair; Scott Ertl, vice chair; Francesco Memoli, papers chair; and Scott Swanson, education chair. The 2009 EAF Roundup continues to be updated. Scott Swanson is leading the efforts to complete this revision. A conference call was scheduled for 10 Jun , with all ESTC members encouraged to help in providing current plant statistics for the roundup. Mr. Anawate nominated Edgar Wunsche, EMPCO, for next year’s Distinguished Member Award. ESTC members were urged to submit recommendation letters to AIST for Mr. Wunsche. The next ESTC meeting is scheduled for 17–19 Nov 2009, with a tour of Gerdau Ameristeel Midlothian. Contact Jeremy Jones before 15 Sep 2009, if you would like to make a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation. Ricardo Anawate was presented the ESTC chair plaque in recognition for his dedication to the EAF community.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met on 16 Feb in Ontario, Calif., before the Electric Steelmaking Training Conference. Meeting attendance involved 14 members. Current ESTC membership stands at 96 members. The first order of business was a review of AISTech 2009. ESTC session chairs were asked to remind authors to submit their papers to AIST before 1 Mar. Francesco Memoli, papers chair, presented the schedule for AISTech 2009, which will include five ESTC sessions. A few alternate papers will be available as replacements if needed. Ricardo Anawate, ESTC chair, announced the 2009 Charles W. Briggs Award (for the best ESTC paper at AISTech 2008) will be presented to Raimundo Fortes, Hiroyuki Matsuura and Richard J. Fruehan for their paper, “Decarburization and Slag Formation Model for Electric Arc Furnace.” The 2009 Tadeusz Sendzimer Award winner is John Vallomy. For the AIST Distinguished Member Award, Ricardo Anawate nominated Edgar Wunsche, president and founder of EMPCO. ESTC members were encouraged to support this nomination. Scott Swanson, education chair, reviewed the schedule for the Electric Steelmaking Training Conference, with the new presenters acknowledged. This year’s Training Conference had 62 attendees. California Steel Industries (CSI) hosted the conference plant tour of their galvanizing line and pipe mill. CSI’s Richard Montano served as tour host. Next year’s Electric Steelmaking Training Conference will be hosted by CMC Steel–South Carolina, with Jonathan Ridgeway as tour host. The conference will be held 15–19 Feb 2010. A 2003 EAF Roundup report was reviewed by the ESTC, and updates/revisions will be made to create a 2009 EAF Roundup. ESTC members will review the document, with a goal to complete their review before the next ESTC meeting at AISTech 2009. The ESTC reviewed and revised the 2010 Call for Papers topic to attract papers for AISTech 2010. Jonathan Ridgeway pointed out the current Electric Steelmaking statement does not mention scrap. The ESTC’s revised statement includes scrap optimization, greenhouse gas generation, and advancements in workplace environmental factors. Dennis Hixenbaugh suggested that the ESTC plan to conduct joint sessions with the Environmental Technology Committee as well as the Safety and Health Technology Committee at AISTech 2010. Jeremy Jones, vice chair, suggested that the ESTC wait for the economy to improve before collaborating with European EAF counterparts. ESTC officer nominations were accepted: Jeremy Jones was nominated as chair, Scott Ertl as vice chair, Francesco Memoli as papers chair, and Scott Swanson as education chair. These nominations will be voted on at the next ESTC meeting, which will take place Tuesday, 5 May during AISTech 2009 in St. Louis, Mo.

The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC) met in Atlanta, Ga., before the start of the annual Globe-Trotters conference. Ricardo Anawate, ESTC chair, welcomed the committee members in attendance. The ESTC mission statement was reviewed and approved. The papers chair, Francesco Memoli, reviewed abstracts for AISTech 2009, noting that there will be four ESTC sessions plus one joint session with the Electrical Applications Technology Committee. The AIST Leadership Conference, taking place 6–7 Nov in Amelia Island, Fla., was discussed, and some ESTC officers are planning to attend. The Charles W. Briggs Award for Best Paper presented at AISTech 2008 will be voted for during the next ESTC meeting. The Specialty Training Conference chair, Scott Swanson, reviewed details of the upcoming EAF Specialty Training Conference, scheduled for 16–20 Feb 2009, in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Jonathan Ridgeway and CMC–Cayce have volunteered to host the 2010 EAF Specialty Training Conference. Additional work still needs to be done on the EAF Round-Up, which the ESTC hopes to complete before its next meeting during the training conference. This Round-Up will first concentrate on domestic EAF producers, where participating producers will be the only members who can access this information. AIST Association Awards were mentioned, with recommendations submitted for Gerald Heffernan and John Vallomy. The ESTC vice chair, Jeremy Jones, proposed an international exchange on EAF production similar to the one carried out by the Oxygen Steelmaking Technology Committee.