The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee (ESOC) met at AISTech 2008 in Pittsburgh on May 6. Ricardo Anawate, Gerdau Ameristeel, welcomed a large group. The AIST/AISI integration status was reviewed. The new committee name is the Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee (ESTC). The ESTC has 92 members, with 50 members in attendance at this meeting. Jeremy Jones reviewed the paper sessions at AISTech 2008. The committee reviewed and approved its mission statement. Nomination and election of committee officers for 2008–2009 took place. Mr. Anawate was elected as chair; Jeremy Jones, WorleyParsons GC, as vice chair; Franseco Memoli, Tenova Goodfellow Inc., as papers chair; and Scott Swanson, C/G Electrodes LLC, as training/education chair. The 2009 EAF Training Seminar will be held Feb. 16–20, 2009, in Rancho Cucamongo, Calif. Responses to the 2009 Call for Papers are being accepted by Franseco Memoli for review. Brett McGee, C/G Electrodes LLC, continues to accept committee responses before finalizing the EAF Roundup. Joseph Maiolo, Tenova Goodfellow Inc., was presented with the 2007 Best EAF Paper Award. The next ESTC meeting will be in Atlanta, Ga., on Sept. 6–7. Coinciding with the Globe-Trotters event at that time, there will be a plant tour of Gerdau Ameristeel Cartersville on Monday, Sept 8. Outgoing ESOC chair Larry Kibler, MACSTEEL–Monroe, received a plaque of appreciation for his dedication and participation over the previous year.

February 19-20, 2008 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee (ESOC) met on Feb. 19–20 in conjunction with AIST’s “Modern Electric Furnace Steelmaking — A Practical Training Seminar.” On Feb. 19, the ESOC attendees joined the Training Seminar attendees on a tour of the steelmaking facilities at Gerdau Ameristeel–Jacksonville Bar Division. The business and technical portion of the meeting was conducted on Feb. 20. The meeting began with member introductions, a review of the AIST antitrust guidelines and staff announcements, and approval of the previous meeting’s minutes. A discussion was held concerning the role of an AIST Operating Committee in the nominations for the AIST Association-level Awards. The committee reviewed its nominations for the AIST Sendzimir Award, Distinguished Member Award and the AIME Benjamin Fairless Award. Nominations for the 2008 Charles Briggs Award for best EAF paper from AISTech 2007 were also reviewed. Volunteers will be forwardinig their nominations to the 2007 ESOC papers chair for final selection, and the award will be presented at the ESOC meeting during AISTech 2008. The 2008 papers chair reviewed the current status of the ESOC technical sessions for AISTech 2008. The committee has organized seven sessions, three of which are co-organized with other AIST Operating Committees. Forty-four papers have been organized into the seven sessions, and volunteers were taken to fill any vacant session chair seats for those sessions. Additional papers were also volunteered by members to fill any vacancies in the technical program. The organizers of the Training Seminar provided an overview of the seminar, as it was currently under way. The sold-out conference, with more than 220 individuals, was deemed a success. The ESOC will continue to make plans for the 2009 Training Seminar, which will be held in Ontario, Calif., on Feb. 19–22, 2009, and will include a tour of TAMCO Steel. Potential sites for the 2010 EAF Training Seminar were discussed and will be confirmed at the next meeting. Volunteers were taken to assist in the organization of the 2009 and 2010 Training Seminars. Brett McGee of C/G Electrodes provided an update to the ESOC on the 2008 EAF Roundup. The Roundup was 75% complete and would be reorganized in layout prior to being sent to the ESOC members for finalization. The business portion of the meeting wrapped up with an update on the AISI/AIST technical committee integration, which is scheduled to be completed on July 1, 2008. The remainder of the meeting was dedicated to technical presentations by members and guests. The next meeting for the ESOC will be a lunch meeting on Tuesday, May 6 at AISTech 2008 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

September 8, 2007 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee (ESOC) held their fall meeting on Sept. 8 in Louisville, Ky. Following the chair’s welcome and opening remarks, Jeremy Jones (papers chair) presented the tentative lineup for the AISTech 2008 Electric Steelmaking technical sessions. Mr. Jones had organized the EAF-relevant papers into seven sessions: EAF Maintenance, EAF Optimization, Raw Materials, Operations, New Technologies and two joint sessions with the Process Technology Operating Committee. The committee then reviewed potential candidates for both the Electric Steelmaking Technology Division Award and the AIST Association Level Awards. Three volunteers will review the best EAF papers from AISTech 2007 to select the Briggs Award nominee. The committee then discussed and selected potential nominees for the AIST Distinguished Member Award, the AIST Sendzimir Award and the AIME Benjamin Fairless Award. The committee will be organizing and submitting the necessary paperwork for their nominations. The members then reviewed the upcoming program for the EAF Training Seminar, which will be held in Jacksonville, Fla., on Feb. 18–22, 2008, with a tour of Gerdau Ameristeel–Jacksonville. The program as conducted in 2007 will be retained for 2008. The final item on the agenda was the publication of an EAF Roundup in Iron & Steel Technology to benchmark the electric furnace industry in North America. Three volunteers, Scott Swanson of C/G Electrodes, Dave Bauer of Erie Copper Works and Jeremy Jones of Nupro Corp, will head up the task of organizing old roundup data and contacting the facilities for updates. The next ESOC meeting will be held in conjunction with the EAF Training Seminar in February in Jacksonville, Fla.

May 8, 2007 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee (ESOC) held a brief lunch meeting on May 8, 2007, during AISTech 2007 to attend to a variety of business items. After brief member introductions and the welcoming of new members to the Operating Committee, the members presented the Charles Briggs Award for best Electric Steelmaking paper from AISTech 2006 to Kevin Cotchen and Ernest Mueller of SMS Demag. Following the award presentation, committee officers for 2007 were nominated and elected. Larry Kibler, Macsteel, was retained as the chair; Scott Ertl, Charter Steel, and Scott Swanson, C/G Electrodes, were elected first and second vice chair, respectively; and Jeremy Jones, Nupro Corp., was elected papers chair to organize technical sessions for AISTech 2008. Ricardo Anawate, Gerdau Ameristeel, Mike Fox, The Timken Co., and Jörg Peter, Cascade Steel, volunteered to assist Mr. Jones in reviewing and organizing technical papers for the event. The committee will also work with the AIST Process Technology Operating Committee in organizing joint sessions on the latest in EAF technology. The committee then reviewed their meeting structure for 2007–2008. The next meeting will be held in conjunction with the AIST Globe-Trotters Annual Meeting in September, and a winter meeting will be held in conjunction with the EAF Training Seminar in February 2008. Included in the winter meeting will be a technical exchange via presentations and a plant tour. The current structure of the EAF Training Seminar was reviewed by Scott Ertl. The tentative location for the conference will be Jacksonville, Fla., with a tour of Gerdau Ameristeel–Jacksonville pending confirmation. An alternate site was identified as Fontana, Calif., with a tour of TAMCO. The meeting concluded with the opportunity for members to voice any questions or concerns to the general committee.

February 7, 2007 - On Feb. 7, 2007, the Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee (ESOC) and the Ladle and Secondary Refining Operating Committee (LSROC) met in San Antonio, Texas, to participate in a tour of the CMC Steel Texas meltshop. The tour was held in conjunction with AIST’s Specialty Conference, “Modern Electric Furnace Steelmaking — A Practical Training Seminar.” The tour included the recently installed EAF and caster at CMC Texas.
On Feb. 8, both committees attended technical presentations focused on EAF and ladle refining. John Jetkiwicz, incoming AIST Electric Steelmaking Technology Division board member, gave a presentation on the new EAF installation at CMC Steel Texas and its future production objectives. Jeremy Jones of Nupro Inc. gave a presentation on the technical aspects of utilizing a near-infrared camera to limit EAF slag carryover into the refining ladle. Mike Butler of Gerdau Ameristeel–Beaumont presented fundamental information on ladle slag treatment for both aluminum- and silicon-killed steelmaking practices. Monty Parker Jr. of Nucor Steel–Texas gave an overview of and update on the new meltshop at Nucor Steel–Texas. Following the technical discussion, the ESOC approved the name change for its sister Operating Commitee, the Specialty Steelmaking Operating Committee; the new name will be the Specialty Alloy and Foundry Operating Committee, to reflect the membership’s diverse background, which includes stainless steelmakers as well as alloy producers and foundries. The ESOC then reviewed the status of the Electric Steelmaking technical sessions for AISTech 2007. Additional session chairs were identified and were instructed to contact the authors in order to ensure the authors’ registration and timely submission of technical papers. “Modern Electric Furnace Steelmaking — A Practical Training Seminar,” which was in progress, was then reviewed. The committee agreed to continue the current program’s format for 2008 and identified potential locations for next year’s seminar. The ESOC adjourned the business meeting prior to lunch.

After lunch, the Ladle and Secondary Refining Operating Committee had a business meeting, in which the AISTech 2007 LSROC technical sessions were discussed. Additional papers were added to the sessions, and additional session chairs were identified. The papers chair for the committee agreed to contact the authors of the last remaining uncommitted papers for the sessions. The members then discussed potential nominees for the 2008 AIST Association-level Awards. Suggestions were made for the 2008 Sendzimir Award, which is awarded for significant contributions to the production of iron and steel. The potential candidates’ backgrounds will be compiled and reviewed to determine if any of the individuals should be nominated for such a prestigious award. A discussion was also held on potential topics for the upcoming fall LSROC meeting. Suggestions were made to further the subject of ladle stirring and its impact on steel production and steel cleanliness. The fall meeting location will be determined at the LSROC meeting held during AISTech 2007.

September 9, 2006 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee met in Williamsburg, Va., in conjunction with the AIST Globe-Trotters Member Chapter meeting on Sept. 9. A business-only meeting was held so that the members of the Operating Committee could support the Globe-Trotters meeting. The members reviewed the proposed five-session format for the Electric Steelmaking technical sessions at AISTech 2007. Session topics will include operations, processing and equipment. Volunteers for session chairs were also accepted. The committee reviewed and approved the current program for the Electric Steelmaking Training Seminar, to be held Feb. 5–9, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas. The chair then provided a summary of the Electric Steelmaking officers meeting regarding the structure of the committee’s future meetings. The committee approved the following format. The spring meeting will be a business meeting at AISTech. The fall meeting will be held in conjunction with the Globe-Trotters meeting and will focus on planning for AISTech and other committee business as needed. The winter meeting may or may not be held in conjunction with the EAF Training Seminar, but will include business items and a technical exchange through either topic-specific presentations or round table discussions. The meeting concluded with a discussion on upcoming AIST award nominations and a review of the Electric Steelmaking Best of Session papers for the 2007 Charles Briggs Award. The next meeting will be held Feb. 7, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas, in conjunction with the training seminar.

March 6-7, 2006 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee co-located their meeting with the Electric Steelmaking Training Seminar in Birmingham, Ala., on March 6–7, 2006. The business portion of the meeting was held on March 6. After introductions, the committee discussed the success of the training seminar. They would like to hold this conference in San Antonio, Texas, in 2007, and will include a tour of CMC Steel Texas. The committee then held a lengthy discussion on the role they should play in the electric steelmaking industry. It was determined that the technical round tables and presentations outside AISTech have been handled by the GlobeTrotters Member Chapter and that the ESOC should make a strong effort to develop the electric steelmaking technical program at AISTech to equal past Electric Furnace Conference programs. To that end, multiple volunteers were appointed to a subcommittee to begin expanding the presence of electric steelmaking in the technical program for AISTech 2007. The subcommittee has already begun to organize sessions for 2007. The next meeting for the ESOCwill be May 1 at AISTech 2006 in Cleveland, Ohio.

May 1, 2006 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee met on May 1 during AISTech 2006 for a brief lunch meeting. During the meeting, officer elections were held and the Charles Briggs Award was presented for the best electric steelmaking paper from AISTech 2005. A summary was also given regarding the 2007 Electric Steelmaking Training Seminar, to be held in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 5–10, 2007. The next meeting will be held Sept. 9 prior to the AIST Globe-Trotters Member Chapter fall meeting in Williamsburg, Va.

October 8, 2005 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee held their fall meeting on Oct. 8, 2005, prior to the start of the 2005 AIST Globe-Trotters Annual Meeting in Myrtle Beach, S.C. After introductions and a review of the AIST Anti-trust Guidelines, the members discussed their plans for the electric steelmaking technical sessions for AISTech 2006. The committee plans to sponsor three sessions focused on EAF steelmaking and volunteers were taken as session chairs. The committee then recieved an update on the slightly modified Electric Steelmaking Training Seminar schedule. The meeting concluded with the committee approving the motion to sponsor the Charles Briggs Award, to be given to the best paper presented in an electric steelmaking–sponsored session at an AISTech conference. The next meeting will be held in Decatur, Ala., on Feb. 16–17.

May 2005 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee met during AISTech 2005 for a brief lunch meeting. More than 65 people attended the meeting. An election of officers was held, along with a discussion regarding the committee’s technical program for AISTech. More effort will be put forth by the committee for AISTech 2006 to attract producer papers to enhance the program. The Electric Furnace Training Subcommittee provided a report on the sold-out training seminar in Seattle, Wash., in March. The program was well received by those in attendance, and Nucor Steel Seattle was the host for the tour. Considerations for the 2006 training seminar are Birmingham, Ala.; Charleston, S.C.; or Norfolk, Va. The committee then voted to hold their next meeting in conjunction with the Globe-Trotters Member Chapter; that meeting will be in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in October.

February 17-18, 2005 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee held its winter meeting Feb. 17–18 in Mount Pleasant, S.C. The meeting began with a joint tour of Nucor Steel–Berkeley with the Ladle and Secondary Refining Operating Committee. The committee held its business meeting on Feb. 18. The main focus of the meeting was to review the status of the Electric Steelmaking technical sessions for AISTech 2005. The session chairs were advised to contact the presenters in their sessions to remind them of paper deadlines and conference registration. The committee also reviewed the current status of the Electric Steelmaking Training Seminar, which was held March 13–17 in Seattle, Wash. Shortly after their meeting, the conference was sold out. The committee then scheduled their next meeting to be held at AISTech 2005 in Charlotte, N.C. The following meeting will take place in the fall and will include a tour of the new meltshop at Nucor Steel–Texas. At the end of the meeting, the committee held a round table discussion on various topics currently affecting the EAF steelmaking industry. Each committee member was given the opportunity to bring forth questions or concerns in order to receive answers or support from the group. Topics ranged from furnace ductwork construction and spray cooled shells to deltas, slag sampling techniques and frequency, and furnace injection.

November 12, 2004 - The Electric Steelmaking Operating Committee met in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 12 to begin planning for AISTech 2005. After introductions, the committee chairperson began discussions on improving the technical format of future meetings by including operator-only round table discussions and plant tours. Some suggestions for technical topics were taken for the next meeting, including a presentation on the IEEE specification and a subsequent question-and-answer session. The committee then finalized the details for their Electric Furnace Training Seminar, to be held in Seattle, Wash., on March 12–17. The AISTech 2005 papers chairperson then reviewed the available electric steelmaking abstracts for AISTech 2005. The committee will look to sponsor three sessions and two joint sessions with other AIST Operating Committees. The meeting concluded with a tour of the Charlotte Convention Center. The next meeting will be Feb. 17–18 in Charleston. Included in the meeting will be a tour of the Nucor Steel–Berkeley facility in conjunction with the Ladle and Secondary Refining Operating Committee.