EAF production equipment: Quality begins with procurement

A savings of nearly 4 million tons of CO2 or nearly 5% of the Austrian domestic emissions per year is achieved by the largest climate protection program in Austria. Team spirit and international cooperation with proven partners are necessary in order to complete a project of this size. This is apparent in the equipment to be used in the electric arc furnace (EAF).

Plant equipment is procured worldwide for the construction of the EAF 1 as part of greentec steel project at the Linz site. The components come from different countries and are purchased directly by voestalpine or by plant manufacturers who in turn employ a network of subsuppliers.

The components come from near and far, which is illustrated in the following examples:

  • Steam storage system from Wels  
  • Furnace transformer with 240 MVA from Italy 
  • Furnace cradle from Italy
  • Furnace vessel from Turkey
  • Bay steel structure from Austria, Germany, Italy and Hungary
  • Waste heat boilers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia
  • Dust removal plant from China
Der Antransport der Hallenkonstruktion erfolgt mittels Sondertransport – nur ein Teil der logistischen Meisterleistungen hinter den greentec steel -Baustellen.

Quality from the start

The number of countries of origin and some long distances illustrate the logistical and technical complexity of the project, making it all the more important for the Testing and Analytics department to ensure quality at an early stage. The Fabrication Quality Control department that specializes in non-destructive weld seam testing in production facilities is making a significant contribution to ensuring that each component meets the high quality requirements, even prior to delivery.

Conclusion: This major project would never be possible without a joint effort.

The close cooperation between the project team and quality assurance ensures that potential defects are detected and remedied at an early stage at the production sites before the components arrive at the construction site. This ensures smooth sailing, which is a decisive success factor, especially in such a complex mammoth project where all the cog wheels must mesh perfectly.

Die Halle des Elektrostahlwerks wird bereits errichtet – ein Gemeinschaftsprojekt mit Beteiligung aus Österreich, Deutschland, Italien und Ungarn.

To greentec steel

The greentec steel project of voestalpine is an ambitious step-by-step plan that makes a valuable contribution to the achievement of the climate goals. As a first step, the voestalpine Group plans to replace two blast furnaces with two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) by the year 2027. The investment volume amounts to roughly 1.5 billion euros.   

Carbon emissions can be reduced by up to 30% as early as 2029 by making this switch from the blast furnace to the EAF. This corresponds to a savings of nearly 4 million tons of CO2 per year, amounting to nearly 5% of the carbon emissions in Austria. This makes greentec steel the largest climate protection program in Austria. 

The two electric-arc furnaces will enable voestalpine to produce roughly 2.5 million tons of carbon-reduced steel by the year 2027, roughly 1.6 million tons in Linz and 850,000 tons in Donawitz. Learn more about greentec steel here.