AK Steel Melts First Heat in New Butler Works EAF
03/08/2011 - AK Steel melted the first heat of steel last week in its new 175-ton capacity electric arc furnace at its Butler, Pa., Works.
AK Steel melted the first heat of steel on March 4, 2011 in its new 175-ton capacity electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Butler, Pa., Works. The Butler facility also began processing molten steel through a newly installed new ladle metallurgy furnace (LMF).
Addition of the new EAF and LMF to the Butler meltshop is part of the company’s modernization program for its specialty steel operations, which has included investment of more than $180 million over the past several years. Most of the capital invested was for projects at the Butler Works.
"The successful start-up of our new EAF and LMF represents completion of the most significant capital investment by AK Steel in recent years," said James L. Wainscott, Chairman, President and CEO of AK Steel. "The new furnaces will enable us to lower production costs, increase steelmaking capacity, and improve the quality of all of Butler Works' products."
Wainscott noted that the new furnaces also give AK Steel greater flexibility in adjusting production levels and product mix for electrical, stainless and carbon steels, depending upon market conditions.
The new EAF replaces three existing 1960s-vintage EAFs at the Butler Works. It is capable of melting 1.4 million tons annually, which is about 40% more than the total capacity of the previous three-furnace operation.
The EAF uses recycled steel scrap as the primary raw material. The steel scrap is melted by heat generated from electricity that arcs from graphite electrodes to the metal – much like a giant welding rod. The LMF is an intermediate steel processing unit that is used to refine the molten metal’s chemistry and temperature prior to continuous casting.
AK Steel produces flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steels, primarily for automotive, appliance, construction and electrical power generation and distribution markets. The company employs about 6200 men and women in Middletown, Mansfield, Coshocton and Zanesville, Ohio; Butler, Pa.; Ashland, Ky.; Rockport, Ind.; and its corporate headquarters in West Chester, Ohio.
AK Tube LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of AK Steel, employs about 300 men and women in plants in Walbridge, Ohio, and Columbus, Ind. AK Tube produces carbon and stainless electric resistance welded (ERW) tubular steel products for truck, automotive and other markets.
