Modern Electric Furnace Steelmking — A Practical Training Seminar

Conference Details: 3–7 February 2020, Portland, Ore., USA
No. of Attendees: 136, 40+ from steel-producing companies; 11 countries represented

The conference began with a welcome by one of the Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee’s education chairs, Brett McGee. The first speaker was Joerg Peters of Cascade Steel Rolling Mills Inc. Peters discussed safety in the context of his life in the steel industry and an unfortunate incident that occurred at a facility he worked at in Germany earlier in his career. He challenged the group to discuss safety practices in their mill with those around them and share with everyone aloud.
The course has two major areas of focus: (1) productivity of steelmaking, including chemistry, raw materials, operations, and gas and carbon injection; and (2) essential support systems of steelmaking, including maintenance, environmental, design and consumables like electrodes. The presenters covered a breadth of information with their unique experience within the industry.
Seminar attendees had the opportunity to tour Cascade Steel Rolling Mills Inc., just outside of Portland. The group was welcomed and led through the meltshop, refractory and casting areas. After the tour of Cascade, the group met again for a reception and a roundtable discussion of issues they have seen in their mill, how to react in different situations, and steps to diagnose problems and increase EAF productivity.
The Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee and its education chairs Brett McGee and Harriet Dutka would like to thank all of the presenters and sponsors for this event, and most importantly the attendees.

1. A panel discussion was held on Wednesday, 5 February, during Modern Electric Furnace Steelmaking — A Practical Training Seminar (left to right): Eugene Pretorius, Nucor Steel–Berkeley; Harriet Dutka, SANGRAF International; Stephan Ferenczy, TCI Consultants; Jeremy Jones, CIX Inc.; and moderator Brett McGee. 2. Panelists at the seminar included (left to right): Zane Voss, CIX Inc.; Theo Kurela, Graftech International Ltd.; Mike Grant, Air Liquide Global Management Services GmbH; and Reinzi Santiago, Tenova Core. 3. The seminar had 136 attendees from 11 different countries.