According to Primetals Technologies, the certificate was issued after a 31-day commissioning period. The furnace, installed at the steelmaker’s Cremona works, is capable of producing 1.4 million metric tons annually. 

“The tap-to-tap time is just 36 minutes and is supported by single bucket operation. This enables around 200 metric tons of crude steel to be produced each hour,” the company said in a statement. 

In addition to the furnace, Primetals supplied five refining combined burner systems, post-combustion burners, its newly developed electrode control system called Melt Expert, a water leakage control system, and an automated taphole sanding system. 

The project also entailed modifications to the existing de-dusting system.