Leading Japanese steel producer, Nippon Yakin, has selected ABB to supply its patented ArcSave electromagnetic stirring technology as part of a major modernization project at its specialist stainless steel plant in Kawasaki City, Japan.

The order - comprising supply and commissioning of one complete ABB ArcSave system - will combine with a new, 70-ton electric arc furnace (EAF) to maximize performance as part of Nippon Yakin’s modernization project. The new furnace and stirrer are expected to be operational by early 2022.

Requiring no contact with the bottom of the EAF, ArcSave enhances stirring during the melting of large scrap items, reducing stratification via forced convection. This improves EAF operation by homogenizing temperature distribution and chemical composition, while speeding scrap and ferroalloy melting compared with natural convection alone.

Typically, ABB’s patented ArcSave technology can improve yield by around one percent, with productivity improvements of between five and seven percent. The solution also reduces consumption of electrical energy by three to five percent as well as use of process additions such as alloys and lime, and other consumables such as electrodes.