Patent ID: 6875251

Claim:
A process for making steel in an electric furnace having a plurality of electrodes, the process comprising: (a) maintaining a bath of molten steel in the furnace, said bath being maintained in a liquid condition by heat supplied from said electrodes; (b) maintaining a layer of molten foaming slag covering the bath of molten steel, wherein a melting point of the slag is substantially the same as or greater than a melting point of the steel in the bath, wherein the slag comprises SiO 2 , CaO, MgO, Al 2 O 3 and FeO and is substantially free of manganese, the MgO content of the slag is about 8 to 20 percent by weight and the ratio of CaO/SiO 2 in the slag is about 1.5 to 2.0; (c) charging a charge material into the furnace, said charge material comprising iron and/or an iron alloy; (d) melting the charge material in the furnace by use of open arcs between the electrodes and the bath; and (e) withdrawing the molten steel from the bath.