Preface to the Proceedings of the 5th European Academic Symposium on EAF Steelmaking

Abstract

The European Academic Symposium on EAF Steelmaking (EASES) is a series of events targeted at researchers and doctoral candidates working with different aspects of electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. Previously, four events were organised in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2021 in Aachen, Germany. The 5th European Academic Symposium on EAF Steelmaking (EASES 2023) was organised jointly by the RWTH Aachen University (Department for Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering) and University of Oulu (Process Metallurgy Research Unit) and held at the University of Oulu in Oulu, Finland on 5-7 June 2023. A total of 29 presentations were held at the event, out of which 13 featured an accompanying full paper. After the symposium, the authors of the full papers were invited to submit their manuscripts to be included in the proceedings. The proceedings consist of a total of 12 peer-reviewed papers published in the IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. Based on the presentations, the development of modelling and monitoring tools for process optimization, the use of biochar to replace fossil carbon for slag foaming, and the use of hydrogen as an alternative burner fuel were identified as current hot topics. In the future, the importance of the EAF process is expected to increase further due to the increasing availability of scrap and plans for ore-based production routes based on hydrogen direct reduction.