CRM is studying the possibility to comply with stringent PMregulations by improving the collection efficiency of existingdedusting systems, in order to avoid investments in expensiveadditional abatement means. The idea is to agglomeratefine dust particles together or onto coarser ones by applyingultrasound to the dust laden waste gas flow, upstream of thededusting unit.

The recent projects and the new EAF orders indicate a newtrend in the furnace design proposing very big electric arcfurnaces. Concast, after the first successful installation in2003 of the 180 t EAF in Icdas, wants to reproduce the reallyoutstanding performances of this EAF with the new 220 tEAF producing 320 t/h. The equipment installed and thefurnace design will follow the “Ultra High Chemical Power”EAF indexes.
An analysis on the basic engineering parameters and theextrapolation of its performance are presented.

The kinetic study of the nitrogen dissolution was investigated.An isotope exchange technique is employed as a method formeasuring the rate of nitrogen dissolution into the molten steeland the effects of O, S, C, Mn, and B addition on surfacereaction have been considered at 1873 K.

The addition of boron to steel introduces the possibility ofsteel initially completely solidifying and then remelting inthe interdendritic regions at very low carbon levels. For allcarbon levels, a low melting Fe-B alloy exists as a liquiddown to around 1100°C. This liquid is found in steel with aslow as 0.0004% boron due to the boron segregation. Thepersistence of this liquid leads to hot shortness, breakouts,and other casting defects. Pseudo-binary phase diagramsfor low boron concentrations have been developed usingThermoCalc software and were confirmed using experimentaltechniques.

The effect of the so-called “warm” or “ferritic” rolling on themicrostructure and recrystallization behavior of LC steelsduring continuous annealing is reported. The followingparameters were investigated; reduction rate in ferriterolling, coiling temperature; soaking annealing temperature,overageing temperature. Thin gages low carbon steelssuitable for replacing conventional cold rolled and annealedsteel sheet can be produced.

The phase-field method has emerged as a method ofchoice for the description of microstructure evolutionand phase transitions in metallic materials. Following ageneral thermodynamic extremal principle a set of evolutionequations for the structural variables of the system, the socalled phase-fields, are derived. The paper reviews shortlythe historical and theoretical background of the multi-phasefieldmethod that is an extension of the classical phase-fieldmethod to multi-phase multi-component materials. Examplesare given from solidification, solid state transformations andgrain growth.