Missouri S&T gets a 2 million grant from the United States Department of Energy

A Missouri University of Science and Technology research team was recently awarded a $2 million grant from the United States Department of Energy to research technologies to improve the operating efficiency of electric arc furnaces (EAFs) used for steelmaking. The project is titled “Intelligent Dynamic EAF Advisory System (IDEAS) for Improving EAF Operating Efficiency.” This $2 million grant is part of a larger three-part project. Phases 1 and 2 were both funded with approximately $2 million, and Phase 3 will be over $1 million. The Phase 2 funding was officially awarded in December 2022, and Phase 3’s funding will be distributed next year. For the first phase, the research team assessed the current systems in place at the two steel plants that are partners in the study and developed the conceptual framework for the future aspects of the project. In Phase 2, the new fiber optic sensing technologies will be implemented in the plants along with new control systems, directed energy input, and EAF slag property models. The new sensor technology and control modules will be installed at the two partner steel plants, which are Big River Steel in Osceola, Arkansas, and Commercial Metals Company (CMC) in Birmingham, Alabama.