This house believes that with worldwide decreasing resources and environmental requirements,the blast furnace has a limited future and the EAF will become the primary steelmaking route

Abstract

Speaking against the motion was Dave Collins, Manager Ironmaking, Scunthorpe Works, Tata Steel, who showed how blast furnaces had improved over the years and no longer fulfilled the public perception of dirty old fashioned equipment pouring smoke into the atmosphere. The BF route was much more efficient, automated and clean now. The by-products of slag and blast furnace gas, were both used and not discarded, and waste such as plastic could be put into the furnace as a fuel. New technology under development such as the HIsarna process, could make this route even more efficient.