Approximately 60–70% of the direct greenhouse gas emissions in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking originate from the use of fossil carbon charge during melting of steel scrap. Regarding short-term solutions to mitigate the climate impact of steelmaking, there is greater potential to replace fossil carbon charge with renewable carbon in the EAF than in integrated blast furnace steelmaking where mechanical strength requirements on carbon charge are too demanding. Therefore, the present study aims to provide an experimental and practical foundation for using renewable biochar in the EAF as a relatively simple step to decrease the climate impact of steelmaking.

In order to evaluate the inherent performance of biochar as a carburizing agent, lab-scale tests where completed using four different types of carbonaceous materials: synthetic graphite, anthracite coal and two types of biochar from woody biomass (BC1 and BC2). The first order dissolution rate constants from experiments ranged between 0.7 to 1.9 × 10⁻⁴ m/s, which agrees well with previously reported results. Furthermore, lab-scale results show that biochar properties commonly seen as detrimental, such as low carbon crystallinity and high porosity, do not necessarily constitute a disadvantage for biochar utilization as carburizer in steelmaking.

In order to further assess the results from lab-scale tests, an industrial trial including six consecutive heats was performed in a 50 t EAF at the Höganäs Halmstad Plant. Results show that 33% substitution of standard Anthracite carbon charge with biochar BC2 gave no deviation from normal operating conditions in the EAF.

电弧炉 (EAF) 炼钢过程中大约 60-70% 的直接温室气体排放来自废钢熔化过程中使用化石碳装料。关于减轻炼钢对气候影响的短期解决方案，与对碳装料的机械强度要求过于苛刻的一体化高炉炼钢相比，在电弧炉中用可再生碳替代化石碳装料的潜力更大。因此，本研究旨在为在电弧炉中使用可再生生物炭作为减少炼钢气候影响的相对简单的步骤提供实验和实践基础。

为了评估生物炭作为渗碳剂的固有性能，使用四种不同类型的含碳材料完成了实验室规模的测试：合成石墨、无烟煤和两种来自木质生物质的生物炭（BC1 和 BC2）。实验中的一级溶解速率常数介于 0.7 到 1.9 × 10 ^-4 m/s 之间，这与之前报道的结果非常吻合。此外，实验室规模的结果表明，通常被视为有害的生物炭特性，例如低碳结晶度和高孔隙率，并不一定对生物炭作为炼钢增碳剂的利用构成不利。

为了进一步评估实验室规模测试的结果，在 Höganäs Halmstad 工厂的 50 吨 EAF 中进行了包括连续六炉的工业试验。结果表明，用生物炭 BC2 替代标准无烟煤碳装料 33% 与 EAF 中的正常操作条件没有任何偏差。