Case Studies · Iron & Steel

Water-Cooled EAF Roof High Emissivity Coating: 940 Heats and No Leaks at a US Steel Mill

Water-cooled electric-arc furnace roof·Confidential steel mill, USA

A water-cooled EAF roof with exposed water tubes lasted about 500 heats and needed two $25,000 leak repairs per campaign. After grit-blasting and pressure-testing, the roof and tubes were coated with Emisshield M-2. The roof ran 940 heats before rebuild with no water leaks, arc time per melt fell by 3 minutes, and the project paid back inside six months.

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500 to 940 heats (+88%)
: $100,000 repairs avoided
: 3 minutes less arc time per melt ($94,000)
: ROI <6 months

The Challenge

Increase roof life, cut leak repairs, and improve melt efficiency without altering the furnace design, on a roof operating between 1,570 and 1,650°C.

What Was Applied

Grit-blast, pressure test, clean, then Emisshield M-2 on the roof and tubes. The thin high emissivity layer re-radiates heat into the melt while protecting the water-cooled tubes from corrosion.

Why It Worked

The coated roof returns radiant energy to the bath rather than absorbing it into the cooling water, which shortens arc time, and the sealed surface protects the tubes from corrosive attack. See Production Increase.

Summary of Results

Metric	Uncoated	Coated
Heats before rebuild	~500	940 (+88%)
Water leaks	Two $25,000 repairs per campaign	None; ~$100,000 avoided
Arc time per melt	Baseline	−3 minutes; $94,000 electricity saved
Coating adhesion		Bonded through the full campaign
Return on investment		<6 months

Next step

Operating the Same Asset?

Rebuilding roofs early or chasing leaks? Send us the roof data and heat counts. We project the result from comparable documented installations.

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