Engineering specialist Sheffield Forgemasters International (www.sheffieldforgemasters.com) has invested £2 million in its melting facility to reduce its energy consumption when making refined steel.

This involved stripping out 80% of the primary electric-arc furnace to replace the gantry, electrode columns and carrying arms with upgraded machinery that the company says will achieve a 15% efficiency improvement and produce cleaner steels.

The project took seven months to complete. The furnace was installed in the 1960s with a capacity to melt 90 tonnes, but it was later upgraded to 105 tonnes.

Operations director Gareth Barker said: “This was one of the largest infrastructure projects we’ve undertaken for a number of years.

“It is a significant investment by the company and is part of a much broader plan to increase efficiencies. The previous configuration served us well over the years, and has been continually upgraded and maintained, but we knew that radical reconfiguration would be needed to make a more-efficient melting plant.

“With the exception of the main hearth and staging, we have essentially built a new furnace that will operate much faster, with less energy consumption, and will be capable of producing even cleaner steels.”