Abstract: In response to the problems of deteriorating technical and economic indicators and rising production costs in the smelting process of electric furnace with direct reduced iron (DRI), the smelting process was systematically improved by optimizing the slag-making  system, power supply system,carbon powder and oxygen injection system, as well as the raw material feeding and steel retention and slag retention systems. The research results show that the optimized process by adding different ratios of DRI to the electric furnace can reduce steelmaking electricity consumption by about 10 kW·h/t, shorten the smelting cycle by 2 minutes, reduce steel material consumption by about 3 kg/t, effectively control the final slag composition, and reduce the average steelmaking cost by more than 10 yuan/t. With an annual steel production of  1.2 million tons, more than 12 million yuan in costs can be saved annually, providing practical experience and technical reference for the sustainable development of the electric furnace steelmaking industry.

Key words: electric furnace steelmaking, direct reduced iron, smelting process, process optimization, cost reduction