“ W E S H O OT L I G H T N I N G B O LT S I N TO I T.” Workers monitor the “tapping” of molten steel from a 20-ton electric arc furnace into a ceramic-alumnia-lined steel ladle at the Harrison Steel Castings plant in Attica, IN. The 2,800-degree molten metal will be poured into silica sand molds to make some of the largest steel castings in the world, including parts for Caterpillar’s giant 797 earth mover. Describing the electric arc process that melts and refines 20 tons of scrap metal in two to three hours, Harrison Steel Production Analyst Eric Carroll ’08 says, “It’s much like an arc welder on a large scale—we shoot lightning bolts into it.”
Read about the process and how Carroll came to work at Harrison Steel in “A Refining Fire,” page 24. —photo by Steve Charles