Nucor-Yamato Orders Danieli Reheating Furnace for Arkansas Beam Mill
Nucor-Yamato Steel selected Danieli Centro Combustion to supply a 180-short-ton-per-hour walking-beam reheating furnace for its Blytheville, Arkansas, beam mill. Danieli announced the order on July 25, 2023, with startup targeted for spring 2025.
Omar Al Nuaimi
Equipment and phased installation
The order includes automation and equipment to handle material before and after it passes through the furnace. The project is intended to improve production efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
Installation is planned in phases so the mill can continue using its existing furnace until the new equipment is fully installed. The material handling layout calls for limited changes, allowing Nucor-Yamato to retain most of its current equipment.
Danieli will also provide installation advisory services and training to help integrate the furnace into mill operations.
Burners and reheating controls
Mesteel describes the planned furnace as offering high thermal efficiency, a minimal carbon footprint and lower nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Its patented Danieli Hydro-Mab burners can operate on up to 100% hydrogen, with the potential for zero CO2 emissions.
Danieli Automation's L1 and L2 control systems will manage reheating. The optimization system will automatically adjust operation to meet reheating targets, taking into account the stock's thermal condition, material tracking and the mill's actual pace. The intended result is repeatable, optimized reheating profiles that can be tailored to production requirements.
The Blytheville operation
Nucor and Yamato Kogyo established Nucor-Yamato Steel in 1987 as a joint venture to make wide-flange beams at a Blytheville steel mini-mill.
The company says its annual production capacity now exceeds 2.5 million tons. Its product range includes wide-flange beams, H-piling, sheet piling, standard I-beams, channels and other structural shapes. Nucor-Yamato describes the facility as the Western Hemisphere's largest structural steel mill and reports a workforce of more than 800.
Replacement reflected in later permitting
The spring 2025 operating date was the project's announced target. A later draft statement of basis from the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality, for air permit 0883-AOP-R22, covers applications dated through February 2026 and records a revision to the SN-02 source description stating that the mill's reheat furnace has been replaced.
