The quality and quantity of steel treated in an RH vessel can be enhanced through the optimization of the metallurgical reactions occurring during vacuum treatment and with an improvement in the equipment design and plant layout to reduce production-time losses. The enlargement of the diameter of the snorkel and vessel contribute to an accelerated reaction rate inside the vessel and to an increase in the overall productivity of an RH plant. With the introduction of twin-station RH plants in connection with a quick vesselexchange design, the loss of production time due to ladle transfer, vessel exchange and snorkel maintenance can be significantly reduced.