Abstract
The purpose of this work is to carry out an accurate and extensive environmental analysis of the steel production occurring in in the largest integrated EU steel mill, located in the city of Taranto in southern Italy. The end goal is that of highlighting the steelworks’ main hot spots and identifying potential options for environmental improvement. The development for such an analysis is based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of steel production with a cradle to casting plant gate approach that covers the stages from raw material extraction to solid steel slab production. The inventory results have highlighted the large solid waste production, especially in terms of slag, which could be reused in other industries as secondary raw materials. Other reuses, in accordance with the circular economy paradigm, could encompass the energy waste involved in the steelmaking process. The most burdening lifecycle phases are the ones linked to blast furnace and coke oven operations. Specifically, the impact categories are influenced by the energy consumption and also by the toxicity of the emissions associated with the lifecycle of steel production. A detailed analysis of the toxicity impacts indicates that LCA is still not perfectly suitable for toxicity assessments and should be coupled with other more site specific studies in order to understand such aspects fully. Overall, the results represent a first step to understanding the current levels of sustainability of the steelworks, which should be used as a starting point for the development both of pollution control measures and of symbiotic waste reutilization scenarios needed to maintain the competitiveness of the industrial plant.
Highlights
The steel industry is the second biggest in the world after oil and gas with an estimated global turnover of 900 billion USD [1]
It is imperative to analyse the steelmaking processes in order to give a clear picture of the main environmental impacts together with possible solutions involving the implementation of a circular economy paradigm
What emerges from the results is that many of the environmental impacts are related to the Wenheartgyemcoenrsguemspftrioomn atnhdearlesosutlotsthies ttohxaitcimtyaonfythoefetmhiesseionnvsiraosnsomcieantetdalwimithptahcetslifaerceycrleelaotfesdteteol the energyprcoodnuscutiomnp. tAiosnfaarnads eanlseorgtyoutsheeistocxoinccietyrnoedf,tfhoer ethmeipssreiosennst asstusodcyi,attheedawboivthe cthaleculliafetecdycelneeorgfysteel produbcatliaonnc.e Afosr ftahre apsroednuecrtgioyn uosfe1 itsoncoonfcseorlnidedst,efeol,ratmhoeupnrteinsgentot s1t9u.8dGy,J,thcoerraebsopvonedcsatlocualaptreimd aernyergy balanceenfeorgrythdeempraondduocfti2o3n.2oGf J1
Summary
The steel industry is the second biggest in the world after oil and gas with an estimated global turnover of 900 billion USD [1]. Crude Steel production has more than doubled, over the last three decades, with the 2014 production amounting to 1665 Mtons. This productivity inevitably makes the steel making sector responsible for environmental burdens. In countries like China, this industry responsible for 12% of the national CO2 emissions [2]. It is imperative to analyse the steelmaking processes in order to give a clear picture of the main environmental impacts together with possible solutions involving the implementation of a circular economy paradigm
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