Global Steel Research Articles

Decarbonization scenarios for the iron and steel industry in context of a sectoral carbon budget: Germany as a case study

CO2 emissions from global steel production may jeopardize climate goals of 1.5 °C unless current steel production practices will be rapidly decarbonized. At present, primary iron and steel production is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, primarily coke. This study aims to determine which decarbonization pathways can achieve the strongest emission reductions of the iron and steel industry in Germany by 2050. Moreover, we estimate whether the German iron and steel industry will be able to stay within its sectoral carbon budgets for a 1.5 °C or 1.75 °C target. We developed three decarbonization scenarios for German steel production: an electrification, coal-exit, and a carbon capture and storage (CCS) scenario. They describe a phase-out of coal-fired production plants and an introduction of electricity-based, low-carbon iron production technologies, i.e. hydrogen-based direct reduction and electrowinning of iron ore. The scenarios consider the age and lifetimes of existing coal-based furnaces, the maturity of emerging technologies, and increasing recycling shares. Based on specific energy requirements and reaction-related emissions per technology, we calculated future CO2 emissions of future steel production in Germany. We found that under the decarbonization scenarios, annual CO2 emissions decrease by up to 83% in 2050 relative to 2020. The reductions of cumulative emissions by 2050 range from 24% (360 Mt CO2) under the electrification scenario up to the maximum of 46% (677 Mt CO2) under the CCS scenario compared to a reference scenario. This clearly demonstrates that the technology pathway matters. Nevertheless, the German steel sector will exceed its sectoral CO2 budget for a 1.5 °C warming scenario between 2023 and 2037. Thus, drastic measures are required very soon to sufficiently limit future CO2 emissions from German steel production, such as, a rapid decarbonization of the electricity mix, the construction of a hydrogen and CCS infrastructure, or early shutdowns of current coal-based furnaces.

The possibility of using jet metal heating

The international metallurgical World Steel Association has published new data that reviewing the situation in the global steel market. According to the published data for 2021 the production of steel on the world market decreased by 1 % (to 1.83 billion tons). The reduction in steel production on the world stage is the result of sharp fluctuations in market conditions associated with the pandemic. If it is necessary to urgently increase the volume of rolled metal production, the issues of uniformity of metal heating before rolling, stamping and forging, as well as improving the thermal operation of devices for heating the surface of slabs (which will simplify the design of heating devices, reduce the cost of heating and construction), are still relevant. One way to improve the heating process and increase the production of rolled metal is to use jet heating. This paper shows the results of modeling metal heating with nitrogen jets.

Trends in the global steel industry: Evolutionary projections and defossilisation pathways through power-to-steel

Steel production is a carbon and energy intensive activity, releasing 1.9 tons of CO2 and requiring 5.17 MWh of primary energy per ton produced, on average, globally, resulting in 9% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions. To achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement of limiting global temperature increase to below 1.5 °C compared to pre-industrial levels, the structure of the global steel production must change fundamentally. There are several technological paths towards a lower carbon intensity for steelmaking, which bring with them a paradigm shift decoupling CO2 emissions from crude steel production by transitioning from traditional methods of steel production using fossil coal and fossil methane to those based on low-cost renewable electricity and green hydrogen. However, the energy system consequences of fully defossilised steelmaking has not yet been examined in detail. This research examines the energy system requirements of a global defossilised power-to-steel industry using a GDP-based demand model for global steel demands, which projects a growth in steel demand from 1.6 Gt in 2020 to 2.4 Gt in 2100. Three scenarios are developed to investigate the emissions trajectory, energy demands, and economics of a high penetration of direct hydrogen reduction and electrowinning in global steel production. Results indicate that the global steel industry will see green hydrogen demands grow significantly, ranging from 2809 to 4371 TWhH2 by 2050. Under the studied conditions, global steel production is projected to see reductions in final thermal energy demand of between 38.3% and 57.7% and increases in total electricity demand by factors between 15.1 and 13.3 by 2050, depending on the scenario. Furthermore, CO2 emissions from steelmaking can be reduced to zero.

What Shall We Do with Steel Mill Off-Gas: Polygeneration Systems Minimizing Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Both the global steel and chemical industries contribute largely to industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For both industries, GHG emissions are strongly related to the consumption of fossil resources. While the chemical industry often releases GHGs as direct process emissions, steel mills globally produce 1.78 Gt of off-gases each year, which are currently combusted for subsequent heat and electricity generation. However, these steel mill off-gases consist of high value compounds, which also can be utilized as feedstock for chemical production and thereby reduce fossil resource consumption and thus GHG emissions. In the present work, we determine climate-optimal utilization pathways for steel mill off-gases. We combine a nonlinear, disjunctive model of the steel mill off-gas separation system with a large-scale linear model of the chemical industry to perform environmental optimization. The results show that the climate-optimal utilization of steel mill off-gases depends on electricity's carbon footprint: For the current electricity grid mix, methane, hydrogen, and synthesis gas are recovered as feedstocks for conventional chemical production and enable a methanol-based chemical industry. For low electricity footprints in the future, the separation of steel mill off-gases supports CO2-based production processes in the chemical industry, supplying up to 30% of the required CO2. By coupling the global steel and chemical industry, industrial GHG emissions can be reduced by up to 79 Mt CO2-equivalents per year. These reductions provide up to 4.5% additional GHG savings compared to a stand-alone optimization of the two industries, showing a limited potential for this industrial symbiosis.

Carbon Border Measures, Environmental Effectiveness and WTO Law Compatibility: Is There a Way Forward for the Steel and Aluminium Climate Club?

AbstractWith its narrow focus on price-based policies and ‘explicit’ carbon prices, the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) aims to prevent carbon leakage by ensuring that imported products ‘bear’ the same exact economic costs ‘borne’ by EU products. The proposed US border carbon adjustment (BCA) and the recent proposal for a global steel and aluminium arrangement (GSAA), by contrast, reflect a broader focus on environmental equivalence and recourse to punitive or quasi-punitive remedies. All recently proposed carbon border measures suffer from specific limitations. Further, albeit to a different extent, they are all associated with problematic aspects in terms of WTO law compatibility. This research note enquires whether the GSAA could be fine-tuned at the regulatory design stage in such a way as to provide an environmentally effective and WTO law compatible way forward. The analysis illustrates that recourse to an installation-based approach, emission limit values and product standards would achieve these goals. Nonetheless, the implementation of this ambitious strategy would be fraught with political obstacles.

Assessment of Blast Furnace Operational Constraints in the Presence of Hydrogen Injection

Present day, the production of hot metal (HM) via the blast furnace route remains an integral part of the global steel industry. With global pressure to curb greenhouse gas emissions, injection of hydrogen is considered a promising solution while ironmaking transitions to alternate technologies. A comprehensive heat and mass balance model calibrated to an operating blast furnace was used to assess the operational limits of hydrogen injection through the tuyeres, replacing Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI). Constrained by a minimum top gas temperature and minimum Raceway Adiabatic Flame Temperature (RAFT), the maximum injection rate was determined to be 19.5 kg-H2/t-HM when replacing 37.4 kg-PCI/t-HM (i.e. a replacement ratio of 1.9 kg-PCI/kg-H2 or 1.54 kg-C/kg-H2). At the maximum hydrogen injection rate, the specific CO2,eq emissions were seen to decrease by 8% in the top gas. In the case where the increased level of hydrogen increases stack reduction efficiency, the maximum hydrogen injection rate is decreased, while the replacement ratio is increased significantly. A maximum hydrogen injection rate of 14.3 kg-H2/t-HM with a replacement ratio of 4.5 kg-PCI/kg-H2 was achieved when the stack reduction efficiency was 100%, with a CO2,eq emission decrease of 14%. The optimal scenario for injection of hydrogen was determined to be maintaining a constant production rate, allowing the RAFT to decrease, and replacing PCI.

Author Correction: A climate club to decarbonize the global steel industry

Author Correction: A climate club to decarbonize the global steel industry

A climate club to decarbonize the global steel industry

Decarbonizing global steel production requires a fundamental transformation. A sectoral climate club, which goes beyond tariffs and involves deep transnational cooperation, can facilitate this transformation by addressing technical, economic and political uncertainties.

Long-term factors and trends of the Ukrainian steel industry development

The paper deals with the study of long-term factors and trends of the Ukrainian steel industry development in the context of the influence of global industry trends. Its relevance is explained by the importance of the industry in the global and Ukrainian economy and the need to take into account modern economic, technological, social and climate challenges and opportunities for its future development. It was defined that leading factors of the world steel industry development in the long run are the demand for steel products, the implementation of latest technologies and the strengthening of a state industrial policy. Their influence will manifest in the increase of steel products consumption due to population growth, the priority implementation of smart technologies to improve the efficiency of steel manufacturing and strengthening of a state support for the industry, in particular – through protectionist measures. The main long-term trends of steel industry development on a global scale, due to the action of these factors, are the change in the geographical and product structure of the world steel market towards the leadership of the Asian region and the use of high-strength steels; increasing the environmental friendliness of the industry in order to achieve climate neutrality as a result of the implementation of breakthrough technologies; an increase of GDP steel intensity due to rise of steel production, which demonstrates a rather strong position of the steel industry in the economy. The study showed a slight decrease in the role of such traditional factors of the steel industry development as prices for steel products, investments and raw materials due to the increasing importance of means and directions for using resources instead of their ordinary availability. It was established that the main factors of the Ukrainian steel industry development in the long run, which are basically identical to the world ones due to its excessive export orientation, are changes in the global steel market, the development of latest technologies and the improvement in the competitive environment. And long-term trends are changes of steel products demand, increasing the environmental friendliness of the industry and reducing the GDP steel intensity. The influence of these factors and trends is largely negative and may lead to decrease of the role of steel industry in the economy due to the country's significant lag in terms of the introduction of latest technologies against the backdrop of increased competition in the foreign market, the lack of an effective industrial policy in the conditions of underdevelopment of the domestic steel market, a possible decrease in demand for steel products in the context of a declining population and a decrease in metal production. The improvement of the situation will contribute by the enhancement of the competitive environment through the elaboration of a long-term strategy for the industry development in the form of a separate regulatory act, the activation of the national market, the development of fundamental and industry science for the elaboration of advanced technologies of Industry 4.0 and the support of state authorities in promoting steel products to foreign markets.

1.5\xa0\xb0C pathways for the Global Industry Classification (GICS) sectors chemicals, aluminium, and steel

To achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, decarbonization targets and benchmarks for specific industry sectors are required. This opens up a whole new research area for energy modelling because although decarbonization pathways have been developed for countries, regions, or communities, few have been developed for industry sectors. In this research, we document the development of energy scenarios for industry sectors classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). A bottom-up energy demand analysis based on market projections for the chemical, aluminium, and steel industries forms the basis for scenario development, with the aim of completely decarbonizing the electricity and process heat supplies for these industries by 2050. We document the individual steps in the energy demand analyses based on industry-specific market projections and energy intensities. In the last step, the carbon budget is calculated. The complete decarbonization of the industries analysed seems possible based on the available technology.

Regional disparities in steel production and restrictions to progress on global decarbonization: A cross-national analysis

Steel production is one of few “difficult-to-decarbonize” sectors that requires strong decarbonization actions. However, the present focus is mainly limited to technical efforts, while regional disparities in steel production and its impacts on energy and carbon efficiency are rarely explored. By integrating environmental extended input-output analysis and material flow analysis, this study, as one of the first attempts, provides an analytical perspective to explore the regional emission performance of steel production across 44 countries and the rest 5 regions from 2000 to 2015, in which the physical indicators such as CO2 emission, energy use, and carbon intensity are compared. The results show that the CO2 emission associated with global steel production has increased by 2.5-fold from 2000 to 2015, and the global steel production has only increased by 1.9-fold, indicating a worsening environmental performance with emission intensity increasing from 2.1 tCO2/t in 2000 to 2.8 tCO2/t in 2015. This is closely linked to the historical changes in the geographical distribution of steel production as well as the faster increase of steel production in less efficient regions compared to that of more efficient regions. Despite the efficiency improvement in several nations, the carbon intensity of both developed (OECD, from 1.6 t CO2/t to 2.3 t CO2/t) and developing nations (non-OECD: 2.7 t CO2/t to 3.0 t CO2/t) were increasing during the past decade. Thus, there is a need to incorporate regional disparities and inequalities in the designingglobal decarbonization strategies of steel and other heavy industrial sectors.

Zero-carbon steel production: The opportunities and role for Australia

The global steel industry is entering a period of change unprecedented in its long history, and Australia, with the globally largest exports of both iron ore and metallurgical coal, must consider its position carefully. Steel production is critical to the support of global economic development and employs sophisticated, mature and highly-optimised blast furnace technology, but is nevertheless responsible for 7–9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Global net-zero pledges mean that the industry cannot proceed with only incremental improvements, and must anticipate major changes to its core processes, or else depend on negative emissions technologies that may cost even more to implement. Transition scenarios in this paper highlight the rate at which ‘green steel’ technologies would need to be deployed to meet sectoral net-zero targets. The paper shows the co-location of Australia’s major iron ore deposits with excellent renewable energy resources, highlighting a potential advantage for local large-scale development of this industry. Deploying the huge renewable energy infrastructure required would lead to potential challenges for global materials supply chains. For Australia to find a strong and ongoing role in this industry, there it will need to consider long-sighted environmental and industrial policies, including R&D funding, project financing and (low-)emissions certification.

Manganese uptake and partitioning between the tissue of the anemone host Exaiptasia pallida and Symbiodinium spp., including assessment of stress and recovery

Manganese (Mn) is essential for global steel and Mn-iron (Fe) alloy production. The human health effects of elevated Mn concentrations have been well established, but studies on its impact on marine invertebrates are limited. This study is the first to investigate Mn uptake in the sea anemone Exaiptasia pallida after chronic exposure (0.5, 1, 10, and 100 mg/L) for 24-d. Following exposure, E. pallida were transferred to ambient seawater for 6-d to assess Mn depuration. Mn accumulation and partitioning in host tissue and symbionts (Symbiodinium spp.), tentacle retraction, and symbiont cell density were measured during exposure and depuration. Mn concentrations were substantially higher in symbionts than tissue in all treatments after 24-d. No significant difference was observed for symbiont cell density after Mn exposure. Tentacle retractions were significantly higher in all Mn exposed treatments than controls at all time points. Mn depuration was observed for both tissue and symbionts but was more rapid in symbionts. This study reveals that Symbiodinium spp. can play a role in Mn uptake and depuration in anemones, but Mn loading does not affect cell density. These results help understand metal uptake and depuration in complex relationships between Symbiodinium spp. and other host taxa like corals.

Decarbonising the iron and steel sector for a 2\u2009\xb0C target using inherent waste streams

The decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry, contributing approximately 8% of current global anthropogenic CO2 emissions, is challenged by the persistently growing global steel demand and limitations of techno-economically feasible options for low-carbon steelmaking. Here we explore the inherent potential of recovering energy and re-using materials from waste streams, high-temperature slag, and re-investing the revenues for carbon capture and storage. In a pathway based on energy recovery and resource recycling of glassy blast furnace slag and crystalline steel slag, we show that a reduction of 28.5 ± 5.7% CO2 emissions to the sectoral 2 °C target requirements in the iron and steel industry could be realized in 2050 under strong decarbonization policy consistent with low warming targets. The technological schemes applied to engineer this high-potential pathway could generate a revenue of US$35 ± 16 and US$40 ± 18 billion globally in 2035 and 2050, respectively. If this revenue is used for carbon capture and storage implementation, equivalent CO2 emission to the 2 °C sectoral target requirements is expected to be reduced before 2050, without any external investments.

Emission Mitigation in the Global Steel Industry: Representing CCS and Hydrogen Options in Integrated Assessment Modeling

Emission Mitigation in the Global Steel Industry: Representing CCS and Hydrogen Options in Integrated Assessment Modeling

Global steel production in the first two decades of the 21st century: a period of economic fluctuations and attempts to control globalisation processes

Based on World Steel Association statistical data, this study brings together changes in the geographical pattern of global steel production in the first two decades of the 21st century and its fluctuations during economic and social crises. The analysis indicates a strong concentration of production in several countries, and among them, China has become the leader in the last two decades. Since 2017, it has produced more than half of all steel globally, and in 2019 its annual production exceeded one billion tonnes. In 2020 the largest Chinese concern, China Baowu Group, ousted ArcelorMittal from its leading position in the ranking of the world’s largest steel concerns. Such an intense concentration of steel production in one country and the strategies of internal consolidation of Chinese steel producers are a clear signal that China is taking control of the global market for this raw material, essential for many economic sectors.

Product Development of a Rock Reinforcing Bolt for Underground Hard Rock Mining

The demand for mineral resources has dramatically increased over the past few decades; this increase directly correlates to an increase in underground mining activity. There are different mining methods for different minerals, and each have their risks. In hard rock mining activities such as mining for gold, rockfalls are the most significant deterrent to obtaining mineral resources. This paper focuses on rock reinforcement systems to prevent fatal rockfalls in underground excavations. Presently, there is a global steel shortage and an increase in prices that has impacted the productivity of the mining operations that support most national economies. The paper’s main objective is to present the improvement of a rock bolt design used to support the roof in underground mining activities and keep working personnel and equipment safe from rockfalls. This study presents two rock bolt designs: a preliminary design and an improved model of the rock bolt. The paper discusses the operation of the rock bolt and provides laboratory test results on the bolt in operation. The principle of operation of the yield bolt is based on the science of radial expansion of hollow tubes in tension, to provide integrity to underground excavations. This functional design of the rock bolt requires less steel and has the same performance as the current rock reinforcement elongates. The research methodology involved interviewing rock mining engineers to determine their desired rock reinforcement device that would adequately meet the unpredictable dynamic and static behavior of underground rocks. The methodology also included experimental tests of a rock bolt design that was aimed at meeting the desired and acceptable performance determined from the interviews. The experimental results were obtained from a 60-ton hydraulic press that simulated seismic activity underground. The experimental results showed several modes of failure for the bolt; however, the improved rock bolt yielded at an average of 200 kN, as designed. During testing of the preliminary bolt design, there were failures that resulted from the manufacturing process of the bolt, such as splitting of the tube due to the welded end components. After a dynamic test, the preliminary bolt tube bent, creating huge forces on the tube which may cause fracture. The coefficient of friction during dynamic testing was lower than during static testing, leading to undesirable results for the preliminary bolt. The optimized bolt design addressed the failures and the low yield tonnage of the preliminary bolt design. It successfully yielded at 20 tons, even during the dynamic event. The bolt had similar alignment issues which caused failure during testing, as can be seen from the results. A guide tube was implemented in the design and the manufacturing process changed; these changes resulted in the bolt having a more reliable performance that met the requirements throughout.

Optimization of Multi-Period Rail Procurement Plan

Rail is one of the most expensive assets in railway infrastructure. Therefore, a well-prepared rail procurement plan could benefit the asset management. For the metro system in Taiwan, the rail procurement plan includes two major uncertainties, namely, currency rates and the global steel price. In this study, we propose deterministic and stochastic optimization models using a scenario-generation process to minimize the expected cost of the rail procurement plan. Results from the case studies demonstrate that the proposed models can successfully incorporate the uncertainties and obtain the optimal procurement plan. The sensitivity analysis on budget, storage capacity, and expiration period also provides the metro operator the best strategy to further lower the procurement cost. Adopting these models in rail procurement planning can improve the process and results of rail asset management.

How will tramp elements affect future steel recycling in Europe? – A dynamic material flow model for steel in the EU-28 for the period 1910 to 2050

Global steel production has undergone massive growth since WWII. In recent decades, however, affluent regions such as the US and the EU-28 have been experiencing a saturation of the steel market. Stagnant steel production volumes and increased post-consumer scrap volumes are the consequence. The increasing shares of post-consumer scrap provide the opportunity to increase the scrap rate (share of utilized scrap) in crude steel production. However, steel recycling has a major limiting factor: the content of specific tramp elements.In the present study, a dynamic material flow model for steel is used to compare available scrap with crude steel demand on a quantitative and qualitative level (tramp element content of Cu, Ni, Mo, Cr and Sn). The results show that post-consumer scrap increases from 80 Mt/yr (65% of all scrap available) in 2020 to more than 100 Mt/yr (75% of all scrap available) in 2050. Based on the model, the development of the yearly surplus of low purity scrap (for which there is a higher supply than demand) was assessed via material pinch analysis. The low purity scrap surplus rises further, from today's 20 Mt/yr (2020) to 43 Mt/yr in 2050. Assuming that the current handling of scrap continues, the maximal scrap rate is shown to lie at around 55%, while the potential scrap rate (without quality constraints) could reach 75%. The dilution of low purity scrap with high purity resources would allow the utilization of all scrap until 2040 if the current collection scheme remains in place.

An Economic Model to Assess Profitable Scenarios of EAF-Based Steelmaking Plants under Uncertain Conditions

The steelmaking processes are considered extremely energy-intensive and carbon-dependent processes. In 2018, it was estimated that the emissions from global steel production represented 7–9% of direct emissions generated by fossil fuels. It was estimated that a specific emissions value of 1.8 tCO2 per ton of steel was produced due to the carbon-dependent nature of the traditional blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route. Therefore, it is necessary to find an alternative solution to the BF-BOF route for steel production to counteract this negative trend, resulting in being sustainable from an environmental and economic point of view. To this concern, the objective of this work consists of developing a total cost function to assess the economic convenience of steelmaking processes considering the variability of specific market conditions (i.e., iron ore price, scraps price, energy cost, etc.). To this purpose, a direct reduction (DR) process fueled with natural gas (NG) to feed an electric arc furnace (EAF) using recycled steel scrap was considered. The approach introduced is totally new; it enables practitioners, managers, and experts to conduct a preliminary economic assessment of innovative steelmaking solutions under market uncertainty. A numerical simulation has been conducted to evaluate the profitability of the investment considering the economic and environmental costs. It emerged that the investment is profitable in any case from an economic perspective. On the contrary, considering the environmental costs, the profitability of the investment is not guaranteed under certain circumstances.