Integrated Steel Mill Research Articles

The U. S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement: Impact on the U. S. Steel Industry

This study empirically estimates the impact of the U. S.-Canada FTA on specific iron and steel exports and imports using quarterly data for the period January 1981 to December 1990. A single equation multiple linear regression model is used to quantify at the industry and industry segment levels the impact of the agreement. The dependent variables are the quantities of major steel products traded between the two nations. The explanatory variables include foreign price adjusted for the exchange rate and tariff rate, domestic price, and the industrial production index. Results include calculation of price and income elasticities, which vary considerably by industry segments. The impact of free trade, as modeled, varies widely from product to product. As such it has important implications not only for government policy and employment but also for the adjustment problems faced by both the large integrated steel mill and the minimill producers.

The minimum optimal steel plant and the survivor technique of cost estimation

The survivor technique is used to examine economies of scale in the U.S. steel industry, and the results are compared to an earlier engineering approach study by Tarr. Specifically, the paper focuses on the conventional fully-integrated steel mill with capacities of over 1 million tons (MT) per year. The results are consistent with Tarr's estimate of a conventional integrated steel mill Minimum Optimal Scale of 6 MT a year.

Respiratory Hospital Admissions Associated with PM10Pollution in Utah, Salt Lake, and Cache Valleys

This study assessed the association between respiratory hospital admissions and PM10 pollution in Utah, Salt Lake, and Cache valleys during April 1985 through March 1989. Utah and Salt Lake valleys had high levels of PM10 pollution that violated both the annual and 24-h standards issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Much lower PM10 levels occurred in the Cache Valley. Utah Valley experienced the intermittent operation of its primary source of PM10 pollution: an integrated steel mill. Bronchitis and asthma admissions for preschool-age children were approximately twice as frequent in Utah Valley when the steel mill was operating versus when it was not. Similar differences were not observed in Salt Lake or Cache valleys. Even though Cache Valley had higher smoking rates and lower temperatures in winter than did Utah Valley, per capita bronchitis and asthma admissions for all ages were approximately twice as high in Utah Valley. During the period when the steel mill was closed, differences in per capita admissions between Utah and Cache valleys narrowed considerably. Regression analysis also demonstrated a statistical association between respiratory hospital admissions and PM10 pollution. The results suggest that PM10 pollution plays a role in the incidence and severity of respiratory disease.

Energy analysis of an integrated steel mill: A process modeling approach

A full-scale process model of an integrated steel mill is developed and tested, with particular focus on energy-problems analysis. The steel-making process is represented by a set of linear relations. Analytical results indicate that the estimated relations are reliable and the model performs fairly well. It is proved that the process model represents a useful means for energy engineers to make rational evaluations on energy-consumption variations associated with various operating conditions. Two simulations, namely, output-level changes and hot-metal-ratio changes, are conducted to illustrate the applicability of the model.

Improving storage and order picking in a person-on-board as/r system: A case study

In an integrated steel mill, a person-on-board warehouse containing spare parts and consumables was studied. The existing storage and order picking policies were analyzed and appeared to be very poorly designed. Several approaches were proposed for improving the system: sequence each picking tour in an aisle optimally; allow only one operator to perform storage/order picking in an aisle; generate picking lists based on customers' orders; design the storage layout of the racks considering total demand frequency of every item and also “closeness relationships” between items; dedicate each aisle to specific facilities of the mill. Computational results based on real data show that in the studied context up to 80% savings in picker travel time is possible. The study not only presents insights to the management of the warehouse under study, but also develops new ideas and optimization techniques for storage and order picking which are valid in a very general warehousing context. In particular, the incorporation of closeness relationships in the storage design by means of a pairwise interchange procedure seems to be of value.

The Integrated Approach to Industrial Control

Abstract Current trends in electronics, computer science, and control system technology toward: (1), distributed, digital, microcomputer based, first level dynamic control systems; (2), standard real-time programming languages such as Real-Time FORTRAN and ADA; (3), standardized high speed serial data links and such as MAP and PROWAY; and, (4) corresponding major developments in data base management techniques, are providing the technical capability to greatly facilitate the development of integrated industrial control systems. Most of these latter will result in large scale, hierarchically arranged computer systems integrating the plant management, plant production scheduling, individual process optimization, and unit process control for all of the plant's operating units treated as a whole. The concept of a hierarchically arranged, overall control system is not new having originated in the Richards, Thomas and Baldwin steel mill of British Steel Corporation in Wales and in the Chocolate Bayou Petrochemicals Plant of the Monsanto Chemical Company in Texas, USA. as early as 1961. The concept received a tremendous boost with the several integrated steel mill control systems of the Japanese steel companies in the mid and late seventies. They were followed by similar applications in Scandinavian paper mills and more recently by US and Netherlands steel mills and by discrete manufacturing plants in several countries around the world. Development of the early examples of such systems was an extremely difficult undertaking involving several hundreds of man-years of effort in design, programming, installation and check out. Fortunately, the on-going standardization of programming languages, and of interplant communications systems; the breaking of former memory space barriers in system digital computers; and the development of generality and transportability concepts regarding the use of such systems in a wide variety of industries promises to ease this applications manpower bottleneck considerably. Proposals and designs for hierarchical computer control systems for a wide variety of plants have been developed by a large number of engineering groups world-wide. While initially appearing very different in concepts and functional definitions, these proposals and designs have recently been shown to display a completely generic functionality of application to a very large extent. As noted above this generality of application along with the language and communications standardization now being carried out makes these systems viable prospects for both new and retrofitted plants in almost all industries. In addition, those successfully developed have shown a very large economic payout of the order of several hundred percent of development and installation costs per year. This paper reviews the past history and current status of this field. It also lists the applications made in the several industrial fields throughout the world. Based on these it outlines the present and future needs of the field of integrated industrial controls and attempts to predict the near future trends which should develop.

A mixed integer programming model for scheduling orders in a steel mill

The problem of scheduling orders at each facility of a large integrated steel mill is considered. Orders are received randomly, and delivery dates are established immediately. Each order is filled by converting raw materials into a finished saleable steel product by a fixed sequence of processes. The application of a deterministic mixed integer linear programming model to the order scheduling problem is given. One important criterion permitted by the model is to process the orders in a sequence which minimizes the total tardiness from promised delivery for all orders; alternative criteria are also possible. Most practical constraints which arise in steelmaking can be considered within the formulation. In particular, sequencing and resource availability constraints are handled easily. The order scheduling model given here contains many variables and constraints, resulting in computational difficulties.

Studies on the Charcoal Making Process with Rubber Wood as Raw Material for Integrated Steel Mill Project in Malaysia

Studies on the Charcoal Making Process with Rubber Wood as Raw Material for Integrated Steel Mill Project in Malaysia

Die Stromversorgung sehr schneller Schaltkreise über Hochfrequenzleitungen / Power supply in very fast switching-circuits through transmission lines

This paper proposes a DEA model for the performance evaluation of each brand of coking coals in an integrated steel mill. The performance is defined...

EXPOSURE TO AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN A COKE OVEN BY-PRODUCT PLANT.

Abstract This paper presents a study of aromatic hydrocarbon (benzene, toluene, and xylene) exposure in a coke oven by-product plant of an integrated steel mill. Three commercial aromatic hydrocarbon detector kits were used concurrently and evaluated for field use. The accuracy of each detector was determined by a comparison with results obtained by collecting the air-borne aromatic hydrocarbons in a silica gel adsorption apparatus and subsequent laboratory analysis. The ratio of inorganic to total sulfate in the urine was utilized as a biological index of exposure, and the results were compared with time weighted average concentrations to which the individuals were exposed. The study showed no excessive aromatic hydrocarbon exposure to employees in this plant.

A general purpose digital simulator and examples of its application, Part IV: Simulation of an integrated steel mill

As discussed elsewhere, <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sup> simulation is useful in studying the control mechanism of a manufacturing enterprise. The simulation involves a model representing both the information and physical systems and permits examination of alternative decision algorithms.

Peru Moves onto the Iron and Steel Map of the Western Hemisphere

On April 21, 1958, Peru joined Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile to bring to five the number of Latin American nations possessing integrated steel mills. Whether these countries should engage in heavy industry is beside the point; they are determined to make iron and steel, for they fervently believe that an iron and steel industry is the inevitable harbinger of progress. There is simultaneously a belief that the export of raw materials and the import of manufactured goods implies “colonial” status. Sensitive national pride rebels against the thought that raw materials producers are “hewers of wood and drawers of water” for the industriallyadvanced countires.

A Linear Programming Model of Integrated Iron and Steel Production

Integrated steel mills usually have a choice over the use of various materials and production processes. Different ores may be used in the production of iron; steel scrap and iron can be used in different proportions in the production of steel. The economical usage rate of all materials is a function of numerous variables, among which the market price of some materials, notably of various grades of steel scrap, fluctuates and therefore requires a periodic determination of the economical usage rate. This is a typical problem for programming. The paper presents a mathematical formulation of the stages of iron and steel production to determine the optimal (least cost) rate of input of materials. The models of the various stages of production are connected to form a “master model” of an integrated steel mill.

Chile starts operation of integrated steel mill

Chile starts operation of integrated steel mill