ENVIRONMENT
ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
PROFILE
INNOVATIONS
Recycled content makes up 85% of Outokumpu’s production
Danieli is revamping a Nucor hot strip mill in Ghent, Kentucky, USA
We visit Ovako in Sweden to see how they are cleaning up Swedish steel
Eleven pages of new products and contracts
www.steeltimesint.com April 2019 - Vol.43 No3
STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – April 2019 – Vol.43 No3
PLANT SAFETY – THE HUMAN FACTOR STI Cover.indd 1
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CONTENTS - APRIL 2019
ENVIRONMENT
ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
PROFILE
INNOVATIONS
Recycled content makes up 85% of Outokumpu’s production
Danieli is revamping a Nucor hot strip mill in Ghent, Kentucky, USA
We visit Ovako in Sweden to see how they are cleaning up Swedish steel
Eleven pages of new products and contracts
Picture courtesy of Midrex
www.steeltimesint.com April 2019 - Vol.43 No3
STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – April 2019 – Vol.43 No3
PLANT SAFETY – THE HUMAN FACTOR STI Cover.indd 1
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2 Leader By Matthew Moggridge, editor, Steel Times International. 4 News Industry news, astounding facts and figures and diary dates.
EDITORIAL Editor Matthew Moggridge Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855151 matthewmoggridge@quartzltd.com Consultant Editor Dr. Tim Smith PhD, CEng, MIM Production Editor Annie Baker Advertisement Production Martin Lawrence SALES International Sales Manager Paul Rossage paulrossage@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855116 Sales Director Ken Clark kenclark@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855117 Managing Director Steve Diprose stevediprose@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855164
12 Innovations The latest contracts and new products from international plant builders and equipment suppliers. 27 Latin America update Chinese investment in Latin America. 31 USA update US steel industry on growth trajectory.
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35 Iron ore Rio Tinto’s futuristic mine. Electric steelmaking 38 The most productive caster ever? 42 Ovako – cleaning-up Swedish steel. Environment 49 CCS – more momentum needed. 50 A sustainability success story. 54 What goes around comes around. 60 Safety at work The human factor of plant safety. 70 Perspectives: Ametek Land, Ametek Surface Vision Innovation a key driver. 72 History Stiff competition further north.
Chief Executive Officer Paul Michael SUBSCRIPTION Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email subscriptions@quartzltd.com
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Steel Times International is published eight times a year and is available on subscription. Annual subscription: UK £195.00 Other countries: £270.00 2 years subscription: UK £350.00 Other countries: £485.00 ) Single copy (inc postage): £45.00 Email: steel@quartzltd.com Published by: Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, England. Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000 Fax: +44 (0)1737 855034 www.steeltimesint.com Steel Times International (USPS No: 020-958) is published monthly except Feb, May, July, Dec by Quartz Business Media Ltd and distributed in the US by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER send address changes to Steel Times International c/o PO Box 437, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Printed in England by: Pensord, Tram Road, Pontlanfraith, Blackwood, Gwent NP12 2YA, UK ©Quartz Business Media Ltd 2019
ISSN0143-7798
www.steeltimesint.com
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2
LEADER
I’m all alone in Brexitland, my only home...
Matthew Moggridge Editor matthewmoggridge@quartzltd.com
If you live in the United Kingdom, like I do, don’t moan about Donald Trump. Take a look at the state of the British Government first and the fiasco that is Brexit. We are, quite literally, the laughing stock of the world. I’ll admit now that I feel ashamed to be British as our ‘career politicians’, especially those in the Conservative Party, set about ruining the country and ignoring bigger, more pressing issues, such as poverty, inequality and knife crime. There are people who moan about Mr Trump. Most of them are Democrats in the USA who must be reeling from Trump’s recent exoneration following the publication of the 300-page plus Mueller Report. In a nutshell there was no collusion with the Russians, which must be good news for Trump supporters. From where I’m standing, we really need a ‘proper politician’ to handle our negotiations with the European Union, but, unfortunately, we have Theresa May and a bunch of her incompetent ‘colleagues,’ such as Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Michael Gove. It’s hard not get angry over Brexit, angry and bored with the whole thing. It’s quite clear that leaving the EU is not going to be good for the country – or the British steel industry –
and that’s probably why it’s going to run and run, until we’re all bored senseless, because if the ‘establishment’ doesn’t want it, it probably won’t happen. I’m not saying that Trump is a ‘proper politician’, he’s not, he’s a businessman, but at least he is getting things done. He’s engaged with North Korea – twice – and he’s turned around the fortunes of the US steel industry with his controversial tariffs, creating thousands of new jobs in the process and boosting the economy. Next month I’ll be flying direct to Pittsburgh from Brexitland to attend AISTech 2019 – an event of global significance to steelmakers around the world. I’d hazard a guess that the US steel industry will be in a buoyant mood, and understandably so. Personally, I’ll be glad to be in the USA and far away from the grey, gloomy, shuffling population of the United Kingdom, fed up to the back teeth with virtually everything: austerity, Tories, useless politicians, Brexit, street violence, homelessness, you name it, we’ve got it! For me, Pittsburgh will be like that moment in The Wizard of Oz when the movie changes from monochrome to colour, the former being the UK, the latter being the good old US of A.
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NEWS ROUND-UP
• It is reported that Indian steelmaker JSW Steel has successfully bid for Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd and will be ready to take over operations at the end of March, according to an online media report. The leading Indian steelmaker is awaiting for the Company Law Tribunal to accept the resolution plan. Source: All News My Way. com, 5 March 2019
• Despite rumours of their being a merger between two Chinese steel rivals, it now looks as if nothing is going to happen. Benxi Steel Group’s chairman told the Reuters news agency that there would be no merger with Ansteel Group. Both companies are located in China’s northeast. Source: Street Insider.com, 5th March 2019. • A greenfield project in the South Indian state of Karnataka is progressing, says the world’s biggest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal. The US$6.5 billion initiative will have a 6Mt/yr capacity and will include a 750MW captive power plant. Source: Money Control.com, 7 March 2019.
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• If ever Trump does build a wall between Mexico and North America, it looks as if it could be made of American steel – or it will be if a bill introduced by Republican Pete Stauber is a success. The American Workers for Security Act would guarantee that the wall will be made from US steel which in turn will rely upon iron ore mined in North Minnesota. Source: Duluth News Tribune, 5 March 2019.
• Production has resumed at ArcelorMittal’s iron ore mines in northwestern Bosnia following a provisional transportation deal being agreed between the world’s largest steelmaker and Zeljeznice RS. When talks between the two companies broke down a week earlier, transportation of iron ore was halted. Source: Reuters, 6 March 2019.
• Russian steelmaker MMK claims it has produced 100 million cubic metres of industrial gases, including oxygen, nitrogen and argon at its new cryogenic air separation unit. It cost the company RUB4.2 billion (US$63 million) and was built on the site of MMK’s oxygen plant No.5 in July last year. Source: Gas World.com, 7 March 2019.
• Curtis Campbell is suing Walter Pingel and US Steel Corp for negligence and ‘vicarious liability’ after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. It happened while Mr Campbell was engaged in asbestos abatement work at US Steel’s Granite City plant. He spent four days in a coma at St Louis University Hospital after Pingel opened an exhaust value on a blast furnace flare stock, which vented into the tent where Campbell was located and released the gas. • Source: Madison Record.com • South Korean steelmaker POSCO will not be pursuing a planned acquisition of KCFT, an electric vehicle parts maker. The company makes copper foils and flexible copper laminates for lithiumion batteries, but POSCO says the company, formerly known as LS Mtron, does not fit into its battery business. Source: Korea Herald.com, 7 March 2019.
• A report on Livemint claims that ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel will not go very far in concessions to gain approvals for their planned steel joint venture, according to four people close to the story. It is said that their offer might not be enough to satisfy the European Commission. Source: Livemint.com, 7 March 2019.
• India’s National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved ArcelorMittal’s bid for Indian steelmaker Essar Steel. The takeover by the world’s biggest steelmaker and Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation paves the way ‘for the first major foreign participation in India’s steel sector’, says on online report. Karur Vysya Bank’s plea to quash ArcelorMittal’s bid was rejected by the Ahmedabad bench of the NCLT. Source: vccircle.com, 8 March 2019.
02/04/2019 08:26:01
NEWS ROUND-UP • It’s not just Donald Trump who can get busy when it comes to steel imports. Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has slapped anti-dumping tax on Chinese and Vietnamese steel in percentages ranging from around 3% to 10%. Antidumping duties on selected companies will be enforced for five years from 7 • Major spending is planned by steelmakers in the USA thanks to resilient auto sales, anxiety over future trade friction and improved profits, according to AutoNews.com. Among those flashing the cash is Steel Dynamics Inc who plans to spend US$1.8 billion on building a steel mill, and ArcelorMittal, which intends to invest US$3.1 billion on its US factories. US Steel is looking to invest US$2.5 billion on plant investments. Source: AutoNews.com, 9 March 2019.
• The US state of Indiana was the leading steelmaker in the USA in 2018 having produced 26.7Mt (net tons) of steel, up from 24.1Mt (net tons) the previous year. Indiana made more than a fourth of the USA’s steel, twice as much as the runner up, Ohio, which made 10.88Mt (net tons). Source: InsideIndianaBusiness. com, 11 March 2019.
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• Nasdaq reports that US Steel has accepted an award from the High-Performance Computing for Manufacturing Programme Special Call: Steel and Aluminium, sponsored by the US Department of Energy, to expand its manufacturing capabilities for advanced high-strength steel (AHSS). Source: Nasdaq.com, 7 March 2019.
March 2019, it is claimed. Source: NST.com.my, 8 March 2019.
• Sanjeev Gupta, the man at the top of Liberty Steel and the GHG Alliance, widely regarded in steel circles as the saviour of the British steel industry, is floating the Australian arm of the business for nearly £3 billion. He hopes he can eliminate rumours that the company is in trouble. Gupta said that being a listed company ‘will give us a currency and market value which will allow us to do other things’. Source: Telegraph.co.uk, 10 March 2019.
• South Korean steelmaker Dongbu Steel might be acquired by either the chemical-to-financial conglomerate KG Group or the equity fund White Wale Group. The deadline for bids closed on 4 March and the preferred bidder will be announced later in the month. POSCO, Hyundai Steel, Dongkuk Steel Mill and SeAH Steel did not bid. Source: The Investor.co.kr, 11 March 2019.
• The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that for the month of January 2019, US steel mills shipped 8.07Mt (net tons), a 3.5% increase from the 7.8Mt (net tons) shipped in December 2018, and a 5.8% increase from the 7.6Mt (net tons) shipped in January 2018. Source: AISI, 11 March 2019
• Shandong Iraeta Heavy Industry Co, based in Shandong Province in eastern China, claims to have rolled off the world’s largest seamless ring forging piece, which was developed as a key part of a nuclear power unit. The unit weighs 150 tonnes and has a 15.6 metre diameter; it was developed by the Institute of Metal Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and was ordered by the China National Nuclear Corporation. Source: Xinhuanet.com, 13 March 2019.
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NEWS ROUND-UP
• Ukrainian mining and metallurgical holding Metinvest made a profit last year of $1.2 billion. The company is owned by Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. Source: Kyivpost.com, 22 March 2019.
• Tata Steel in India is said to be in talks to sell off some of its European packaging operations in order to attain regulatory approval for its planned joint venture with German steel giant ThyssenKrupp. Source: ConstructionCU.com, 23 March 2019.
• A report by Recycling Today claims that Texasbased Commercial Metals Co (CMC) Q2 2019 revenue rose 33% thanks to various growth initiatives including its November 2018 acquisition of US rebar mills originally owned by Brazil-based Gerdau SA. Source: Recycling Today, 22 March 2019.
• The so-called ‘hydrogen economy’ is stiffening competition between two South Korean steel giants. POSCO and Hyundai Steel are cashing in the business of metal separators for hydrogen fuel cells, according to Business Korea, as future demand for hydrogen electric vehicles is expected to sky rocket. A metal separator is the ‘engine’ of a hydrogen electric vehicle. Source: Business Korea, 25 March 2019. • US steel producer Big River Steel has commissioned German plant builder SMS group to expand its steel mill in Osceola, Arkansas. Since commissioning the new mill in 2017, Big River Steel claims it has been producing high-quality steels, including tube grade sheet for pipeline construction, silicon steels for a wide variety of energy and electric motor applications, and advanced high-strength steels for the US automotive industry. Source: SMS group, 25 March 2019.
• Stainless steel products exported to China, including ingots and hot-rolled products from South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and the European Union, have been dumped, according to a preliminary determination by China’s Ministry of Commerce on 22 March. Tariffs ranging from 18.1% to 103.1% were imposed on 23 March because it is thought the products under scrutiny have negatively affected China’s steel industry. Source: Business Korea, 25 March 2019.
• A new term has been coined: Steelmageddon. It appears that Bank of America Merrill Lynch is warning of a punishing price-crushing steel glut that will sweep through the industry over the next few years. New project start-ups, apparently, will create an oversupply of steel commodities. The bank is warning investors of several years of upheaval, but claims that ‘an attractive steel industry’ could emerge from the ruins. Source: ETF Daily News.com, 19 March 2019.
• Whether or not Trump’s tariffs are good or bad depend on where you’re standing, according to a report by Bloomberg. While the USA’s big steelmakers – Nucor Corporation and US Steel – both report ‘significant profit gains’, the companies buying the steel argue that tariffs have hurt profits and prompted lay-offs. Some say there are more losers than winners. Source: Bloomberg, 24 March, 2019. www.steeltimesint.com
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DIARY OF EVENTS
NEWS ROUND-UP
May 6-9: AISTech 2019 Location: David L Lawrence Convention Centre, Pittsburgh, USA Organised by AIST. This is a big US steel industry event with global reach. If you're in the steel industry you should attend this convention. There's a big exhibition and a very good conference too. Further information, log on to www.aist.org
June 4-6 International Maintenance Fair Location: Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Spain. Organised by Bilbao Exhibition Centre. This event provides visitors with an excellent opportunity to find out more about state-ofthe-art industrial maintenance technology. Where Industry 4.0 is concerned, the event will focus on electronic maintenance, asset management and condition monitoring technology. Further information, log on to www.bilbaoexhibitioncentre. com 17-19 Steel Success Strategies Location: New York Hilton, USA Organised by American Metal Market (AMM) A top-flight steel industry conference that should be in the diaries of any self-respecting steel professional. Further information, log on to www.amm.com
August 26-28: SMU Steel Summit 2019 Location: Georgia International Convention Centre, Atlanta, USA Organised by Steel Market Update (SMU) Billed as the premier steel conference in North America, the SMU Steel Summit 2019 is a pretty big deal with a decent conference programme, but also a fair smattering of sponsors. Further information, log on to www.smusteelsummit.com
• Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) claims that it sold a record amount of galvanised steel in 2018 – around 1.3Mt. The company’s share of the product’s consumption in Russia amounts to 34%. Source: MMK, 19 March 2019.
• Hyundai Steel, South Korea’s number two steelmaker, claims that the US Commerce Department has decided to scrap anti-dumping duty on Hyundai’s plated steel sheets. The end result is that the company expects to increase its exports to the USA. Source: Yonhap News Agency, 20 March 2019.
• A ground-shaking explosion at Tata Steel in Ijmuiden has claimed casualties. Workers conducting maintenance work at the Velsen-Noord plant’s coke and gas facility were hospitalised. Source: DutchNews.nl, 20 March 2019.
• What is it about the European Union and deadline extensions? First Brexit and now ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel’s planned joint venture. According to Reuters, both companies have agreed with the European Commission to extend a deadline to submit remedies in exchange for regulatory approval for the JV. The new date is 13 May. Source: Reuters, 20 March 2019.
• Air Liquide of France is to invest EUR50 million (US$56.6 million) on a state-of-the-art air separation unit at Russian steelmaker Severstal’s CherMK site in Cherepovets. The plant will supply oxygen, nitrogen and argon in Russia and will produce 2,000 tonnes of oxygen per day. Source: Gas World, 22 March 2019.
• South Korean steel giant POSCO is stepping up its social responsibility following the appointment of seven people onto a Corporate Citizenship Committee, chaired by Kim Jun-young, president of Sungkyunkwan University. Also on board are Professor Chang Sea-jin of the National University of Singapore and Professor Kim In-hoe of Inha University’s law school. Source: Korea Herald.
• From furnace to furniture: Indian steelmaker JSW is moving into the steel furniture business and it might have a lot to do with Tarini Jindal Handa, the new managing director of JSW Living. Tarini is the oldest daughter of Sajjan Jindal, JSW Group’s chairman. Source: The Economic Times, 25 March 2019.
• A report by Reuters claims that Mexico has renewed a 15% steel tariff on countries with which it doesn’t have a free trade agreement. Initially introduced in 2015 to protect its domestic steel industry, mainly from steel coming in from Asian countries, the tariffs are said to apply to 186 products. Source: Reuters, 25 March 2019.
April 2019
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INDUSTRY NEWS AMAZING FACTS & FIGURES • Research from The World Steel Association suggests that energy can account for between 20-40% of the expense associated with of steel production. Source: World Steel Association.
• By 2016, China had enough capacity to produce as much steel as the rest of the world combined. Source: Trade Policy Agenda and Annual Report, USTR.
• US Steel, one of the largest employers in Northwest Indiana, reported making $1.115 billion in profit last year, nearly three times the $387 million it made in 2017. Source: Steel Times International • Outokumpu’s recycled content accounts for more than 85% of its production compared to 35% for steel makers globally and 78% for stainless steel in the western world. It’s the highest proportion of recycled material on the market. • Molybdenum is a naturally occurring element that is found everywhere. Life cannot be sustained without it. Molybdenum is essential to human beings and plays an important role in bodily processes such as digestion and the production of cellular energy. Source: IMOA.
• A 2018 Nielsen report demonstrates a clear link between describing products as ‘sustainable’ and higher sales; earlier research suggests that consumers are willing to spend as much as 66% more on products from ‘sustainable’ organisations. Source: Outokumpu.
• In 2018, Outokumpu reused 88.1% of all slag produced: a figure which helped the company lower its carbon emissions and minimise its contribution to landfills. Source: Outokumpu.
• The UK Government is a big purchaser of steel. It hopes to buy over three million tonnes of it between now and the mid 2020’s. This tremendous purchasing power equips the Government with a hugely influential policy tool to deliver against a number of its objectives, including support of UK manufacturing sitting at the heart of the Industrial Strategy. Source: UK Steel.
• The steel industry is known to be the industry that contributes more CO2 than any other, generating about 8% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Source: Steel Times International.
• Indian-born Lakshmi Mittal’s steel company, ArcelorMittal SA, is the world’s largest by volume but, ironically, doesn’t have a steel plant to its name in India. It’s hoping to rectify the matter by acquiring Essar Steel. Source: Livemint.com
• We have already written about the State of Indiana being the USA's leading steelmaker (p5) so how about some Indiana Jones facts? Did you know he was originally going to be called Indiana Smith? Indiana was the name of George Lucas's dog. Source: mentalfloss.com
• Sweden’s power generation mix is 40% hydro, 40% nuclear with the remainder being by renewables or natural gas. This gives steelmaker Ovako one of the lowest carbon footprints worldwide at 450kg/kg steel, cradle to gate, making it 80% below that of the global average for steel production and processing. Source: Steel Times International. May/June 2014
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www.steeltimesint.com
01/04/2019 09:08:37
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INNOVATIONS
Daye Special Steel Company of Huangshi City, Hubei, China, has awarded German plant builder SMS group with the contract to engineer and supply a 50/60 MN, high-speed hydraulic open die forging press. Daye has been using an SMS SMX 800/16 MN radial forging machine since 2011. According to SMS group, the new equipment operates with a forging force of up to 50MN and an upsetting force of 60MN. Daye opted for the four-column push-down press with moving crosshead. “The high forging frequency of the press not only enables sophisticated materials requiring a narrow temperature range to be forged, it also reduces machining times,” says SMS group. The new equipment will be used by Daye to forge a variety of products of high-temperature alloys and special steel and be can operated in fully automatic, semi-automatic or manual mode. SMS group claims that Daye will be able to forge materials ‘extremely precisely and energy-efficiently in programme mode, using pass schedules precalculated with the Forge Base forging programme. A press control and visualisation enables Daye to attain maximum reproducible product quality with a forging tolerance of around ± 1 millimetre. A forging die changing device means fast die changes, says SMS, and the machine will be installed at the Huangshi plant with commission scheduled for May 2020. For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com A six-strand, revamped billet caster was started up in the Lonato del Garda works of Feralpi Siderurgica SpA., part of the Italian Feralpi Group. The company behind the project, Primetals Technologies, said the aim of the revamp was to increase the plant’s production capacity from 1.1Mt to 1.2Mt (metric tons) of billets per year, and to produce billets with a larger square cross section of 150mm x 150mm with a predisposition for cross sections of 160mm x 160mm – and to improve plant availability. Prior to the revamp, the plant’s six-strand billet caster had an installed annual capacity of 1.1Mt (metric tons) of billets with square cross sections of 140mm x 140mm. The plant, in Italy’s Brescia Province, produces medium carbon, carbon and low alloyed steels for the construction industry. As part of the revamping project, the casting machine was equipped with new DiaMold high-speed casting molds, which are characterised by tapered mold tubes and open bottom-mold corners to reduce strand friction. According to Primetals, a DynaFlex hydraulic oscillator enables online and flexible adjustment of the mold-oscillation parameters in order to improve strand-surface quality. The scope of supply also included a new secondary cooling system and a dummy bar head. The existing straightener was modified to optimise the straightening strains. For further information, log on to www.primetals.com
Chinese steelmaker orders SMS forging press
Feralpi Siderurgica’s revamped continuous billet caster
April 2019
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INNOVATIONS
Pintsch Bubenzer speaks at crane symposium Pintsch Bubenzer USA is to speak at the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) Crane Symposium, which takes place 2-4 June in Louisville, Kentucky. The event is being held at the Hilton Seelbach hotel. Joel Cox, the company’s president, will tackle the subject of crane emergency brakes in critical lift applications. Mr Cox will address plant maintenance staff; applications, electrical, mechanical,
safety, service and design engineers; operations and maintenance personnel and management; and other steel industry professionals. Cox is a member of the AIST’s Cranes Technology Committee and presented a paper at a similar event in 2015. According to Pintsch Bubenzer, electric overhead travelling (EOT) cranes are commonplace in steel mills where they can be up to 450 tons or
more in capacity and lift ladles of molten metal that are poured into casting machines. Cox’s presentation will urge delegates to consider the safety benefits of installing emergency brakes, especially in environments where critical lifts are commonplace. “The AIST community gathers key decision makers in our largest growth market. Our safety-centric products are well-suited to the evolving
Further variants of DRYVAC from Leybold Leybold was in Hannover recently presenting its vacuum technologies for industrial processing. The company’s latest addition to its industrial dry pump portfolio is the DRYVAC DV 200 and the DV 300. These pumps, claims Leybold, complement the already existing range of DRYVAC products, which include the 450, 650 and 1,200 models. According to Leybold, all DRYVAC units offer benchmark energy efficiency, durability and future-ready network integration. Where energy efficiency is concerned, the latest DRYVAC models are claimed to offer ‘worldclass’ performance. An optimised screw rotor design minimises power consumption, which in turn saves costs and reduces the users’ carbon footprint. Leybold claims that DRYVAC pumps are more cost-efficient and greener than other models on the market. April 2019
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www.steeltimesint.com
01/04/2019 09:09:56
INNOVATIONS
steel sector,” said Cox, explaining how Nucor Corporation had recently retrofitted cranes at a number of locations. “We’ve seen others follow their lead,” he said, adding that his proposed paper would examine brake sizing methodology, obstacles, install, testing, and other safety-related content. “We will also explore potential accidents, say, when a gear shaft should fracture and a load is dropped,” he said. The crane symposium will offer delegates practical information and experiences from crane maintenance personnel, crane manufacturers, equipment manufacturers and engineering consultants who strive to make EOT cranes and their runways the safest, most reliable, durable machinery and equipment in the industry. There will be other safety-based presentations and the programme might qualify for up to 14 professional development hour (PDH) credits. Pintsch Bubenzer’s executive sales manager Mike Astemborski will be present at the event. “Why would anyone be comfortable about making a critical lift, where a crane is moving an expensive and/or dangerous load, without an additional emergency, failsafe brake?” Astemborski said that a new ladle crane might represent a US$7 million investment for a steel mill. “And we’re talking about a potentially lifesaving addition at a tiny fraction of that cost,” he added. Pintsch Bubenzer will be exhibiting at the AISTech 2019 convention and exposition in Pittsburgh, which takes place 6-8 May at the David L Lawrence Convention Centre. Go visit them at booth 731 where the company will be exhibiting a number of products, including a range of emergency brakes. For further information, log on to www.pintschbubenzerusa.com
15
Tata Steel chooses EMG stabilising system In November 2018 the projects and hot dip galvanising (HDG) team at Tata Steel’s Shotton site in the UK and EMG Automation successfully completed the installation of an electromagnetic strip stabilisation system known as eMASS at the plant’s HDG line number 6. Shotton Works is located in Deeside, North Wales, in the UK, and manufactures approximately 500kt of metallic and pre-finished steel per year for the domestic construction industry and consumer appliances. Simon McCormick, site development projects manager at Shotton, said: “The primary purpose of the strip stabiliser is to hold the strip flat as it passes through the air knives. Once fully optimised, the new device will not only control the amount of zinc deposited onto the strip and improve the coating consistency, it will also reduce how much is used and lead to substantial savings – depending on the price of zinc and the product being produced.” The proven eMASS system, in this installation, which is equipped with six pairs of individual moveable magnets, was installed above an air knife already in use. The installation situation above an existing air knife is always somewhat difficult, above all because the crane paths need to be kept free for removing the pot roll. The solution is a combination
Leybold’s DV200 and DV300 units
The EMG eMASS system
of movable system supports and height-adjustable magnet housings, which ensure the accessibility of the nozzle system for maintenance purposes without the need to remove the eMASS structure itself. Commissioning of the system went well, thanks to the excellent teamwork between the engineering and projects department at Tata Steel and EMG as well as with external contractors. From approval to successful commissioning, the project had a duration of one year. For further information, log on to www.emg-automation.com
In terms of durability, the new models are designed for the harshest of conditions and offer a long life span, despite demanding parameters such as vapours, dust and particles. Minimal maintenance is required, claims Leybold, and the units are also easy to clean. Both models are equipped with automatic shaft seal purge control for optimal protection of shaft seals and bearings. On the connectivity front, the new models offer fieldbus and PLC compatibility to link them to other devices to enable real time communication. Direct control is also possible via computer or handheld device. Support for fieldbus protocols ensures maximum flexibility. Furthermore, plug connections for I/O and RS485 are available on both the DV200 and DV300 units. Protocol cards easily enable protocol support for Ethernet/IP, Profinet, Profibus and EtherCAT. For further information, log on to www.leybold.com
www.steeltimesint.com
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April 2019
01/04/2019 09:09:58
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INNOVATIONS
OMAX joins forces with Hypertherm
USA-based OMAX Corporation, a manufacturer of abrasive waterjet systems, is to join forces with Hypertherm, a US- based manufacturer of industrial cutting systems and software. The announcement follows the signing of a definitive merger agreement establishing OMAX as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hypertherm. By 9 April, OMAX’s industry-leading direct drive pumps, software, and applications technologies will combine with Hypertherm’s complementary portfolio of intensifier-based pumps and abrasive recycling systems, ‘to form the industry’s leading waterjet technology offering’. “When the late Dr. Olsen and I founded
OMAX 25 years ago, our goal was to combine new motion control technology with software to create an abrasive water jet system unlike anything else on the market,” said John Cheung, co-founder and CEO of OMAX. “We more than succeeded, creating one of the world’s top water jet manufacturers,” he said, adding that the two companies had been planning for the future of OMAX for some time. “In planning for this future, we wanted to partner with a company that shared our values and vision. We wanted a company that would protect our culture, provide stability for our employees, and give our customers products and services consistent with our
Slag detection system increases productivity
mission statement. Though Dr. Olsen is sadly not here for today’s announcement, I am comforted knowing he completely supported and wanted this for OMAX.” Hypertherm’s president and CEO Evan Smith commented: “Hypertherm is excited to welcome OMAX to our family and to bring together the leading water jet R&D and engineering team in the world with our hardworking and talented water jet team in Minnesota. We are confident the combination of OMAX’s cutting-edge technology and solutions, innovation focus, strong brand name, commitment to customers, and excellent culture is a perfect complement to Hy-
Spanish corrugated rod manufacturer Nervacero SA – a CELSA Group company – claims it has increased productivity and process optimisation as a result of implementing Ametek Land’s slag detection system (SDS). According to Ametek, its SDS is a continuous thermal monitoring system that provides ‘accurate and timely detection’ of slag carry-over in the steelmaking process. It was originally integrated into Nervacero’s production facility in 2008, processing over 700kt/yr of molten steel. The company recently upgraded to the latest SDS-E version and uses it in the melt shop for monitoring the steel stream from the electric arc furnace (EAF) to the ladle. “The SDS-E has helped to reduce slag carryover significantly and ladle refractory wear. One of its major benefits is that it utilises powerful fully-featured software with an easy-to-use interface, which provides quick and accurate results, with alarms and automatic stream tracking, and
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01/04/2019 09:10:00
INNOVATIONS
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Back row (L-R): Sanjeev Srinivasan, VP corporate development and strategy; Jim O’Connor, CFO of OMAX. Front row (L-R): John Cheung, co-founder and CEO of OMAX, Evan Smith, Hypertherm president and CEO; Jenny Levy, VP - people, community and environment
pertherm’s water jet offerings and plasma cutting industry leadership position.” There will be no significant changes to OMAX’s operations, management structure, or distribution channels, says Hypertherm, and job losses are not on the agenda. Hypertherm intends to keep its own and OMAX’s waterjet product offerings and brands, as the companies’ technologies and business models balance each other. OMAX Corporation is based in Kent, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest, and is a global leader in advanced abrasive waterjet systems that cut virtually any material and thickness with un-
matched speed and accuracy. The company owns the OMAX, MAXIEM, GlobalMAX, and ProtoMAX brands and offers a comprehensive selection of jet machining centres featuring intuitive software controls. OMAX claims to design, manufacture, assemble and test components as a complete system to ensure optimum performance. It also has ‘a comprehensive service and support network in the water jet industry to keep its customers ahead of the manufacturing curve’.
robust data analysis and reporting,” explained Pablo Beitia, director of Nervacero SA. Beitia said that the SDS-E has improved Nervacero’s ferroalloy performance while enhancing the productivity of the company’s melt shop and its refining process. “We have also been able to reduce our use of additives, therefore lowering our overheads, and avoid any ladle overfilling issues. I would recommend the SDS-E as a highly effective slag detection solution to any manufacturer,” he said. Iñaki Araquistain, Ametek’s regional sales manager for Spain and Portugal commented: “It is great to hear such positive feedback about our SDS-E. Nervacero and other steel producers are finding that this technology allows plants to improve yields, produce higher-quality steel and reduce the costs of downstream processing. There are additional benefits as well in improved operator safety.” The SDS-E uses a high-resolution thermal
imaging camera to detect the transition between steel and slag. At the end of the tap, the levels of slag and steel rapidly reverse. Quick termination of the tap after an alarm has been triggered is necessary to prevent excessive levels of slag in the ladle. The dedicated thermal imaging camera is specifically designed to survive in the harsh operating conditions and utilises a particular wavelength to reduce ‘blackouts’ caused by smoke and fumes. Data presented to operators in real time enables them to make informed decisions about the tapping process, Ametek claims. Use of the SDS-E is claimed to improve operator response time and consistency at the end of each tap. This results in a typical reduction in slag depths of up to 25%, compared with traditional methods of stream monitoring, according to Ametek. By controlling slag carry-over, costly downstream processing can be reduced or eliminated,
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og on to www.omax.com
For further information, log on to www.hypertherm.com
says Ametek, and improves plant throughput and operating margins. As the tap commences, application-dedicated software records it, using a stream identification algorithm and produces a data log and graph for quality control. A stream tracking mechanism is included to ensure reliable operation in typical installation conditions. When slag appears and exceeds an operator-defined amount, an alarm is automatically triggered. The system is claimed to ensure accurate detection of steel/slag that is independent of charge weight and without operator intervention. The system is claimed to be suitable for operators of secondary steel making vessels (electric arc furnaces, basic oxygen furnaces) including stainless steel.
For further information, log on to www.ametek-land.com
April 2019
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INNOVATIONS
SMS Group commissioned for Big River phase two
aware of any onset of irregularities within the production process and suggest countermeasures to be taken. “This allows the operators to predictively intervene in the process before an incident becomes a problem, dramatically reducing the occurrence of failures along the production process which otherwise might have resulted in poor quality and downtimes,” SMS group explained, adding that, in the long run, the system provides higher yield while increasing the product quality. SMS group’s technical service operation, which includes spare part management services, plays a central role in the BRS expansion project. David Stickler, CEO of Big River Steel, commented: “I have purchased several technologically advanced steel production facilities from SMS over the past 20 years and I am fully confident that SMS group will again deliver a high quality mill that sets the standard in terms of product capability, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.” At SMS group, Burkhard Dahmen, chairman of the managing board, said that SMS group had worked very closely with management and staff of BRS. “We have succeeded in digitalising a highly complex steel plant in a way that meets the targets of stable and resource-saving production,” he said. “We are very pleased about Big River Steel’s decision to also award us the order for the next expansion stage of the steel plant and to continue on their proven successful way with SMS group as their partner.” For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com
Following on from the success of its phase one development, USA-based Big River Steel has commissioned German plant builder SMS group to supply mechanical equipment, electrical and automation systems and digitalisation expertise for phase two expansion of the Osceola, Arkansas steel plant. According to SMS group, since commissioning the new mill back in 2017, Big River Steel has been busy producing high-quality steels, including tube grade sheet for pipeline construction, silicon steels for a wide variety of energy and electric motor applications, and advanced high strength steels for the US automotive industry. Expansion of the Osceola site will increase the plant’s annual output to about 3Mt of steel. Once phase two expansion is completed, the plant will have two electric arc furnaces and two twin-ladle furnaces. An additional gas cleaning system, claims SMS group, will ensure compliance with strict environmental legislation. A second tunnel furnace and a further downcoiler will be added to the CSP plant, which produces up to 1,930mm wide coils, making it one of the widest in the world. The hot coil produced in the CSP plant is processed into high-grade cold April 2019
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strip in the downstream-coupled pickling line/tandem cold mill. There will also be an additional Dave Stickler, CEO of Big River Steel coiler for the plant’s continuous galvanising line (CGL). SMS group will supply mechanical equipment for all the newly installed plants in addition to the X-Pact electrical and automation systems, including level 3. The SMS group company MET/Con’s product quality analyser (PQA) will also play an important role in the development of Big River’s phase two development as it will form the central module of the process automation system. The PQA monitors, documents and assures product quality down to the finished cold strip along the complete production process. “It uses stored rules defined on the basis of expert knowledge to assess coil quality in a semi-automatic procedure and, based on these assessments, takes ‘ship’ or ‘block’ decisions for the downstream processing of the strip or its dispatch,” SMS group explained. According to the company, the system sends instructions for action to the operators while production continues in order to make them www.steeltimesint.com
01/04/2019 09:10:12
INNOVATIONS
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Tenova and ORI Martin embrace Industry 4.0
Italian plant builder Tenova and ORI Martin attended the MECSPE exhibition last month and presented their Lighthouse Plant ‘Acciaio 4.0’, a project which aims to create a cyber physical factory by integrating the enabling technologies of Industry 4.0 in the steelmaking process. ORI Martin is one of the main European integrated steel groups specialising in high quality steel for the automotive, fastener, mechanical and building sectors. Tenova, part of the Techint Group, is a leading Italian plant builder engaged in the development of innovation solutions for the metals and mining industries. The two companies presented Acciaio 4.0 in the ‘Innovation Tunnel’ at MECSPE, a special area close to the entrance of the event and dedicated to four innovation projects, known as Lighthouse Plants, selected by the Italian Smart Factory Cluster on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development. According to Tenova, Acciaio 4.0 aims to develop a cyber physical factory that, thanks to the enabling technologies of Industry 4.0, will allow the vertical, horizontal and tranversal integration www.steeltimesint.com
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of the entire steelmaking process – and make it more efficient, flexible and sustainable. “The project entails a total investment of EUR14 million – of which EUR8.5 million is from public funds – in an R&D plan with the goal of creating the first model of a massive application of the fourth industrial revolution’s most innovative technologies at ORI Martin,” said Tenova. In the project, ORI Martin is system integrator of Industry 4.0 technologies, transforming its steel plant in Brescia into a smart factory that has the ambition of becoming an innovation model in the sector, not only at the Italian level. Tenova, as industrial technological partner, works to design innovative models of integrated process control, using smart sensors (IoT) and gathering data in cloud systems to develop applications of machine learning, remote support and predictive maintenance, taking into consideration environmental sustainability, people’s safety and data security. A major objective of the project is to establish a network with academic and research institutes of excellence, as well as with highly specialised
SMEs, giving them the opportunity to grow and gain a foothold in the national and international market and increase their competitiveness. Andrea Lovato, Tenova’s CEO, commented: “In a sector like the metals industry, characterised by a high level of volatility and cyclicity, it is fundamental to adopt a flexible production process, able to promptly respond to market demand, both in terms of quality and quantity. This is the model we want to introduce with our project, through enabling technologies of Industry 4.0.” Uggero de Miranda, ORI Martin’s president of the board of directors said that his company joined the initiative with determination, absolutely sure of the positive advantages that this new factory model will bring to the business. “In addition, we are proud that this partnership has been selected among the first four Lighthouse Plants by the Smart Factory Cluster, giving a concrete example of digital transformation to the metals industry. For further information, log on to www.tenova.com April 2019
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INNOVATIONS
Pneumatic or electric hoist? When considering a new investment in hoist technology, a full comparison between pneumatic and electric hoists can pay real dividends, says Germany-based JD Neuhaus (JDN), a manufacturer of pneumatic hoists. Pneumatic hoists are claimed to offer numerous advantages over their electric counterparts in areas such as duty cycle, variable speed control, weather-proofing, installation and operation, maintenance, robustness, investment costs, lifetime costs and safety, according to JDN. The company says that duty cycle is an important area of focus and that electric drives can only be used for intermittent operations (S2 duty), so are not suitable for continuous use. Conversely, pneumatic hoists have no downtime issue and a 100% duty cycle rating, it is claimed. JDN claims that its pneumatic hoists can work constantly without causing excessive temperatures thanks to a patented self-cooling gearbox, where decompressed air flows through channels within the gearbox to cool the gear train. This, says JDN, is a great benefit to end users as hoists can be in uninterrupted use over multiple shifts. Where variable speed is concerned, a pneumatically operated hoist offers easy, accurate and wide-ranging speed control at low cost, enabling simple, sensitive and accurate positioning of loads in all environmental conditions, says JDN. Electric hoists require a frequency converter (VFD) and shielded wires to prevent radio interference, while the motor will need thermo-elements to avoid increased heating at the windings. Safety is a major issue for electric hoists in potentially explosive environments such as oil rigs, mines and paint shops, says JDN. It is challenging
to configure electric drives for use in such areas, not without considerable cost. In contrast, JDN believes there are no such issues when using air-operated hoists. By using compressed air as the driving media, pneumatic hoists are suitable for use in dust-laden atmospheres, including areas at risk of explosion and where organically flammable chemicals are in use. If the hoist is intended for outdoor use, the whole issue of weather-proofing arises. Using an electric hoist means careful selection based on its IP protection class rating, which denotes its ability to resist the ingress of solids and moisture. Pneumatic hoists are not subject to the IP rating system, says JDN. Any contaminants such as dirt or water are blown out by air without any compromise to functionality, which is crucial in areas where hoists need to be cleaned at regular intervals. “Pneumatic hoists are low in weight compared with their electric counterparts, making them more mobile and easier to handle. Air hoists are ideal for performing large lifting heights, providing true vertical lift without any limitation in the number of starts/stops per hour,” said JDN. “The simplicity of pneumatic hoist technology lends itself to easier installation when compared with electric hoists, which require qualified personnel,” the company added. Pneumatic hoists contain relatively few mechanical components compared to electric hoists and fewer components means less to go wrong, says JDN. Modular design is claimed to provide simple access to all parts making maintenance easy and this, says JDN, means less downtime and faster, more affordable repairs.
When comparing the cost of pneumatic and electric hoists, JDN says that many factors must be considered beyond the price tag, including installation, operation, inspection and maintenance costs. JDN believes that the economic advantages of pneumatic hoists will ‘quickly become apparent’. JDN, however, manufactures pneumatically and hydraulically-operated hoists and crane systems up to 115 tonne capacity from its stateof-the-art facility in Witten, Germany. Over 80% of production is exported, which is why the company has long-established subsidiary companies in France, Great Britain, Singapore and the USA. According to JDN, resilience and reliability are key product differentiators. Pneumatic hoists are ideal for use even in challenging environments, such as foundries and steelworks. For further information, log on to www.jdngroup.com
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01/04/2019 09:10:16
XL 3210 V
XL 3310 V
XL 4210 V
XL 4310 V
• •
REACH 9.6 M (31’ 5”)
XL 5210 V •
REACH 10.6 M (34’ 10”)
XL 7210 V •
• REACH 8.6 M (28’ 2”)
REACH 8.6 M (28’ 4”)
REACH 14.7 M (48’ 1”)
NEW VERSATILITY ADVANTAGES TO MEET NEW DEMANDS IN METAL MILL MAINTENANCE
• REACH 9.5 M (31’ 3”)
XL 5310 V
• REACH 10.6 M (34’ 9”)
XL 7310 V
• REACH 14.6 M (47’ 10”)
Rugged machines, featuring Gradall’s world-famous, strong, telescoping tilting boom designed for maintenance on: • Basic oxygen furnaces (BOF) • Electric furnaces • Blast furnaces • Tap hole cleaning • Ladle maintenance • Torpedo car maintenance For information about distributors worldwide, contact:
Michael Norman, Director of Sales and Marketing at Gradall Industries, Inc., USA mtnorman@gradall.com | Phone 1-330-339-2211
Visit our New web site:
GradallSteel.com SteelMill_ad_297mm x 219mm.indd 1
DRIVING INGENUITY
2/19/18 12:01 PM
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INNOVATIONS
Breakthrough drive brings high performance ABB, a technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport and infrastructure globally, has expanded its all-compatible drives offering to include the ACS6080 medium voltage (MV) drive for critical applications. The new drive introduces what ABB describes as ‘a breakthrough control technology’ that brings high performance motor control to demanding processes used in industries such as mining, metals and marine. The drive is claimed to enable plants to operate more efficiently and produce higher quality output, claims the company. Traditionally, achieving high dynamic performance and excellent power quality needed hardware with multiple devices. However, such an increase in components could decrease the operation’s reliability. ABB claims that its ACS6080 drive maintains the same highly reliable hardware as its predecessor, the ACS6000, and includes an advanced control capability, known as Model Predictive Pulse Pattern Control (MP3C). MP3C technology combines model predictive control with optimised pulse pattern to modulate the semiconductors. “This means that at every point in time this control can anticipate the best motor operation point by finding the perfect compromise between dynamics, efficiency and harmonic distortion,” explained ABB. According to ABB, the new control enables system integrators and plant operators to maintain stability, while reducing investment and operational costs by using a smaller drive or a smaller motor. The increased power capability of the ACS6080’s single power module reduces the footprint of the drive by up to 20%. “The new control helps to reduce operational cost in two
ways: it is more energy efficient than other control solutions, and maintenance costs are reduced as there is less mechanical and thermal stress on the equipment leading to longer lifetime of the components”, ABB said. The ACS6080 provides extensive input/output connectivity and supports all major fieldbus protocols, making it easy to integrate into existing systems and processes. It is compatible with ABB Ability condition monitoring services, allowing customers to obtain real-time data about the status and performance of the monitored equipment from any location. “The ACS6080 MV drive provides benefits which help deliver exceptional value to industrial processes in terms of product quality, uptime, safety and energy efficiency,” says Ester Guidi, product manager, ABB Drives. ABB claims that the new drive delivers a high level of safety for people and equipment via an arc-resistant design and certified functional safety features. The ACS6080 is built on ABB’s common drive architecture, enabling a faster and harmonised start-up, commissioning and monitoring. Once a user has learned how to use one all-compatible drive, they can then operate any other drive in ABB’s all-compatible offering, it is claimed. The modular design of the ACS6080 means it can be configured for single or multi-motor applications. It controls all types of AC motors including induction, synchronous and permanent magnet, without the need for different software, and it can be tailored to any heavy industrial application, and has a power range from five megawatt (MW) to 36 MW. For further information, log on to www.abb.com
JSW places order with CMI Groupe JSW Steel Coated Products Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian steelmaker JSW Steel, part of the JSW Group, has placed an order with CMI Industry Metals, for the supply of a continuous annealing line (CAL) to be erected at its Vasind Works. This new line will produce 0.5Mt/yr of annealed steel. According to CMI, the new line is to help JSW improve its competitive position and capture additional market share in a growing domestic high-end steel market. With this order JSW 'underlines its commitment to enhance its share of high value added steel products dedicated to the construction industry', says CMI. The supply scope includes all essential components of the annealing line designed by CMI, such as the two pay-off reels, a roller-seam welding machine, vertical multi-stage cleaning section, vertical entry accumulator, low-energy all radiant tube fire annealing section (including CMI’s patented Blowstab cooling system), intermediate accumulator, 6 Hi SPM, exit accumulator and inspection stand, rotary shear and two tension reels. The line is designed for strips in the thickness range of between 0.25 mm to 1.5 mm and widths of up to 1570 mm. It will produce a wide variety of grades, including C.Q, HSLA-440, DQ, NOSP, and HSLA-590, claims CMI. The process runs continuously at 300m/min, while the entry and exit sections reach 450m/min and 500m/min respectively. Decisive factors for choosing CMI for this project include the company's extensive experience in designing and building continuous strip processing lines, and its state-of-the-art annealing technology. The CAL is scheduled to start operation by the beginning of 2021. For further information, log on to www.cmigroup.com
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CMI Groupe’s Ajay Upadhyay (right) with a JSW representative
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Measures rebar like never before regardless to the rolling speed High-tech light section measurement.
Visit us at:
25 – 29 June, 2019 Düsseldorf, Germany Zumbach_Rebar_Halfpage_EN_20180903.indd 1
www.zumbach.com • sales@zumbach.ch 07.01.19 09:15
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Hyster Europe’s forthcoming Stage V compliant ‘Big Truck’ range for European customers will be powered by Mercedes-Benz/ MTU engines. According to Jan Willem van den Brand, director of big truck strategy and solutions at Hyster Europe, said: “Our heavy industry and port customers in Europe who will require a Stage V driveline, can continue to expect highly efficient trucks with low fuel and DEF consumption, benefiting from high productivity levels and fast operations with the power available.” Hyster lift trucks over 8 tonnes, container handlers and reach stackers will be equipped with the Stage V-compliant Mercedes-Benz/MTU Series 1000 and 1100 engines. The exact availability varies per series and will be communicated in due course. The engines have been designed for industrial applications such as material handling and further developed to meet EU Stage V regulations. They are based on commercial vehicle engines from Daimler. Lars Kräft, vice president industrial business
at MTU, commented: “We are very pleased, that Hyster, one of the leading global brands of materials handling equipment, decided to power its new vehicles with our engines.” The Mercedes-Benz/ MTU engines will support the well-known durability of Hyster Big Trucks, said Hyster, adding that they are proven to deliver reduced total cost of ownership (TCO), great reliability and outstanding performance in tough, heavy-duty applications. “Mercedes-Benz/MTU engines have a highly successful track record in both on-road and offroad applications such as forestry or agriculture. They are also particularly suited to intermittent applications like our business serves,” says van den Brand, explaining that the power ratings range from 129kW to 280kW depending on model. “With the optimal match of engine sizes to the trucks and applications, customers can handle the heaviest of loads all day long, with quick turnaround times,” he says. “Customers can expect to boost productivity with more power
available for faster operations whether it is handling containers in the Swedish winter or steel pipes in the hot Italian summer.” Produced at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim, Germany, the engines are known for their robustness and durability up to very high running hours, says Hyster. They have been optimised to work well in intermittent duty applications, resulting in lower engine temperatures, less component wear and reduced noise levels, according to Hyster. Sufficient power reserves also result in less stress and parts wear, it is claimed. With long service intervals of 1000 hours, good access to main service parts and outstanding durability, the Mercedes-Benz/MTU engines are expected to help reduce service costs. Hyster Europe will work in close co-operation with MTU to ensure its dealer network will be fully trained and equipped for service support, meaning that end users will receive optimum support throughout their entire product life-cycle. For more information, log on to www.hyster.eu.
Flexometal contracts Fives for Mexican steel plant Mexican tube and profile producer Flexometal has contracted the French engineering group Fives to supply an OTO cold saw cut-off unit for its tube mill line. The privately owned company’s Guadalajara plant has had the equipment in place since January 2019 and claims it has already achieved
increased productivity in the region of 30%. According to Fives, the new unit features important technical innovations that guarantee a repeatability in cutting length tolerance always in the range of 1.5 mm for tube lengths up to six metres at any working speed. This cut-off belongs to a single blade cold saw cut-off family
with a range coverage from 6mm to 130mm. It is equipped with ‘extremely versatile and user-friendly’ software, enabling an operator to optimise speed and type of blade for any production size. Fives has been specialising in OTO flying cut-off units for over 25 years, offering a wide range of models, specifically designed for inside scarfed tubes and special profiles, with special attention on high precision and a perfectly clean in-line cut without distortion. For further information, log on to www.fivesgroup.com
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Continuous Infra-red Analysis from ANT Automation Steel breakouts are catastrophic process failures that are both extremely dangerous and costly. Monitoring the health of ladles and torpedoes using thermal imaging can greatly minimise the risk, but a handheld infrared camera can only provide a periodic check on the health of these critical transport structures. ANT Automation has overcome this limitation by developing a system that provides continuous thermal monitoring and at its heart is FLIR thermal imaging. “Many steel mills have a handheld camera and they maybe go in once a week or every couple of days to take some pictures of the ladle,” explains ANT Automation’s Javier Barreiro. “While these surveys can provide valuable information, the probability of catching a hot spot is very low during a routine inspection. You could be in normal operation and have a refractory brick break creating a hot spot in less than a minute.” Continuous monitoring is clearly the answer, but it isn’t practical, cost-effective or safe using manual imaging. For many steel mills, ANT Automation’s CIRA (continuous, infrared analysis) platform is providing a good solution. It is an integrated machine vision system that is totally automatic, requiring no human intervention. Javier Barreiro continues: “We capture a hot spot in the early stages by analysing and tracking the history of the ladle. Every ladle has a unique ID and it is imaged from multiple angles during each use; historical data provides insight into any problem areas. The system differentiates between developing hot spots and normal plant activity such as common splashes, spill-over or overflow.” CIRA operates on the plant’s existing network and relies on multiple FLIR fixed mounted thermal imaging cameras to monitor the entire surface of the ladle or torpedo. The model ANT Automation chooses for this task is the FLIR A315 with 320 x 240 pixels resolution that provides 76,800 unique
thermal data points. The high-frequency streaming capability of this camera can achieve full-frame 16-bit images up to 60Hz which can be fully controlled via PC. With an appropriate housing, the FLIR A315 stands up to hostile steel mill environments. “We always recommend FLIR cameras,” says Javier Barreiro. “They are robust, work in many different conditions and the way they stream data is very convenient.” Users of the CIRA system can access live video data, view historical images and customise alarms from a PC or mobile device. If a hotspot is detected, the system automatically sends an email including the ladle number, temperature and associated thermal images. This early warning gives users time to grade the seriousness of the problem and take the most appropriate action. This insight creates value beyond breakout prevention, says Javier Barreiro. “Customers can optimise their refractories,
have better understanding of the ladle profile and use the information to improve the process,” he advises. “It’s become common for CIRA users to install the system with several cameras, only to expand it in the following months. They maybe start with two, then install five and maybe 10 as they appreciate the value of monitoring.” According to ANT Automation, steel mills choose CIRA and other continuous monitoring systems for different reasons, some as simple as cheaper insurance premiums. “Whether it’s to refine maintenance processes or to better protect nearby equipment, most plants adopting the platforms had experienced breakouts in the past. To my mind, that’s much too late, we need to prevent this from happening from the start,” Barreiro concluded. For further information, log on to www.ant-automation.net
The FLIR A-Series thermal imaging camera
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27
LATIN AMERICA UPDATE
Chinese investment in Latin America This article analyses China’s steel investments in the Latin American iron and steel industry – part two next month. By Germano Mendes de Paula* China’s steel exports The Chinese steel industry has been considered a major headache for Latin American steelmakers, mainly due to trade issues. Indeed, China’s steel exports have developed into a big threat to local producers over the last two decades. Taking Brazil as an example, China exported only 12kt of steel products in 2000, which was equivalent to just 1.4% of the country’s imports. In 2018, the figure was 968kt, enlarging its import share to 40.2%. According to the Latin American Steel Association (Alacero), Chinese total steel exports reached 60.9Mt over the JanuaryNovember 2018 period, of which 55.4Mt was rolled steel products (longs, flats and seamless tubes) and 5.5Mt was transformed steel products (wire and welded pipes, for instance). Meanwhile, China shipped 6.6Mt of steel products to Latin America, of which 6.0Mt was rolled steel and 615kt transformed steel. Chinese steel, therefore, was equivalent to roughly 11% of regional apparent consumption. It is interesting to note that Chinese steel exports also affected Latin American steelmakers by gaining import share in third markets. Nevertheless, this impact is more difficult to estimate. Either way, China has been a key concern to steel companies everywhere including Latin America. Foreign direct investment China Global Investment Tracker, a comprehensive data covering Chinese investment and construction abroad, shows that during the 2005-2018 period
this amount reached $1.94 trillion, of which $178 billion referred to metals. Regarding the latter, $36bn went to Latin America, distributed mainly among Peru ($18bn), Chile ($7 billion) and Brazil ($5 billion), Ecuador ($4 billion), Argentina and Venezuela ($1 billion each). According to Dr. Otaviano Canuto, a former vice president and executive director at the World Bank, in an article published in Americas Quarterly in March 2019: “Of the estimated $140 billion China has lent to Latin America since 2005, over 90% has gone to four countries – Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador. More than 80% of China’s foreign direct investments – either as greenfield investments or through mergers and acquisitions – have gone to Brazil, Peru and Argentina, with Mexico
rising as a destination for manufacturing investment in recent years”. In addition, Dr. Canuto also observed: “Direct investment in the region went from almost nothing in 2005 to likely passing $110 billion by 2018. The initial focus was on the extractive industry (oil, gas, copper, iron ore), but currently more than half of the flows are going to services. Chinese investors’ pursuit of opportunities in transport, finance, electricity generation and transmission, information and communications technology, and alternative energy services catering to local markets is growing at rapid speed”. Iron ore investment in Peru It is understood that the first Chinese investment in the Latin American iron
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Fig 1. Peru’s iron ore production, 1990-2018 (Mt). Source: worldsteel and Peruvian mines and Energy Ministry
* Professor in Economics, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. E-mail: germano@ufu.br www.steeltimesint.com
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LATIN AMERICA UPDATE
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and steel sector was carried out in November 1992, when Shougang acquired Hierro Peru for a consideration of $120 million. The company was originally controlled by the U.S.-based Marcona Mining, but in 1975 it was nationalised and operated as a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE), exporting mainly to South Korea and Japan, until it was purchased by Shougang. At the time of the transaction, Shougang unveiled a plan to boost capacity from 4.5Mt/yr to 10Mt/yr. It was the only iron ore producer in the country. Peru produced 5.2Mt of iron ore in 1993 and 6.9Mt in 1994 (Graph 1). However, in the period 1995-2004, its annual average output was only 5.1Mt. It expanded to a 7.5Mt/yr plateau between 2005-2009 and to 8.5Mt/yr over the period 2010-2018. Last year, the country’s iron ore production reached 9.5Mt. This figure includes output from Shougang Hierro Perú (SHP) and its joint venture company with China’s Baiyin Non-ferrous Metals Group, Minera Shouxin Perú (MSP), which processes SHP’s mining tailings. SHP’s production comprised 95.4% of the overall volume (9.1Mt), while MSP production was 0.4Mt. SHP’s current installed iron ore capacity is 10Mt/yr. However, the miner expects to double its capacity by late this year to nearly 20Mt/ yr. It is worth highlighting that SHP amplified its volume by 75% since its first year of operation. Although it is not a poor performance per se, global iron ore output rose more than 130% in the same period. Furthermore, Chinese iron ore imports skyrocketed from 33Mt in 1993 to 1,06 billion in 2018. Thus, it can be concluded that SHP’s evolution was relatively shy. Iron ore investment in Argentina MCC Minera Sierra Grande is Argentina’s only iron ore mine. The deposits were discovered in 1944, but the exploitation started only in 1969, by Hierro Patagónico Sociedad Anónima (Hipasam), an SOE. The production was relatively small in most of the years. During the 1980s, for example, the maximum output was 1.2Mt (in 1988). It was shut down in 1991, when it produced 259kt. Residual production was registered in 1994-1995. Hipasam has since gone bankrupt. China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Co acquired 70% of Minera Sierra Grande in 2006, aiming to resume operations and amplify capacity. It restarted its activities in 2009, but it was only in 2011 that it began to ship to the Chinese market. The lack of water has resulted in low operating rates at the iron ore concentration plant between 2014-2015. Moreover, it was shut down again in January 2017, because, according to the company, it was exporting iron ore at less than $45/tonne FOB, while the costs of extraction and operation were around $80/tonne. Approximately 220 workers out of a total workforce of 260 were dismissed and minimal staff was kept on board for maintenance. During the period 2009-2015, for which there is available information, MCC Minera Sierra Grande’s maximum output was only 485kt (in 2012). The company claimed to have invested $130 million to expand capacity from 1.3Mt/yr to 2.8Mt/yr of concentrated iron ore. In fact, in early 2017, its parent company declared that it would stop operations at the Argentina site for the first half of the year, but never resumed operations. Compared to the Peruvian experience, the performance was even more disappointing. In both cases, nonetheless, the investments focused on relatively small iron ore mines, by purchasing SOEs, in countries that are not relevant players. In the second part of the article, attention will be paid to investment in the steel industry properly.�
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USA UPDATE
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US steel industry on growth trajectory Ever since President Donald Trump slapped 25% tariffs on steel imported into the USA, things have started to look up for the US steel industry. US steelmakers are re-opening idled or shutdown mills and many companies are reporting increased sales. By Manik Mehta*
THE US steel industry is strengthening itself amid improving market conditions and declining steel imports thanks to the 25% tariffs imposed on imports. A glaring example of the improved market situation is reflected in the re-opening by US Steel of a previously shut-down steel mill – an electric weld-pipe mill at the Lone Star Tubular Operations – in Lone Star, East Texas, which was closed because of deteriorating market conditions at that time. According to a statement issued by David Burritt, president and CEO of US Steel, the company was ‘encouraged by an improvement in market conditions and an increased customer demand for tubular products that are mined, melted and made in America’. The facility was idled in 2016 when
domestic steel supply was hit by cheap imports from Turkey and India that put heavy pressure on US steel prices. President Donald Trump, after assuming office, imposed tariffs on steel imports from several countries aimed at reviving the fortunes of the struggling industry. While steelmakers applauded the President’s action, steel-consuming industries are not happy about the tariffs. General Motors, for instance, said recently that steel and aluminum tariffs had raised the prices of these commodities, costing the company more than $1 billion last year. GM expects another $1 billion increase this year. Some steel-making companies have indeed undergone a transformation, as illustrated by the case of Commercial Metals Company (CMC) in Irving. The company’s
CEO and president Barbara Smith had appeared before the US Congress and called for tariffs on steel imports. In its last fiscal year, CMC reported sales of US$4.6 billion, an impressive 21% increase over the previous year. US Steel, which is also re-starting construction at its shuttered-down manufacturing facility in Alabama, praised President Trump’s ‘strong trade actions’ which, in part, prompted the company to re-start work on a plant in Birmingham, Alabama. President Trump’s tariffs had raised prices on imported steel and aluminium, and benefited domestic manufacturers. The company also pointed out that market conditions had improved, coupled by union support and government incentives, all of which had led to its
* USA correspondent www.steeltimesint.com
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USA UPDATE
decision to re-start. The facility will have an annual capacity of 1.6Mt. US Steel is upgrading its manufacturing equipment and earmarking about US$215 million, creating 150 additional jobs. The furnace is expected to go into production in late 2020. The 16,000 member-strong United Steelworkers union welcomed US Steel’s decision to re-open the Alabama facility. “This decision paves the way for a solid future in continuing to make steel in Alabama and the Birmingham region,” Leo W. Gerard, the president of the international union, said in a statement. The 25% tariffs on steel imports have brought relief to the long-struggling American steel industry. The tariffs have boosted production capacity of US steel producers amid lower imports. They have helped US steel industry capacity cross the 80% benchmark level – the minimum rate required for the sustained profitability of the industry. American steel mills are also benefiting from higher domestic steel prices as a result of the trade actions. Higher steel prices boosted profits of US steel makers in 2018. Leading US steel companies, such as United States Steel Corp., Nucor Corp., Steel Dynamics, Inc. and AK Steel Holding Corp. benefited from higher steel prices in the fourth quarter. “Capacity utilisation of American steel mills was only 69.4% in 2016, a level that inhibited efficient operations and discouraged American steel companies from investing in research and development. Meanwhile, China and other steelproducing nations dramatically increased their production capacity – despite growing evidence of global overcapacity. By 2016, China had enough capacity to produce as much steel as the rest of the world combined”, according to the annual report Trade Policy Agenda and Annual Report recently issued by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The USTR report also criticised the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for its pushback
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with respect to the US’s invocation of national security to impose the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium. The report states that multiple WTO members are ‘urging the WTO to overrule the United States’ determinations concerning its own essential national security interests regarding trade in steel and aluminium under Section 232.” US steel imports dropped roughly 12% in 2018 as a result of the tariffs, which the Trump administration imposed on imported steel under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 a year ago. According to the latest AISI report, total and finished domestic steel imports in 2018 declined by 11.5% and 13.1% year-overyear respectively, to roughly 33.73Mt (net tons) and 25.69Mt (net tons) respectively. The biggest foreign suppliers in 2018 were South Korea with 2.7Mt (net tons) down 26% year- over-year; Japan with 1.3Mt (net tons) down 8%; Germany with 1.3Mt (net tons) down 5%; Turkey with 1.1Mt (net tons) down 47%; and Vietnam with 1.1Mt (net tons) up 48%. With the American steel industry experiencing robust cash flows, steel manufacturing companies are also making substantial investments in upgrading and boosting their production facilities. Steel Dynamics, for example, has undertaken measures to build additional capacity. The company plans to invest $1.7-$1.8 billion to build a new electricarc-furnace (EAF) flat roll steel mill in the United States with a production capacity of roughly 3Mt/yr. Nucor’s other projects include a $650-million investment to upgrade the production capability of its flat-rolled sheet steel mill, Nucor Steel Gallatin in Kentucky (see page 42). Encouraged by the positive business environment and the tax reforms, Nucor had also announced some weeks back that it planned to allocate $1.35 billion to construct a new state-of-the-art plate mill in the Midwest that is expected to have a
capacity to produce 1.2Mt/yr of steel plate. The project, expected to create some 400 jobs, will enable Nucor to supply plate products that it does not presently offer. Concluding quota agreements is also being considered by the Trump administration to curb steel imports as an alternative to imposing blanket tariffs. Quota agreements have already been concluded with Argentina, Brazil and South Korea. Canada and Mexico, which have ironed out a new trade agreement with the US called the USMCA (US-MexicoCanada-Agreement) replacing NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) have urged the Trump administration to revoke the tariffs. There is a possibility that Washington might eventually lift the tariffs on these countries and replace them with restrictive import quotas. Mexico’s government threatened in early March to slapping duties on US agricultural and industrial products in retaliation for the Trump administration’s steel and aluminium tariffs. Mexican deputy economy minister Luz Maria de la Mora recently warned in media interviews that it would impose its own tariffs if the US did not lift the steel and aluminium tariffs. According to various monitoring agencies, US steel prices have risen by some 14% last year after Trump imposed the steel tariffs, making imports more expensive and bringing foreign steel prices on par with domestic metal. Nevertheless, a distinction needs to be made: the tariffs apply to raw steel, exempting value-added steel products such as car parts, aircraft parts and solar parts. An inadvertent effect of the tariffs is that domestic producers of finished steel products could move their plants outside the US. This would allow the companies to source the cheapest metal they could find anywhere in the world, then produce parts that could be sold tariff-free back into the US. Such a move has other incumbent consequences, including financing and huge logistics issues. �
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01/04/2019 09:19:26
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Rio Tinto’s futuristic mine
Rio Tinto is applying wide-scale automation to its flagship Pilbara operations in Western Australia; the US$2.6 billion investment in its Koodaideri mine, announced at the end of November last year, will ensure that mining, processing and transportation will fully exploit leading edge standards. The overall title for this process is the Mine of the Future programme. By Michael Schwartz* AUTOMATION of the mining aspects of the project alone will comprise: • a digital replica of the processing plant, accessible in real time by workers in the field; • fully integrated mine automation and simulation systems; • advanced automation, including an automated workshop, and; • numerous data analytics capabilities and control loops to optimise production and reduce downtime. In all, Koodaideri has more than 70 innovations in mind. One such intention
involves a new production hub for the Pilbara. A processing plant is envisaged, as is a 166-km long railway link from the mine to the existing network. The resource itself Investment at Koodaideri is supported by an ore body of high-quality Brockman ore more than 20 km long and three km wide. In addition to mine infrastructure, an airport, mine support facilities and accommodation for employees will be built. Throughout the construction period Rio Tinto expects to employ over 2,000 people with 600 permanent roles created once the
mine is operational. Since completion of the pre-feasibility study in 2016, additional capital has been included for productivity enhancements to increase capacity to 43Mt from the 40Mt base case. The project scope was in turn broadened to incorporate significant safety improvements and the development of additional infrastructure such as an airport and site access roads. Cost inflation for labour and materials also contributed to the capital increase. The Koodaideri ore reserves as at end 2017 were 598Mt @ 61.9% Fe; these reserves comprise 269Mt of proven reserves and 329Mt of probable reserves.
* Mining correspondent www.steeltimesint.com
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At the time of writing, construction has started on the new project, with initial production set for early 2021; the complete mine will offer the previously mentioned annual capacity of 43Mt. This first phase will contribute replacement iron ore as soon as other sections of Pilbara experience depletion. One further advantage of the mineral will be an increase in the higher-value lump component of the Pilbara blend from 35% to 38%. In more financial terms, Rio Tinto anticipates an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20%, along with capital intensity of approximately $60/t of annual capacity (the IRR is based on Wood Mackenzie price forecasts as at Q418). Rio Tinto regards this as very competitive for a new mine, basing its confident evaluation on such factors as the rail spur, the airport, the camp and any road access required. Enhanced automation and digitisation are key to the new operation. Primarily, these two factors will combine to form a safer and more productive mine, while a bottom-line analysis means that, in the company’s view, it will benefit from what will to date be its lowestcost contributor to the Pilbara blend. Digital assets, advanced data analytics and automation will also assist Rio Tinto in operating and maintaining the new mine. Looking to the future, a $44 million pre-feasibility study into Koodaideri Phase 2 has also been approved. Such an expansion could increase annual capacity from the Koodaideri production hub to 70 Mt/yr and beyond. A final investment decision is at the moment subject to study outcomes and Rio Tinto’s value-over-volume approach. Conclusion While Rio Tinto’s development awaits final approval from the government of Western Australia, CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques was confident enough to declare: “Koodaideri is a game-changer for Rio Tinto. It will be the most technologically advanced mine we have ever built and sets a new benchmark for the industry in terms of the adoption of automation and the use of data to enhance safety and productivity.” �
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38
ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
The most productive caster ever? Nucor Corporation, the USA’s biggest steelmaker, has contracted Italian plant builder Danieli to upgrade the company’s hot strip mill in Ghent, Kentucky, a city on the south bank of the Ohio River in Carroll County. DANIELI has given Nucor a new plant configuration offering compact thin slab casting and rolling plant along with its patented quality strip production system (QSP), which will enable the steelmaker to expand production of advanced high strength steel (AHSS) grades as well as API line pipe steel grades and a number of other added value grades. Nucor’s Ghent facility is very much in the news at the moment having recently been named as Kentucky’s 13th Voluntary Protection Partnership Star Site, announced last month by the Kentucky Labour Cabinet. The accolade recognises exemplary efforts to create safer workplaces across the state. Governor Mike Bevan commented that ‘companies like Nucor are setting a powerful national standard for workplace safety.’ For Danieli, the Nucor Gallatin contract represents the first time that a classical compact thin slab casting and rolling plant is fully configured into ‘an ultra-modern QSP’. Danieli says that Nucor’s revamped plant will include a new meltshop comprising a high-performance DC electric arc furnace (EAF) incorporating Danieli’s Q-Melt package, a twin ladle furnace and future provision for a vacuum degasser. Both Nucor and Danieli are committed to setting a new benchmark in casting and rolling technology. Ladd Hall, executive vice president of flat rolled products at April 2019
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Nucor, commented: “This investment is another major component of our strategy for long-term profitable growth,” he said, adding that by expanding the plant Nucor was increasing its presence in the Midwest market, specifically in the fields of automotive, agriculture, heavy equipment and the energy pipe and tube sectors. Nucor’s Gallatin plant has a nameplate capacity of 1.6Mt/yr for hot-rolled coils with a thickness ranging from 1.4mm to 12.7mm and widths of up to 1,625mm. Maximum coil weight is 35 short tonnes. The plant operates a 185-tonne DC EAF, a single LMF, a vertical caster, 206-m tunnel furnace, a six-strand close-coupled rolling mill, traditional laminar cooling and one down coiler. At present, Gallatin is mostly producing structural steel, micro-alloyed grades and thin line pipe grades. The plant was originally designed for doubling its annual capacity by means of a second steel meltshop and second vertical casting strand, with a tunnel furnace connected by a swivel ferry system to the in-line HSM. The original expansion plan called for the new equipment to be a copy of the existing installation. When Nucor took over the plant in 2014, investment was approved to advance the technological capabilities and competitiveness of the plant; and Danieli was selected as technology supplier for
equipment and automation systems, from raw material to hot-rolled coil. John Farris, Nucor Steel Gallatin’s vice president and general manager, said that Nucor and Danieli teams worked together for over a year to find the best solution for the plant upgrade. “In the end, the Danieli QSP technology was the right fit for the project. It will allow Nucor Steel Gallatin to better serve our customers today and into the future,” he said. It was agreed to re-engineer the plant by changing the original concept into an advanced QSP plant with improved thermomechanical rolling capabilities and thereby expand production of AHSS grades, API line pipe steel grades and a number of other added-value grades. Danieli’s Christian Bilgen, executive vice president of rolling technologies, has dedicated 20 years of his life to thin slab casting and rolling. He visited the Gallatin plant way back in 2002. He is proud that Nucor and Danieli are working together to transform the plant into a new generation of thin slab casting and rolling plants. According to Bilgen, ‘the possible product portfolio will be significantly widened… and the product quality will be considerably increased’. The plant’s new meltshop, says Paulo da Costa, meltshop technical sales manager at Danieli, will be the most modern of its kind in the USA. He said that Industry 4.0 www.steeltimesint.com
01/04/2019 09:24:26
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40 ELECTRIC STEELMAKING Thin slab casting and rolling (TSCR) has been gaining ground over the past 25 years in terms of market share in the production of hot-rolled strip. It would be fair to say that it has reduced the exclusive advantages of conventional mills in the process. Danieli has developed a complete portfolio of plant layouts that adopt TSCR technologies and are conceived to guarantee the optimal CapEx and OpEx parameters in line with market requirements to:-
– or smart manufacturing as it is known in the USA – will play a significant role in process control ‘either by applying adaptive process control for the 188-sht DC EAF, where Q-Melt will dynamically alter the EAF profiles for the best practice, or by using mechatronic technologies that will make it possible to conduct the majority of operations remotely from the main pulpits. “Safety and productivity are the pillars that will guarantee the success of the project,” he said. While the project foresees the doubling of production in the meltshop by installing a new production unit, the design vision for casting and rolling changes considerably. After the upgrade, a single-strand vertical curved caster will deliver production with a total capacity of up to 3Mt (short tons) per annum. Danieli claims that the new caster represents the fifth generation of Danieli high-production slab casting machines. Slab will be delivered to the rolling mill via a new tunnel furnace using a swivel-type ferry system. The new layout will allow for the installation of the new caster and the first portion of the tunnel furnace and swivel system without affecting the mill’s production. Two new roughing mills will be added to expand rolling capabilities. According to Danieli, the independent highspeed roughing, intermediate transfer bar cooling and final finishing rolling introduces the ability to perform a thermo-mechanical rolling process, as is typical for conventional hot strip mills. “This will lead to a complete replacement of the existing tunnel furnace, widening of the finishing mill equipment, new run-out table with advanced combined intensive and laminar cooling and two new downcoilers with coil handling,” explained Danieli. The vertical curved caster will be April 2019
Electric steelmaking - NUCOR.indd 2
• Exceed production of 3Mt/yr. • Expand product mix to include virtually all steel grades used for flat product applications including AHSS, micro-alloyed, silicon steels (for automotive and pipe manufacturing, including Arctic applications). • Extend the range of final strip thicknesses to include ultra-thin gauges below 1.0mm. The separation of the roughing stands from the finishing stands and the use of
equipped with a complete suite of advanced technological packages, including Danieli’s latest design of multi-mode electromagnetic brake (MM-EMB) to ensure the control of fluid dynamics within the mould, enabling high throughput of quality thin slabs, according to Danieli. Danieli Centro Combustion will supply the tunnel furnace and the heated transfer table that is installed between the roughing stands and finishing stands. While the plant’s six-stand finishing mill will be retained, it will be widened and upgraded with new interstand guides, loopers and a new bending and shifting system. This will enable Nucor Steel Gallatin to roll strips as wide as 1,870 mm (73.5in). The first three rolling stands will be reinforced to withstand higher rolling forces in order to enhance performance. Two new roughing stands and a vertical edger will be installed ahead of the finishing mill. The edger, with its total draft of 100mm, allows the full crystallisation of the slab edges and makes it possible to expand the capacity of the plant when producing narrow products. Danieli will develop the complete process control, from melting to finished hot-rolled coils. “The challenge is to optimise the operation between the existing and the new meltshop, while controlling the quality of the caster and QSP,” explained Danieli. “As part of the implementation strategy, the new automation system will shadow and parallel the current automation systems to allow seamless switchover to the new automation. The automation system will be designed for Industry 4.0 integration. “We are very well aware that we are going to create a reliable plant, targeting zero down-time because it will be based on the predictive concept, designed today to be modern in the next 30 years,” said Danieli Automation’s president, Antonello
a vertical curved caster with thicker slabs is the distinctive concept of Danieli’s QSP technology. The first plant ever installed with a QSP configuration was the North Star Bluescope QSP, which has been in operation at Delta, Ohio, USA, since 1997. It was followed by Algoma Steel in Canada, also in 1997, and later by Ezz Flat Steel in Egypt, OMK in Russia, MMK in Turkey, NMDC in India, SGJT in China and Hoa Phat in Vietnam.
Mordeglia. “We will predict maintenance, events, orders management and much more,” he said, adding that energy and utilities will be continuously adjusted to run at the lowest possible OpEx without compromising the output material quality and delivery time. In order to implement the planned expansion of Nucor Gallatin, three ‘carefully planned’ mill shutdowns will be orchestrated to take maximum advantage of the annual maintenance outages already planned by the steelmaker. “We will make the plant able to cast and roll wider products yet we will retain the six existing rolling stands,” said Matteo Bulfone, Danieli’s vice president for flat product hot rolling mills. “The layout is conceived in a way that large parts of the new equipment can be installed and tested off line, but, at the same time, we shall plan the shutdowns for the equipment installed in-line with hourly precision. Danieli says that during the last shutdown, the complete roughing mill group, pre-assembled off-line, will be moved in line via a lift-shift system. The foundations of the mills will be prepared under the existing tunnel furnace without interfering with the production. The project is ground-breaking on many levels, says Danieli, not least because both Nucor and Danieli are determined to establish a new benchmark for casting and rolling plant throughout the world. According to Paolo Losso, president of Danieli Corporation, “This project is going to strengthen further the partnership between Nucor and Danieli in the flat products segment.” He said that Danieli’s QSP technology will allow Nucor Steel Gallatin to ‘vault the mill into a totally different level to serve a highly demanding market’. � www.steeltimesint.com
01/04/2019 09:24:27
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ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
Ovako – cleaning-up Swedish steel
Ingot soaking pit furnace at Hofors
Recently acquired by Nippon Steel SumItomo Metal Corp, Scandinavia’s Ovako Group specialises in producing clean and ultra clean steels from scrap for engineering applications, offering a portfolio of specialised steel families to provide superior fatigue and yield point properties. Tim Smith* reports THE present day Ovako Group consists of nine plants, three with electric arc furnaces with rolling/forging and processing facilities, three linked to these with rolling mills and three for hard chrome and Cr-Ni plating. In addition, there are 11 sales offices and warehousing locations across the world serving some 2,000 customers. In 2017, – the latest annual figures available – sales reached 788kt (up 10.5% on 2016), revenue was €921 million (up17.9%) and EBITDA before restructuring costs, €100 million (up 75.4%). The Q1 2018 results show further growth with sales volume up 6% at 216kt for the quarter, revenue up 16% at €271M and EBITDA up 28% at €41 million. Ovako specialises in clean and ultra clean engineering steels produced by the 100% scrap/EAF route without remelting treatments. Products include bearing rings, high temperature steels for diesel injectors, steels for transmission systems, free machining steels, wear-resistant steels, hard chrome plated shafts for hydraulic
assemblies and cryogenic steels. Such an attractive performance has caught the eye of the Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal Corp (NSSMC) who acquired 100% ownership of Ovako from the Swedish holding company, Triako Holdco, in June 2018, creating Ovako as a subsidiary of NSSMC. Following this move into special steels, NSSMC acquired the Japanese engineering steel specialist Sanyo Special Steel Co as a further subsidiary company. Sanyo largely has a similar product portfolio to Ovako. In March 2019, Sanyo took over the shares of Ovako from NSSMC to produce a group subsidiary of NSSMC specialising in special engineering steels. Ovako – a Nordic company Present day Ovako was created in May 2005 by the merger of three Nordic steel producers: bearings manufacturer SKF who owned the Hofors plant, Fundia who owned Smedjebacken, and, Imatra Steel, located in Finland, owned by Rautaruuki.
The heritage of these plants, however, is much earlier with iron production in the area spanning 500 years. Several of the merged plants were originally integrated works with blast furnaces, and operated some of the earliest Bessemer converters and, from the 1950s, oxygen converters, including such short-lived innovations as the Kaldo cylindrical converter. A detailed history of the group is available at https:// www.ovako.com/en/About-Ovako/Ovakoas-a-Company/Ovakos-history/ Today, steelmaking is exclusively by the electric arc furnace (EAF) charged 100% with scrap sourced almost exclusively within the Nordic region. Sweden’s power generation mix is 40% hydro, 40% nuclear with the remainder being by renewables or natural gas. This gives the company one of the lowest carbon footprints worldwide at 450kg/kg steel, cradle to gate, making it 80% below that of the global average for steel production and processing. Energy demands for transport of raw materials and products are also minimised by the
* Consultant editor, Steel Times International April 2019
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ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
use of rail and ships where possible with dedicated rail lines linking steelmakers with processors within the group. Further, with the development of high strength steels for transmission applications, customers can downsize components, further reducing energy use in the final product. Slag from
Alloys are added at the ladle furnace
the EAF is used in asphalt providing a harder wearing surface than conventional asphalt and also in concrete manufacture. Main production sites Hofors: Located some 200km NW of Stockholm is the hub of the group. It operates a 100t 80MVA EAF with interchangeable shell and 100t 15MVA ladle furnace to produce a range of clean and ultra-clean steels. Casting is by bottom teemed ingot casting in two sizes, 4.2 tonne and 8.4 tonne, the latter for producing bearing rings up to 4m diameter for wind turbines. Slow teeming of each group of eight moulds is practiced to reduce turbulence and takes around 26 minutes. The ladle stream is protected from the atmosphere by a refractory collar and argon shielding and ingots are hot topped to compensate for shrinkage. A forthcoming investment is the installation of two teeming cars to replace the present crane-held ladle, which will improve control and remove the present bottleneck at this stage of operations. Presently, the EAF tapto-tap time is 60 minutes while teeming of three sets of eight 4.2 tonne ingots takes about 80 minutes. Hofors produces billet for its sister plant, Hällefors, and final product in the form of bar, tube, tube components, and rolled rings. The plant has one heavy reversing mill, ring mills, a pipe mill, and a heavy forge. Ingots are soaked in pit furnaces for www.steeltimesint.com
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between five to 24 hours to homogenise structure. The ingot casting route enables cleaner steels to be produced than continuous casting and is specified for large bearing rings. The yield, however, is lower than for continuously cast product with the need
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bar product. Boxholm: This sister plant to Smedjebacken lies about 290km due south. It has no steelmaking and rolls profiles mainly from billet supplied from Smedjebacken. There is also a light rolling mill for round bar with high surface finish
Round bar cooling bed
to crop the top and bottom of the rolled billet where piping and inclusions occur. In the case of the 8.4t ingots, the yield to final rolled ring is just 75%. For the smaller ingot it can be 95%. In addition to introducing the new ingot size, recent investments include extension of the forge with a new forging press, substantial improvement in furnace heating capacity, investment in a new manipulator dimensioned for future needs, and construction of a new ring rolling mill. Hällefors: This has no steelmaking and is linked by rail to Hofors about 190km NE from which it obtains most of its billet for rolling. In addition to rolling, Hällefors has heat treatment facilities, pleating, grinding, drawing and cutting. The main products are components for bearings, automotive and mining industries. Smedjebacken: Steelmaking is by the EAF scrap route. Steelmaking plant consists of a 120 tonne EAF and a similar sized ladle furnace. Micro-alloyed steel, spring steel and steel with high wear resistance make up a large proportion of the bar produced. Metal is continuously cast on a recently installed billet caster. Rolling is on two medium section mills, one of which is used for flat long products. Recent investments include a new flue gas filter, and a vacuum degasser with mechanical pumps is to be installed. Along with its sister plant in Boxholm, these are the only plants rolling flat bar which accounts for half of Ovako’s
qualities. It has recently expanded its heat treatment and machining capacities. Imatra: This steelmaking plant lies in Finland close to the Russian border. Thus it is some 900km east of Hofors and is separated from the Swedish plants by the Gulf of Bothnia. It operates a 75t EAF and ladle furnace and has vacuum degassing – mechanical pumps have recently been installed for this. Casting is by a 2-strand bloom caster. It has one heavy section mill and one medium section. Markets include power transmission and transformer equipment, axles, gears, crankshafts, springs, bearings, bolts and mining tools. It is also where the free machining M Steel is produced. Hard chrome and Cr-Ni plating takes place at plants in The Netherlands, France and Italy. A family of steels Ovako has developed a family of seven steels covering around 600 grades to meet the specific properties for particular applications. In all these steels, properties are enhanced by modification of macro inclusions into micro, finely dispersed inclusions. BQ-Steel: This is a bearing quality steel of high cleanliness to provide high fatigue life. The steel is also suitable for any application undergoing cyclic loads and hence requiring a high fatigue life. The demands April 2019
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ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
1200 1000 IQ-Steel
Fatigue failure
Fatigue strength [Mpa]
800 BQ-Steel
600
400
a
Conventional Steel
200
Safe Zone Fig 2 a and b. Comparison of inclusions in (a) a conventional steel with those in (b) an IQ
0 0
10
20
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60 40 50 Defect size [µm]
70
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steel longitudinal section. SEM image x500 Fig 1. (left) Comparison of fatigue strengths for conventional, bearing quality and isotropic quality steels 8
Longitudinal Transverse
0.125 0.10 0.075 0.05 0.025 0 Standard steel
IQ-steel
Fig 3.Comparison of inclusions in longitudinal and transverse sections for conventional and
Wear Service Life HORIZONTAL Bulk hardness (HV30)]
0.15 Total inclusion length per mm2
b
7
Ovako SB27
6
Ovako SB24
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Ovako SB33 Ovako SB43 Reference D Reference C
Ovako 495B Reference B
4
Ovako SB17
3
Reference A 2 350
400
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500
550
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650
Fig 4. Comparison of wear resistance of steels
IQ steel
on bearings have increased dramatically with the move towards electric vehicles as rotation speeds are an order of magnitude higher than for internal combustion engines. Electric vehicles require steels that can withstand very high cyclic fatigue (VHCF) and at increased torque loads. Such steels enable designers to down-size components and, therefore, reduce the weight of transmission systems, and, in the case of electric vehicles, design gearboxes with fewer gear steps. Fig. 1 compares the fatigue strengths of conventional steels, BQ steels and the even more demanding isotropic IQ steels. IQ-Steel: This is an isotropic quality steel to ensure transverse properties come closer to longitudinal properties. The transverse fatigue properties are close to double those of a similar conventional steel. This steel is intended for applications where complex loads are experienced, such as in diesel fuel injectors. Production consists of: • Melting carefully selected scrap and raw materials in the EAF. April 2019
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• Ladle furnace refining with increased desulphurisation to a maximum 20 ppm and: – Increased degassing time; – Proprietary process additions. • Bottom ingot casting with protected teeming using argon shrouding • Increased ingot soaking in pit furnaces for improved homogenisation • High reduction rolling to billet with increased crop-off head and tail to reduce segregation and to minimise macro inclusions. This reduces the size and morphology of inclusions making it difficult to assess the cleanness by conventional means. Thus 10MHz immersion ultrasonic testing is employed to determine the number of internal macro inclusions in a volume of 1.5Mm,3 which is more sensitive than the ISO 3763 Blue Fracture area test and enables inclusions as small as 0.120mm to be detected. This compares with 1.0mm for the ISO test and it investigates the equivalent of 50,000 ISO area tests. For
inclusions below 25µm automated SEM scanning with EDS to identify inclusions is also used to determine cleanness on prepared surfaces. Fig. 2 a and b shows inclusions in a conventional and an IQ steel longitudinal section. Fig. 3 compares the length of inclusions in longitudinal and transverse sections for conventional and IQ steels. M-Steel: This is a free machining steel in which the morphology of sulphide inclusions are converted from laminar to spheroidal by the addition of calcium. Cutting tool life is extended by a multiple of two or more compared with a conventional steel and machining speed can be increased by 30%. Tooling costs are reduced by up to 50%. The common methods of achieving the improvement in machinability are using a high sulphur content and treatment with calcium during the deoxidation of the liquid steel to transform hard aluminium oxide inclusions into Ca-aluminates, which are softer and less likely to cause cutting tool wear. In an M steel carburised for surface www.steeltimesint.com
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With the right steel, imagination is your only limit There is an Ovako steel to suit almost every design and engineering challenge, no matter how extreme. Don’t let your material limit your imagination.
In 2018 we became an integral part of Nippon Steel, allowing us to strengthen our offering in partnership with the world’s largest specialty steel producers. This means we can support you with broader global service, knowledge and steel options from the group portfolio. Consider it yet another way to open up new design possibilities. Find out how we can help your imagination come to life at ovako.com
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ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
Hybrid Steel 5 Engineering Steel Hybrid Steel 60 Bearing Steel
C Si Mn Cr Ni Mo V Al 0.18 0.1 0.3 5 6 0.7 0.5 2 0.28
Table 1. Composition of Hybrid steels wt %
Fig 5. Section of a wear test drum showing one of the multiple steel samples under test
Fig 6. One of the displays at the new Ovako visitor centre
which are inserted around the circumference of the drum
hardness, a Ca-content of about 40 ppm is aimed for and requires a sulphur content typically around 300 ppm. This compares with a conventional carburising steel in which the Ca content is typically 10ppm. The M steel is suitable for general purpose applications but not those requiring high fatigue strength. SZ-Steel: SZ stands for Sub Zero with the ductile transition temperature of these ferritic steels being as low as minus 101°C. This is achieved by ensuring a clean steel and fine grain size. Applications are in the oil and gas industries, anchor chains, fasteners and wind turbines using components that must sustain high impact loads and fatigue resistance. Fifteen grades of SZ steels to meet a range of applications with Charpy impact values as high as 150J at -50°C are available, well exceeding the API, EN and ASTM standards for low temperature applications, which range from a minimum 20J at -46°C to 27J at -101°C depending on application. WR Steel:This is a wear-resistant steel containing boron that does not require long heat treatments. Applications include agriculture, forestry, all-terrain vehicles and drills for mining. This steel is available in 30 grades to meet various heat treatments. Fig. 4 compares the wear service life (ie total accumulated weight loss of reference grade (mild steel) April 2019
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/ accumulated weight loss of sample) against bulk hardness. A drum test is used for evaluating wear resistance in which the steel sample is fixed near the circumference of the drum, protruding into the drum, into which a fragmented abrasive material is added and the drum rotated (Fig. 5). Boron – an interstitial element – replaces high cost alloys typical of conventional wear-resistant steels. Compositions range from 0.21 to 0.43%C, 0.2 to 0.3%Si, 1.0 to 1.4%Mn, 0.2 to 0.6% Cr giving carbon equivalents of 0.4 to 0.7%. WR steels can be formed hot and then heat-treated to achieve high hardness. Distortion is minimised, even when quenched in water, reducing the amount of grinding required to final dimension. Cromax: These are high strength bars and tubes which are hard chrome or Ni-Cr plated for wear and corrosion resistance. The main application is rods for hydraulic cylinders. By optimising the steel composition to increase strength, the diameter of the bar can be reduced while still being capable of taking the design loads. This progressively reduces costs as the diameter is reduced. In addition to providing wear resistance, the coating greatly improves corrosion resistance, in the order, single Cr coating, double Cr coating and the greatest being achieved with Ni-Cr designed for marine, mining and certain agricultural applications. Presently, no alternative to the use of
hexavalent Cr as the electrolyte during plating has been achieved. Hybrid steel: This is Ovako’s latest innovation introduced in 2017. The steel combines the properties of a tool steel and maraging steel while keeping production costs competitive to a conventional steel. On heat treatment the steels undergo secondary hardening by carbide precipitation and the formation of a fine (5nm) Al-Ni intermetallic coherent with the parent matrix. This enables the steel to maintain its strength up to 500°C and without significant over-aging. An additional benefit is improved corrosion resistance as a result of the aluminium in the steel. A yield strength of 1700MPa is triple that of TRIP, DP-CP or HSLA steels. Relevant applications are when strength at elevated temperature is required such as engine components, bearings and tools. To date, just 300 tonnes of this steel have been made. Two grades of hybrid steel are presently available for engineering steels and bearing steel applications (Table 1). The Cr, Mo and V combine with carbon to provide strength by secondary carbide precipitation during tempering while the Al and Ni provide the fine intermetallic precipitate and also improves corrosion resistance. Research and development Research and development work at Ovako www.steeltimesint.com
29/03/2019 14:36:08
DIGITALIZATION
INDUSTRIAL INTELLIGENCE
Be
Ready We invite you to join us on our journey into the future of production management. Next stop is at METEC 2019 in Düsseldorf. On the road to the future. Together.
»
www.psimetals.com/thejourney
PSI booth in hall 4/C10
Software Excellence for Steel and Aluminum Producers
template April.indd 1
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ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
is carried out in close co-operation with customers to optimise the use of Ovako’s range of steels and develop new steels and heat treatments as required. Such development projects carried out with customers also provides an opportunity to identify future market needs. An annual research and development budget of around €5M directly employs 15 personnel and, in addition, each business unit carries out relevant research and development of products. The core group includes one post graduate working for her PhD at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology on energy conservation in furnaces; and post graduate research at Cambridge University in the UK on the role of hydrogen on fatigue life, hydrogen contamination being caused by water ingress into bearings during their service life. Equipment in Ovako’s R&D Centre includes SEM and optical microscopy, standard and high frequency fatigue testing, ultrasonic testing and melting. The company has access to atomic probe tomography in Gothenburg.
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Visitors’ centre Early in 2019 Ovako inaugurated a new research and visitor centre in Hofors, the Ovako Science & Visitor Centre. Its purpose is to work together with customers in the development of new and innovative steel solutions that enable the production of high-performance components. The centre gives customers the opportunity to work with Ovako’s specialists, to develop innovative steel solutions adapted to customer needs. The Centre will be connected to Ovako’s Research and Development Unit, which plans to move into adjacent premises later in 2019. Visitors to the centre see displays of Ovako’s main product lines and their applications (Fig. 6). Also a virtual 3D mill tour can be taken through Ovako’s production flow. Customer service A number of software tools have been developed to assist customers in selecting suitable steels. Steel Navigator, available in five
languages, holds data sheets on 200 grades of Ovako’s steels enabling customers to select the best type of steel for their application by inputting steel designation or chemical composition or choosing the product’s application. M-Steel Calculator for free machining steels assists in setting up the best cutting configuration for the cutting tool being employed and the steel being machined. Information on machine power, chip stream and expected surface finish is also provided. A scrap and alloy surcharges tool enables the customer to see current and retrospective prices in the currency of the country of delivery on a month-by-month basis. The surcharge depends on the product profile supplied as well as the alloy type and is presented for each grade of steel. This enables longer price agreements to be negotiated. OvaTrack Extranet enables registered customers to retrieve information on their order direct from the mills, sales offices and partners, and is updated in at regular intervals. �
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ENVIRONMENT
CCS – more momentum needed Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) have become the dirtiest words in the energy sustainability debate. The costs have appeared too great, the rewards too temporary. In the past two years, six major UK projects have been shelved. By Professor Ben Anthony* and Dr. Peter Clough* NONE of the criticism or lack of will on funding has changed the fact that we need more CCS facilities, and sooner rather than later. It’s a fantasy that the UK, as well as many other nations, can avoid carbon emissions in the near term, because while decommissioning coal-fired power stations has made an instant impact on CO2 figures, other future emissions reductions will be much more difficult to achieve without CCS. CCS is critical for the interim period before we solve the issues of energy storage and reach a renewables-only phase, and is the most cost-effective way the world will be able to meet COP21 commitments and avoid the hazardous – if not catastrophic – CO2 levels in the environment of 450 ppm and above. Thankfully, new technologies are increasingly making CCS look commercially viable. And, as one example, the decades of drilling under the North Sea mean there are vast resources of space for CO2 storage, enough to last 100 years – potentially also for the UK to take CO2 from other parts of Europe. What matters now is a focus on approaches that can be deployed and brought to market in short periods of time, within 10 years, to start changing the hard emissions figures. Smart blue-sky thinking is of no value if it’s going to take 20-30 years for results to be delivered. The steel industry is known to be the industry that contributes more CO2 than any other, generating about 8% of the anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Typically, a modern steel-making plant will produce more than 1 tonne of CO2 per tonne of steel. Blast furnaces are, therefore, a key target for decarbonising first, and one choice is to apply post-combustion CCS, for
example, calcium looping. Calcium looping is the continuous temperature swing cycling of a calcium-based CO2 sorbent between two reactors, a calciner and carbonator, where CO2 is released and absorbed, respectively. Like all CCS technologies, one of the major issues for calcium looping is cost and the likely energy penalty imposed by the technology. In terms of cost, seven studies produced costs ranging from $16 to $38 per tonne CO2 avoided, which is very similar to the combined EU CO2 tax (EUEmissions Trading Scheme) and UK carbon floor price. With a little more political and policy stability this could lead to rapid decarbonisation technology deployment. One model of a steel plant with CCS concluded that it would be feasible to reduce CO2 emissions in the range of 50– 75% using a CCS process, but that higher levels of removal would be challenging because of the different sources, qualities and conditions of CO2 emissions in a modern steel mill. Technologies that are possible options include amine scrubbing – a process to separate CO2 from flue gas that has now been validated at the commercialscale for the treatment of flue gas from coal fired power stations – calcium looping, and perhaps with new and improved absorbents, and membrane separation processes. Besides calcium looping, other – more complicated – routes relevant to the steel industry are also being explored. For instance, a scheme has been developed for the design of a chemical looping process for hydrogen production in the steel industry and might offer a route for the decarbonisation of blast furnace gas using a sorption-enhanced water-gas shift reaction. Better joint materials are also being
developed which will help marry both the calcium and chemical looping processes. Efforts to develop suitable CCS processes are still in the development stage and there is no clear winning technology for the steel industry. It should also be noted that if waste materials can be used, or the lime product from calcium looping can be fed into the steel making process, then considerable economies may be made. For wastes, however, the normal limitation will be that there isn’t enough volume to make a major difference on a global scale. In general terms, we need more momentum to reach the tipping point as quickly as possible for CCS – to make it an essential part of the decarbonisation of industry. This may well be through the implementation of the LiverpoolManchester Hydrogen Cluster by Cadent or the H21 Leeds Citygate initiative to convert 100% of the city’s natural gas grid to hydrogen by 2021. The combined H21 North of England plan from Cadent and Northern Gas Networks alongside the Norwegian state energy provider Equinor, makes the case for a 12.15 GW naturalgas-based hydrogen production facility across the North of England, capable of decarbonising 14% of the UK’s heat by 2034. Faced with their own carbon targets, more industries are coming round to the idea of investing into CCS, meaning less reliance on government funding. Ideally what’s needed now is realism from governments backed up by a commitment to make the mid-term CCS solution happen – providing a framework for industry to work with would make a world of difference. �
* Cranfield University, www.cranfield.ac.uk www.steeltimesint.com
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ENVIRONMENT
A sustainability success story Last year, Outokumpu managed to reuse 88.1% of slag produced. The company orients its entire business around the circular economy. By Verena Schulz-Klemp*
SUSTAINABILITY is often seen as a largely ethical consideration – something that businesses, governments and citizens must work towards in order to combat pollution, preserve the earth’s biodiversity, and stave off the damaging effects of climate change on the global ecosystem. But it’s more important than ever to make a commercial, as well as moral, case for sustainability across stainless steel supply chains. It’s certainly an issue that all steel manufacturers should be particularly aware of. It’s estimated that our market is responsible for 7-9% of all direct emissions from the global use of fossil fuels – and serves as the world’s largest industrial source of these emissions. There is clear need for manufacturers to make a difference, and crucially, we have the ability to do so: at its best, our product is extremely long-lasting, highly recyclable, and can contribute meaningfully to ecofriendly industries. The sustainability advantage Fortunately, working towards sustainability isn’t just the right thing to do: it’s also good for business. If steel manufacturers and organisations that manage the production of steel embrace their environmental responsibilities, they’ll help reduce the industry’s ecological footprint – and
potentially enjoy better public relations and deeper, more loyal relationships with consumers. A 2018 Nielsen report demonstrates a clear link between describing products as ‘sustainable’ and higher sales; earlier research suggests that consumers are willing to spend as much as 66% more on products from ‘sustainable’ organisations. So, if manufacturers can prove to consumers that they meet standards such as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, they’ll likely benefit from a better reputation among their target audience. Equally important, though, they’ll benefit from leaner, less wasteful processes: research from The World Steel Association suggests that energy can account for between 2040% of the expense associated with steel production, although Outokumpu’s energy costs have dropped to around 10%. The higher the energy efficiency, the lower the operating costs. With government and industrial purchasing decisions generally driven by overall lifetime expense, there are clear benefits to be gained from integrating sustainable practices across the entire supply chain – in theory. At Outokumpu, we want to prove that they can work in practice, too.
Green stainless steel Outokumpu produces stainless steels for consumer goods, automotive, architectural building, and the construction industries (among others). Guided by concern for the environment, compliance requirements, consumer demand, and a need for greater transparency, we’ve been actively working to drive sustainability across our organisation – and, wherever possible, across supplier and customer organisations as well. We started reporting on sustainability in 1975 and have continued this into the present day. In almost 45 years of increasing ecological consciousness, we’ve found that these four principles can help industry manufacturers work towards creating environmentally ‘stainless’ stainless steels. 1. Recycling maximised. Stainless steel is 100% recyclable, the process of recycling preserves its unique qualities – and the industry can do more to take advantage of these facts. Manufacturers should, therefore, endeavour to reuse material wherever they can – and conserve raw materials in order to minimise their ecological impact. 2. Nothing to hide. Making sure that responsibility and transparency are embedded into our manufacturing
* Director sustainability and environment, Outokumpu April 2019
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ENVIRONMENT
processes is critical to us, and we make sure we have nothing to hide. Valmet, a developer and supplier of process technologies for several industries – and a customer of ours – required a fully visible, sustainable supply chain, so we made sure to provide the company with comprehensive, traceable environmental and ethical profiles for each product. It’s also important that the suppliers and contractors we work with have nothing to hide. By holding them to high standards of visible sustainability, businesses can extend the benefits of their approach far beyond their own organisations. 3. Pays for itself. The best commercial argument for stainless steel is that, over time, it pays for itself: it’s highly strong and durable, it’s resistant to corrosion, and it’s not especially heavy. Manufacturers should, therefore, make sure that their steel is as long-lasting, cost-efficient, and sustainable as possible. 4. Indispensable. Wherever viable, manufacturers should become an indispensable contributor to industries that make a positive ecological impact. At Outokumpu, we do this by providing steel to biofuel, wind energy, green construction, and low-carbon transportation companies – among others. By adopting eco-friendly principles and eco-friendly measures, steel manufacturers won’t just foster sustainability across their www.steeltimesint.com
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companies: they’ll create positive effects that ripple out across other businesses and other industries. Here’s how Outokumpu is doing just that. Sustainability in action Outokumpu encourages sustainability by embedding it within every aspect of our business: from materials purchasing through to logistics and production. We want our products to reduce our carbon footprint and to minimise environmental incidents (in 2018, there were zero significant incidents) but we also want these products to reduce the carbon footprints of our customers – and their customers. To that end, every one of our production sites is fully ISO 9001 and ISO 14001-certified and monitored by regular internal and external audits – and we hold all suppliers and contractors to these standards. But beyond its internal systems, Outokumpu has managed to foster sustainability by proactively making sustainable decisions. Recycling Outokumpu orients its entire business around the circular economy: our 2018 sustainability report revealed that according to ISO 14021, our recycled content accounts for more than 85% of our production compared to 35% for steel April 2019
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makers globally and 78% for stainless steel in the western world. It’s the highest proportion of recycled material on the market. We go as far as to recover metals from dust created in the production process – and to recycle other key materials such as water, acids, gases, and slag formers. The latter can be particularly environmentally damaging, and as significant amounts of slag is produced annually it is particularly important to reuse wherever possible. In 2018, we were able to reuse 88.1% of all slag produced: a figure which helped us lower our carbon emissions and minimise our contribution to landfills. Energy efficiency Outokumpu makes energy efficiency an ethical, operational, and commercial priority – targeting a company-wide improvement of 1% every year. We’ve worked hard to organise our production sites in a way that maximises international capacity utilisation and heat recovery across the entire supply chain. Steel production is an inherently energy-intensive process – so we focus on where we can make significant efficiency gains. The integrated ferrochromium and steelmaking site, which is unique to Outokumpu, offers substantial improvements: our Kemi-Tornio site, which has an overall goal of reducing its energy consumption by 2%, has found some success with recovering and reusing carbon monoxide gas from ferrochrome production. Some process gases are even used to heat buildings on-site. Safety Nothing is more important to us than the safety and wellbeing of employees, contractors, and visitors: they have the right to a healthy, happy environment, April 2019
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and we’re working towards an ultimate goal of zero annual accidents. In 2017, we established 10 group-wide Cardinal Safety Rules to protect everyone who might set foot on one of our sites. As part of building a positive and preventative safety culture, Outokumpu launched a global Safety Awards programme at the end of 2018. We also hold a yearly Safety Week, and our CEO hosts monthly safety calls to share best practice and discuss any incidents. But wellbeing is about so much more than just avoiding incidents and accidents. Examinations and preventive checks are available to employees every three years, and in Sweden, we offer voluntary blood pressure, blood sugar and fitness checks. Our US team recently arranged free cancer screenings for employees – and conducts audiometric testing and hearing conservation training for all employees who work in areas that exceed certain decibel thresholds as a matter of course. Outokumpu also provided flu immunisation across multiple sites and mental health awareness was promoted as part of a firstline manager training programme, which covered topics such as how to approach and support mental health concerns. Creating sustainable success stories Crucially, Outokumpu’s efforts are already bearing fruit and mitigating the most significant environmental consequences of steel production – for example, in 2017, our dust filtering systems caught 99% of all particles. None of our sites have been found to negatively affect local wildlife, in fact, we have identified several sites with high biodiversity values, and are actively monitoring them to make sure they remain as undisturbed as possible. These company-wide efforts have also been augmented by several smaller initiatives. The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) recognised Outokumpu with
the 2018 gold-level Sustainability Award for applying a pelletising method in its Sheffield melt shop in the UK to increase material efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the stainless steel melting process. Outokumpu was also awarded in the categories of New Technologies and Safety and received a silver medal in the new technology category for the weldable sandwich with a 3D profiled core and a bronze medal in the safety category for its 24/7 safety awareness training efforts. In Sweden, Outokumpu is participating in an electric road project designed to reduce transport emissions. Looking at sustainability in a wider context, Outokumpo provided North Sea windfarms with duplex stainless steel for maximum corrosion resistance, and conducted an ecosystem review for its Avesta Mill, which emphasised the role sand ridges play in filtering clean water and identified slag utilisation as a means of protecting these ridges. Outokumpu’s comprehensive approach to this complicated issue has received widespread recognition. In the RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Index for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, the company is at the 74th percentile in the steel industry as a whole. It’s also part of the Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe and Global – and is in the top 5% of performers evaluated by EcoVadis. At Outokumpu, we’ve made these efforts, implemented these changes, complied with all relevant regulation and received this recognition while still delivering robust financial performance. With decisive action and careful strategy, businesses can balance quality, safety, environmental responsibility, and healthy profits. Outokumpu is a sustainability success story – and one that’s far from finished. We’re already hard at work on the next chapter. � www.steeltimesint.com
29/03/2019 14:38:58
— StressometerŽ Systems Extended actuator teamwork
The long standing problem with flatness control in multi actuator mills is now solved by ABB. To optimally make all mill actuators work together as a team is a complex task. Different actuator combinations will in these mills give the same flatness effect. The problem is to select the one actuator combination with the minimum actuator movement. The ABB patented method of Extended Singular Value Decomposition (ESVD) will optimally make this selection and make your actuators work together as a genuine team. Stressometer Systems. abb.com/stressometer
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What goes around comes around In this article, Richard McDonough* looks at how steel – in particular, specific elements of recycled steel – have been and are being utilised in the building of ships for the U S Navy.
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1. A rendering of what the USS Enterprise (CVN-80) will look like when in service to the people of the United States of America. The ship is being built with approximately 67,000 tons of the Arabian Sea, according to the U S Navy. (The photograph was produced by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Sam Shavers and is provided courtesy of the U S Navy). Huntington Ingalls Industries.)
ONE of the largest customers of steel in the United States is the U S Department of Defense. Steel is used in a variety of motor vehicles, ships, planes, weapon systems, and other pieces of equipment and products used by the branches of the military. For the United States Navy, steel is a critical component in the construction of new ships. “Approximately 67,000 tons of steel will be used to build the newest USS Enterprise (CVN-80),” according to Bobby Gulaskey, project manager for the CVN 80/81 carrier construction programme office at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries. “The steel is coming from mills in Indiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.” (Note: The United States Navy uses abbreviations to describe certain types of ships, including “CVN” to designate a ship
as an aircraft carrier powered by nuclear propulsion, “CV” to designate a ship as an aircraft carrier, and “LPD” to designate a ship as a landing platform/dock or an amphibious transport dock.) Though it is uncertain the exact amount of recycled steel that is being used in the construction of the USS Enterprise (CVN80), it is highly likely that the steel utilised to build this new aircraft carrier contains a high quotient of recycled steel. Steel is one of the most recycled products in the world. According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, “Recycling in an integral part of the steelmaking process because the use of steel scrap lowers the environmental impact of steelmaking as well as the total cost of producing new steel. In 2018, the amount of steel scrap recycled by the United States steel industry was 60.1 million metric tons.” The USS Enterprise under construction
today is the ninth ship in the United States Navy that will carry that name. The USS Enterprise (CV-6) was a Yorktown-class ship commissioned on 12 May 1934. That ship – the seventh with that name – saw service at a number of battles during World War II; she was decommissioned on 17 February 1947. The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States Navy – the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) – was the eighth ship with that name. She was commissioned on 25 November 1961, saw service throughout the world, and was officially decommissioned on 3 February 2017. Newport News Shipbuilding constructed both the CV-6 and the CVN-65 ships and is currently building the ninth ship to bear the name “USS Enterprise”. This new ship is scheduled to be delivered to the United States Navy in 2028. The recycled steel being used in the
* Freelance journalist based in the USA April 2019
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newest USS Enterprise (CVN-80) includes some steel with very special meaning to the American people. “Approximately 30,000 pounds of steel was removed from the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and sent to the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Coatesville, Pennsylvania,” stated Mr. Gulaskey. “The workers there melted down the steel and re-purposed it into new steel plates to be utilised in the construction of the new USS Enterprise (CVN-80).”
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Mr. Gulaskey. “I’ve been here since 1982. We are continuously improving design and construction of ships for the military.” “My dad worked for U S Steel for more than 20 years,” Mr. Gulaskey continued. “I went to school on the design side of steel construction and got to work with a number of welders. It gave me a great appreciation for what my dad did in the 1960s and 1970s at U S Steel.” Mr. Gulaskey noted that a number of
employees at Huntington Ingalls Industries have family connections within the steel and the shipbuilding industries. “We have a young lady here who is the third generation in her family to be building ships for the U S Navy,” explained Mr. Gulaskey. “Her family helped build the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). The father of another employee here also worked on the CVN-65. “The efforts to include elements of a historical nature in a new ship are not
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steel in Newport News, Virginia. (The image is provided courtesy of U. S. Navy.) 2. This photograph shows nighttime operations on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) on 6 August 2012, in 3. A worker is seen here cutting steel from a section of the decommissioned USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in dry dock at Newport News, Virginia. (The photograph is provided courtesy of
“We are very proud of the steel we produce here in Coatesville,” stated Vonie Long, president of the United Steelworkers Union Local 1165 in Coatesville. He is going on 25 years working as an electrician doing preventive maintenance in the steel mill in that Pennsylvania community; Mr. Long is a fourth-generation steelworker. “As a veteran of the U S Navy, I know first-hand how important quality work is to the military,” Mr. Long continued. “Our members have produced high-grade quality steel for many ships, including the USS Enterprise.” Mr. Gulaskey indicated that steel plates from Coatesville arrived in the steel fabrication shop at Newport News Shipbuilding in 2018. The plates will be finished and then used in the construction of the new USS Enterprise (CVN-80). “While it may not be able to be measured, there is a deep sense of pride at Newport News Shipbuilding as ships are built for the United States Navy,” stated www.steeltimesint.com
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4. A steel plate from the decommissioned USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is seen here being unloaded for use on the new aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80). (The photographs are provided courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries.)
limited to the newest USS Enterprise. The USS New York includes steel that was previously part of the World Trade Center in the City of New York.” The USS New York (LPD-21) is seen here as she passed by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour in November 2009. The ship includes recycled steel from the World Trade Centre. According to the U S Navy, this ship was designed to “be used to transport and land Marines, their equipment and supplies, by embarked air cushion or conventional landing craft and Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical take-off and landing aircraft.” The efforts to include elements of an historical nature in a new ship are not limited to the newest USS Enterprise. Steel trees built at Lukens Steel (now ArcelorMittal Steel) in Coatesville in 1968 formed the base of the World Trade Centre. After the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, some of those steel trees remained April 2019
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5. The USS New York (LPD-21) is seen here as she passed by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour in November of 2009. (The photograph was produced by Petty Officer 3rd Class Barbara Patton and is provided courtesy of the U S Coast Guard).
standing in the midst of the horror of that day. According to Mr. Duane Bourne, manager of media relations at Huntington Ingalls Industries, some of the steel from the World Trade Centre was sent to the Ingalls Shipbuilding facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The steel was “then…taken to a foundry in Amite, Louisiana, and was melted there and poured into a casting that was in the shape of the bow stem of the ship,” stated Mr. Bourne. The U S Navy reported that “Mrs Dotty England, the ship’s sponsor and the wife of former Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, [stated that] ‘I went to the pouring of the steel down at Amite, Louisiana, and not just myself, but everybody connected in that steel mill, treated that steel with utmost dignity. It was rather quiet, everybody handled it with dignity. The steel workers in Amite felt like they were contributing to the defense of the nation.’” The recycled steel was then moved to the former shipyard operated by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Avondale, Louisiana, according to Mr. Bourne. That is where the USS New York was built. “The ship’s bow stem contained seven-and-a-half tons of steel recovered from the World Trade
6. Some of the steel from the World Trade Centre being melted at the former facility of Amite Foundry and Machine Inc. for use in the USS New York. (The photograph is provided courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries.)
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7. The USS New York crest. (The image is provided courtesy of the U S Navy).
7 Centre,” explained Mr. Bourne. The U S Navy noted in its details about this crest that “the motto, ‘Never Forget’, is a stark reminder of the events on which the legacy of USS New York is built.”
The USS New York was launched on 19 December 2007, according to the U S Navy. She was the fifth ship with the name ‘New York’ in the history of the American military. �
Do you have questions about the steel industry? Governmental regulations? Company operations? Your questions may be used in a future news column. Contact Richard McDonough at ferrumchronicles@gmail.com. © 2019 Richard McDonough April 2019
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BLS HEAD OFFICE Kalamış Fener Cd. Yelken Sk. No:6/7- Kadıkoy / ISTANBUL
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SAFETY AT WORK
The human factor of mill safety Whenever the subject of steel mill safety is raised, the story is always about so-called ‘lost time incidents’ – or LTIs – but very little attention is given to those who fall victim to accidents in the workplace. In this article, freelance journalist Richard McDonough* talks to Josh Brown and Joseph Middleton, both workers at ArcelorMittal, Coatesville, USA, and looks back at a tragic incident that took place in 1917 at Bethlehem Steel in Pennsylvania, USA This photograph shows steel production more than 75 years ago at the Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. (The photograph is provided courtesy of the Library of Congress, circa 1941.)
Many news stories about injuries and fatalities in steel mills detail statistics. There are typically quotes from corporate officials and leaders of worker unions. Governmental regulators discuss safety standards. In some cases, you’ll see comments from attorneys and judges relating to legal actions and court activities. But most people rarely hear about what happens to the individuals injured and their families. The impacts on their ordinary
day-to-day activities are not frequently discussed. The lives of those who have died in steel mills are usually lost to time as others go on with their own lives. Of course, family members and close friends remember those killed in workplace situations, but most others have limited or no recollections. Sometimes, rather than focusing on the larger picture, it’s best to focus on just a few people.
This article provides details about two men who were injured in on-the-job situations in a steel mill as well as details about one man who risked his life – and lost his life – as he attempted to save two co-workers in a steel mill; both co-workers also died in this workplace incident. This is the human-side of injuries and fatalities in steel mills in the United States.
STORY 1: JOSH BROWN Imagine what it would be like to have a 1,500-pound piece of steel slag fall on a metal bar that you were holding. The force of that slag on the bar then crushes your hand. Josh Brown doesn’t have to imagine.
He lived it. It was about 3:18pm on 11 November 2012. He was with a co-worker on a lift removing steel slag at the ArcelorMittal mill in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. He was using a metal bar to dislodge the slag, while his
co-worker operated the control panel of the lift. The slag fell on to the metal bar Mr. Brown was holding. The force crushed the left hand of Mr. Brown between the bar and a handrail.
* Freelance journalist, USA April 2019
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The left hand of Mr. Josh Brown as seen, from left, (1) at the time of the injury, (2) his hand after the first surgery, (3) his hand after the second surgery,(4) his hand after the third surgery, (5) his hand in a medical device that was used in an attempt to resolve the injury to his hand (the machine bent his hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for two months), (6) his hand after the fourth surgery, (7) his hand after his forefinger was removed in the fifth surgery, and (8) Melissa and Josh Brown as Mr. Brown ties flies for fishing. (The photographs are provided courtesy of Mr. Josh Brown.)
“The pain was excruciating,” Mr. Brown explained. “I was conscious for a little while, and then I passed out. My body went into shock almost immediately.” Mr. Brown indicated that his hand swelled in a matter of two minutes. “It looked similar to what the hand of Mickey Mouse looks like,” Mr. Brown stated. Two co-workers helped get Mr. Brown out of the lift. He regained consciousness as the plant fireman started first aid on him. The response time for the initial aid was a matter of minutes. “They took me to the plant’s medical department where the physician assistant saw me,” Mr. Brown continued. “The plant’s security department personnel then took me to the emergency room. I was physically in the hospital by 3:40pm.” Mr. Brown spent much of the rest of the day in the emergency room at Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville. He was given painkillers and was able to sleep for about four hours. The results of the medical tests were not good. According to Mr. Brown, most of the bones in his left hand were shattered. His left forefinger was bent about three inches. “The emergency room doctor recommended that I have one of my fingers amputated right then,” Mr. Brown stated. April 2019
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“I was adamant that that wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t know the doctor; he didn’t know me. For me, it was too soon to make such a decision.” Amazingly, he went back to work about three weeks later. Light-duty work. “I requested to go back to work,” Mr. Brown stated. “I didn’t want to stay at home and dwell on the injury.” His life, though, had completely changed. He was 37 years old at the time of the workplace injury. His wife, Melissa, was 33 years old. “I couldn’t button my shirt,” Mr. Brown explained. “I couldn’t put a belt through the loops on my pants. Melissa helped me with some of the most basic aspects of life.” He wasn’t able to drive for some time. Mrs. Brown would drive him to work each day. “It’s about 35 miles from our home to the steel mill,” Mr. Brown noted. “Melissa would drive two 70-mile round trips each day so I could continue working.” He found he couldn’t use a drive-up ATM machine and using a drive-through to pick up food was troublesome. “I found that the strength of my one hand was not sufficient to use a drive-up ATM,” Mr. Brown stated. “I would have to get out of my car to be able to use the
ATM. Paying for food at a drive-through restaurant was not a problem, but getting back change was difficult. In many cases, the coins would fall through my fingers.” One of Mr. Brown’s personal passions had been fly fishing. He enjoyed tying his own flies as he fished for trout in the White Clay Creek near London Grove in Chester County, Pennsylvania. “I had to re-learn how to tie flies,” Mr. Brown stated. He also had to learn how to cast a reel by using his right hand. He went through physical therapy three days each week for two years. In those two years, he also had four different hand surgeries. Even after four surgeries, there were still problems with his injured hand. Finally, Mr. Brown and his family concurred with the view of his family doctor that a fifth surgery would be needed. “We had tried everything to fix the injured hand,” Mr. Brown stated. “But it was determined that there was only one course of action left to solve the injury.” This fifth surgery would result in the amputation of one of his fingers. His forefinger was removed. His thumb was moved closer to the remaining fingers. The surgery was successful. When Mr. Brown went to his doctor after www.steeltimesint.com
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the surgery to have the dressings removed, the sight of only four fingers on his one hand hit him hard. “I cried a little,” Mr. Brown stated. “So did my wife. But the mood changed after the doctor asked me if I had any other questions.” In an example of humour found in Americans of Irish descent, Mr. Brown told the doctor he did have one question: “Which finger is now my middle finger?” The couple and the doctor, Mr. Brown indicated, all laughed. He gave the doctor a hug. His outlook on life – a positive outlook coupled with humor – helped Mr. Brown as he adjusted to the fact that his hand was no longer functioning in the same way as it did prior to the injury. It wasn’t always honey and butterflies, though. There was pain. Anger. It bothered him that his children saw their dad in pain. The three children were 14, 13, and 11 years of age at the time of the workplace injury. “There was a lot of denial with the injury,” Mr. Brown stated. “I would have periods of great disappointment, but those periods might last only an hour or so. Then I would just go back to what I was doing
Three months after the amputation, Mr. Josh Brown was back fishing in the White Clay Creek in London Grove, Pennsylvania. (The photograph is provided courtesy of Mr. Josh Brown.)
earlier.” “I used to let it get to me,” Mr. Brown stated. “I’d be fishing, having a fantastic day. Then I would start thinking about my hand. My life. It would ruin my day.” He explained that those emotions went on for about five years. “Those feelings stopped after I read a book in 2017,” explained Mr. Brown. “The book put everything into a better perspective for me.”
That book: “F*ck Feelings: One Shrink’s Practical Advice for Managing All Life’s Impossible Problems”. “I found it was better just to move on,” Mr. Brown continued. “You can’t let it consume you.” “Today, it doesn’t even enter my mind.” Mr. Brown reached a settlement with his employer; he declined to discuss the specifics of that settlement. While he went back to work within three weeks of the injury – for light-duty work – it was three years from the time of the injury until he was medically-cleared for regular work. Today, Mr. Brown still works at the ArcelorMittal mill in Coatesville. His role at work, though, has changed. Instead of being an operating technician – a furnace labourer – on the floor of the steel mill, he’s now a dispatcher. He’s proud that he has a job that he can do well. He strives to live his life with that positive outlook. “I make a point to shake hands with everyone I meet,” Mr. Brown stated. “It’s important for me that I do that.” The only difference from before the injury is that Mr. Brown today uses his right hand to greet others.
STORY 2: JOSEPH MIDDLETON Joseph Middleton was injured at the same ArcelorMittal mill in Coatesville. His injuries, though not as severe as those of Mr. Brown, impacted his life nonetheless. In July of 2016, he broke his ankle as he hopped down off a rail car in the mold prep department; he had misjudged the height from the floor as he jumped. “I thought I had sprained my ankle,” Mr.
Middleton explained. “I continued working my shift. It was only when I went home and noticed how bruised I was that I realised the extent of my injuries. I sought medical care and it was determined that my ankle was broken.” His ankle was cast twice, once with a hard-cast and the second with an aircast ankle brace. He went through months of
physical therapy. He used crutches for most of the time; eventually, he used a kneeplatform walker. “I would put my leg on the walker to move around,” Mr. Middleton detailed. He was not able to drive for several months. “It was tough on my wife, Jackie, and our three children,” Mr. Middleton noted.
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“They were a great help to me.” “I was out of work for about three months,” Mr. Middleton continued. “While I eventually received pay and had my medical bills covered, I faced a lot of challenges. Initially, I was to be given five days off with the intent to fire me. With the help of the local union, I was instead able to keep my job by being placed on a safety-related probation for one year.” “I wanted to continue working at the
steel mill. It was important that I be able to support my family.” Mr. Middleton now works in the test lab at the steel mill. “I perform tests on the hardness and strength of the steel products we produce here.” He learned a lot from this experience. “It was very scary,” Mr. Middleton explained. “I was afraid of losing my job. My ability to support my family.” “I was used to putting my job above
myself and my family. My attitude has changed,” Mr. Middleton continued. “It’s important to think about everything you’re doing at work. To be deliberate in your actions.” What helped him with this injury was his outlook on life. “I have a positive outlook on life,” Mr. Middleton noted. “It’s important to put things into perspective.”
INJURIES are difficult, but fatalities are much more impactful. Deaths due to workplace incidents at steel mills were much more common a century ago in the United States as compared to levels of fatalities today. Imagine having one worker die, on average, every week. Not injured, but dead. Think about that impact on their families. Every week, on average, a family losing their breadwinner. Their loved one. That was the case at Bethlehem Steel Corporation in its hometown area in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1917. Mr. John Loux, Mr. Manuel Pois, and Mr. Dominges Ferriera were just three of the 50 individuals who died at Bethlehem Steel in its hometown area in 1917, according to a memorial plaque listing the people who died at Bethlehem Steel. Mr. Loux was a steel worker who died while attempting to save the two other men – fellow steel workers – in a workplace incident at Bethlehem Steel. The passing of Mr. Loux drew national attention because of the circumstances of his death. According to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, “Mr. John Loux, 26, repairman, died attempting to save Mr. Manuel Pois, 24, and Mr. Dominges Ferriera, 20, labourers, from suffocation, Hellertown, Pennsylvania, 26 November 1917. Mr. Pois and Mr. Ferriera were overcome by [ammonia] gas in a tank. Mr. Loux crawled through a two-foot pipe in the end of the tank to get them out, but he was overcome before he could accomplish anything. Several unsuccessful efforts were made to get Mr. Loux out, the men who tried it being affected by the [ammonia] gas. The [ammonia] gas was blown out of the tank with an air hose, and a man then entered with a smoke helmet and got Mr.
Loux and the two labourers out. None of them could be revived.” The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission had been created by Mr. Andrew Carnegie in 1904. It was founded “to recognise persons who perform acts of heroism in civilian life in the United States and Canada.” Mr. Carnegie was one of the individuals who helped lead and expand the early steel industry in the United States. His steel holdings helped to form the United States Steel Corporation – today’s US Steel – in 1901. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission
a news article dated 24 January 1918, in The Morning Star in Wilmington, North Carolina, Mr. Loux was one of 26 people honoured by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in 1918. Ten of those individuals died in their attempts to save others, the newspaper reported. The Butler Citizen reported in a news article on the same date that the widow of Mr. Loux was awarded $20.00 per month by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. An additional $5.00 per month, according to the newspaper, was also provided for their son. To put that award amount in perspective, the $25.00 combined monthly award would amount to about $449.00 monthly today. This amount is based on valuations provided by the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics. Mr. Loux, Mr. Pois, and Mr. Ferriera are among the many individuals who have died in steel mill incidents that are remembered in two memorials in the City of Bethlehem. The Bethlehem Steelworkers Memorial is located in that Pennsylvania community. The memorial is dedicated to the tens of thousands of men and women who worked at the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation. According to six plaques listing individual names, 647 individuals died in workrelated incidents at Bethlehem Steel in the company’s hometown area during the years from 1905 to 1996. The Lehigh Valley Workers Memorial is also located in Bethlehem. This memorial was designed to specifically honour workers – all types of workers in all types of work – “who have been killed or injured on the job and their families”. Steelworkers who have been injured or killed in job-related incidents in the Lehigh Valley are among those honoured by this memorial in the Bethlehem Rose Garden.
April 2019
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The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission had been created by Mr. Andrew Carnegie in 1904. (The photograph is provided courtesy of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.)
awards medals to honour those “who voluntarily risks his or her life to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person.” Mr. John Loux, a steel worker who died while attempting to save the lives of two co-workers at Bethlehem Steel Corporation, was one of the individuals honoured for his heroism. According to
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The Bethlehem Steelworkers Memorial is located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. (The photograph is provided courtesy of United Steelworkers District 10, 2014.)
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The Lehigh Valley Workers Memorial is also located in Bethlehem. (The photograph above is provided courtesy of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, 2013; the photograph, right, is provided courtesy of Mr. Basilio Bonilla, Jr., 2017.)
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PERSPECTIVES: AMETEK LAND, AMETEK SURFACE VISION
Innovation a key driver AMETEK Land and AMETEK Surface Vision are two companies, based in the UK and the USA respectively. Both businesses are being kept busy by the global steel industry and, according to Ben Wileman*, innovation is driving a lot of contact
1. How’s business? It’s definitely keeping us busy, especially with the ongoing challenges our industry faces. We’re seeing a lot of growth in the more advanced end of the market and introducing lots of exciting new products to meet that demand. 2. What is your view of the current state of the global steel industry? The steel industry is facing challenges from the macro-economic situation. The ongoing trade situation between China and the US is causing uncertainty. It put the US market in a strong position, but we’ll see for how long. Overall, the more traditional parts of the market seem to be holding their own with the strongest growth coming from the higher-strength areas. Overall, I feel very optimistic.
5. Can you discuss any steel projects you are currently working on? We’re restricted in what we can discuss, but AMETEK Land is in conversation with the majority of manufacturers and there’s been a lot of interest around the recentlyintroduced SPOT GS thermometer for galvanised steel. From Surface Vision’s standpoint, China continues to try and enhance its capabilities and move up the value chain, so we’re seeing a lot of interest in our products there. In Japan, Surface Vision is working on some research and development projects with a major Japanese manufacturer, applying new sensors to surface inspection applications.
3. In which sector of the steel industry does AMETEK Surface Vision and AMETEK Land mostly conduct their business? We operate across the processes – our devices play all the way from steelmaking down to the various stages of the finished products, across both Land and Surface Vision. The close collaboration between both businesses works very well for us. 4. Where are you busiest at present? We’re busy in China, but we’re busier in the Americas than we’ve been for a few years, with the recent buoyancy in that market. Europe’s probably a little bit quieter. With Arcelor Mittal taking over the plants in Italy, there’s been a bit of dormancy in their spending, but we’re seeing signs of that picking back up.
6. Where do you stand on the aluminium versus steel argument? We’ve dedicated products for each sector, so we’re happy to see both play to their respective strengths. Each metal tries to improve the strength of its products and reduce the weight, which contributes to an increased demand for temperature
measurement and surface inspection solutions. 7. It has been said that vehicles will continue to be predominantly steel. What is your view? The future may be even more diverse, rather than a binary choice between aluminium and steel. If you listen to people — especially electric vehicle manufacturers talking about electric cars and the vehicles of the future — there’s clear potential to shift away from metals and move towards more plastics and composite materials. 8. Experts believe that within the next decade there could be an even split between steel, aluminium and carbon fibre in the average North American car. What’s your view? It depends on which sector of the automotive industry you look at. Domestic users will be looking for lighter-weight vehicles, while others may require a more heavy-duty vehicle. There may well be room for all of them. 9. It is always claimed that aluminium is ‘greener’ than steel. What do you think? They’re very much alike. They can both be recycled and both require huge amounts of upfront energy to manufacture. What’s significant is that recycling and other environmental questions are far higher up the agenda than they once were, which is forcing producers to re-evaluate all aspects of their manufacturing processes. 10. “…Any hint of doubt when it comes to predictions of climate doom is evidence of greed, stupidity, moral turpitude or psychological
* Divisional vice president of global sales and marketing, Ametek Land and Ametek Surface Vision April 2019
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PERSPECTIVES: AMETEK LAND, AMETEK SURFACE VISION
derangement.” This is a quote from Bret Stephens writing in The Wall Street Journal. Do you sympathise with his view? I don’t recognise those values in the people I work with in the industry. The evidence for climate change is very strong, and as an industry we must figure out how we’re going to respond to that. That is going to be one of the challenges for heavy industry, and we all recognise we’ve got to do more to deal with it. 11. In fact, talking of ‘green issues’ and emissions control, how is the steel industry performing in this respect? Everybody’s trying to do their bit, looking at where they can improve in terms of emissions controls. In Europe, we’ve been driven forward a lot quicker. China is catching up as they’re closing plants that don’t meet the new requirements. There are some interesting, early-stage developments of new ways of steel making that could reduce emissions and energy requirements. The steel industry is driving hard towards improving its green footprint, but it will take time, particularly with the size and number of existing plants. 12. Are steel producers looking to companies like yours to offer them solutions in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability? A couple of key drivers for reducing emissions are better process control and better efficiency. This is where AMETEK’s business units really contribute, particularly AMETEK Land. For example, in reheat furnaces and similar applications, the aim is to better control and deliver the right amount of energy to the process. Then, using a mixture of an NIR Borescope and the FGA 900 emissions analysers, we can help users control the atmosphere within the furnace to minimise NOx formation and as a result reduce emissions. 13. How quickly has the steel industry responded to ‘green politics’ in terms of making the production process more environmentally friendly? Everybody in the steel industry recognises that we need to be environmentally conscious in our approach and we’re striving towards that. It’s always going to be a challenge working with less-efficient legacy production plants, but I think everybody’s making their best efforts. www.steeltimesint.com
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14. Where do AMETEK Land and AMETEK Surface Vision lead the field in terms of steel production technology? We offer instrumentation that is designed to optimise key areas of the process. Land provides much more information about what’s going on in the process, so that operators can optimise it for product efficiency and product quality. We continue to refine and improve this data through the continued introduction of new products optimised for specific process needs, whether that be traditional single-
Western technology, but we’re seeing the development of many strong thought leaders in the Chinese steel industry and a lot of local technology providers building up, so we do see them moving towards self-sufficiency. The competition between Western and Chinese manufacturers in this technology is always going to drive costs down, but we will continue to fly at the high-end of the market and continue to work with providers, regardless of if they are in the East or the West.
spot thermometers or thermal imaging cameras. Surface Vision leads the way in not only detecting increasingly smaller surface defects, but also extracting more information about those defects.
18. Where do you see most innovation in terms of production technologies – primary, secondary or downstream? Downstream is where I see most innovation, both from our products and the market itself, in the short-to-medium term. Longerterm, I think there are some interesting ideas about steel-making technologies that could start to change the industry, but any disruptive change is some years off.
15. How do you view the development of AMETEK Surface Vision and AMETEK Land over the short-to-medium term? Our aim is not so much to react to an end-of-process need when it’s recognised, but rather to be involved much earlier in the process to identify future requirements, future savings or future gains. Consequently, R&D departments are coming to us to find out how they can better measure certain applications and adapt to new process challenges. 16. China is accountable for almost half of global production. How should the industry react to this situation? There’s a lot going on in the political environment to try and deal with this now, so maybe the industry is not getting the chance to react fast enough. For us, it’s a case of watching and being agile enough to adapt to any shifts or trends. 17. What is your experience of the Chinese steel industry? Historically, the Chinese have relied on
19. How optimistic are you for the global steel industry? That’s somewhat dependent on an unpredictable political landscape and the way current trade disputes are resolved. Overcapacity in China remains an issue which only furthers political uncertainty right now. The industry will have to find a solution to that, but overall, I’m very optimistic for the steel industry. 20. What exhibitions and conferences will you be attending this year? The big two for this year will be May’s AISTech conference in Pittsburgh, USA, and then THERMPROCESS-METEC-GIFA in Düsseldorf in June. There are many other events of various sizes which we will also attend. We still see great value in exhibition work and positioning ourselves at the right conferences and seminars. � April 2019
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HISTORY
Stiff competition from further north Failing to revive ironmaking in Southern England was not because of a lack of ore, water or wood for charcoal, but rather the loss of markets from competition in the Midlands, Northern England and Wales and cheaper iron made from coke. By Tim Smith* Some early iron furnaces in southern England were in use for many decades, others for only a few years. By far the greatest activity was during the period 1550 to 1600, when documentation indicates at least 87 furnaces in operation for part of this period. (Fig. 1). Just one, Ashburnham Furnace, survived into the 19th century, closing in 1813. The demise of the industry was not lack of ore, water or wood for charcoal, but rather the loss of markets from competition from cheaper iron made from coke in the Midlands, Northern England and Wales, which started to impact the Wealden charcoal iron furnaces from the 18th century onwards. In addition, cheaper bar iron imported from Sweden and Russia challenged the refining forges that had taken pig iron from the furnaces. Sixty one years after the closure of the last furnace on the Weald, the Brighton Guardian newspaper of 4 November 1874 reported on the setting up of a company to exploit the remaining ore bodies on the Weald estimated to extend over 1,000 square miles (2590 sq km). A letter by a Mr W Figg, a surveyor by profession, argued that the conditions that led to the ending of ironmaking on the Weald were: ‘of a past period and now have totally disappeared’. He continues: ‘Sussex fuel was formerly confined to the charcoal from surrounding forests, and all carriage was by water, as no real roads existed passable by other than bullock waggons, and then only with light loads.’ The advent of railways to the region
from the 1840s now opened up the area to which coal could be brought to make coke iron. Figg argued that improvements in furnace design had reduced the amount of coal required to produce one ton of iron from nine tons in 1781 to five tons in 1851 and just 1.1 ton in 1871. Further, Figg claimed coal consumption could be reduced as low as five to six cwt (0.25-0.30 ton) by the substitution of coke by gas as fuel – a remarkable claim bettering the performance of modern blast furnaces. The gas required, he says, ‘is produced abundantly from chalk, by the use of the waste gases of the furnaces. Nine tons of chalk and one ton of carbon suffices for the production of four tons of iron; and it is estimated, and fairly so, that the lime produced will pay for the carbonic acid gas.’ The 19th century term ‘carbonic acid gas’ refers to carbon dioxide which here, is produced by the calcination reaction of chalk at about 800°C: CaCO3 � CaO + CO2 At a more elevated temperature around 1000°C, in the presence of carbon, the CO2 is reduced to carbon monoxide by the reaction: C + CO2 � 2CO Carbon monoxide was named ‘carbonic oxide’ at this time. The above reactions readily take place at the upper and midlevels respectively of the blast furnace shaft, but Figg appears to be advocating the production of additional CO2 in a separate furnace and introducing this to the blast furnace in order to enhance the formation of CO, both as a fuel and a reducing agent. Evidence of a separate furnace dedicated to producing CO2 is his comment that the lime
produced would be a valuable by-product. Indeed, such shaft furnaces utilising the furnace waste gases were a common feature of Swedish blast furnaces at this time, but to calcine ore. Figg describes the local ore as containing 36-42% iron content and says that for the most part, the ores are in shallow deposits avoiding the expense of underground mining, making extraction half the cost of the underground mining practiced in the North of England. He mysteriously also claims that the ores are suitable for making malleable iron and cast steel direct from the ore, thus doing away with refining the furnace iron as, for example, in the Bessemer process. Figg’s enthusiasm in reviving the iron industry was no doubt sparked by the establishment of the Wadhurst Ironstone Mining Company around 1857. A supposedly rich seam of ore had been found during the construction of an extension to the South Eastern Railway branch line to Wadhurst in 1851-2. Underground mining of the ore commenced in Snape Wood in August 1857, the plan being to send the extracted ore to Shropshire for smelting via the railway. However, frequent faults in the ore bed and the lack of a siding to load the ore resulted in a short-lived attempt, the mine closing just a year later in September 1858. The quality of ore was also questionable being low in iron and high in silica. A study of 1908 to consider reopening the mine gave a negative report and again, during WWI, re-opening was considered unviable.�
Fig 1. Number of Wealden blast furnaces by period
* Consulting Editor Steel Times International April 2019
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