Steel Times International January February 2021

MEASUREMENT & TESTING

INNOVATIONS

STAINLESS STEELS

PERSPECTIVES Q&A

Hitachi looks at different techniques employed for EAF steelmaking

New products and contracts from global plant builders

Outokumpu looks at duplex stainless steel’s sustainability credentials

We talk to Blake Rhein, vice president of sales at Taylor-Winfield in the USA

Since 1866

www.steeltimesint.com January/February 2021 - Vol.45 No1

STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – January/February 2021 – Vol.45 No1

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CONTENTS – JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

MEASUREMENT & TESTING

INNOVATIONS

STAINLESS STEELS

PERSPECTIVES Q&A

Hitachi looks at different techniques employed for EAF steelmaking

New products and contracts from global plant builders

Outokumpu looks at duplex stainless steel’s sustainability credentials

We talk to Blake Rhein, vice president of sales at Taylor-Winfield in the USA

Since 1866

www.steeltimesint.com January/February 2021 - Vol.45 No1

STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – January/February 2021 – Vol.45 No1

Front cover photo courtesy of Midrex Algerian Qatari Steel MIDREX® 2.5 mtpy HDRI/CDRI Plant Bellara, Algeria

2 Leader

By Matthew Moggridge, editor, Steel Times International.

44 Green steelmaking Tenova discusses how it can decarbonise the steelmaking industry.

4 News round-up The latest global news.

52 Testing & analysis Which metals analysis technique is best at different points during the EAF steelmaking process?

DIRECT REDUCTION IRONMAKING IN NORTH AFRICA

EDITORIAL Editor Matthew Moggridge Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855151 matthewmoggridge@quartzltd.com Consultant Editor Dr. Tim Smith PhD, CEng, MIM Production Editor Annie Baker

11 Latin America update Latin America steel outlook 15 USA update Latin America steel outlook

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 Tony Crinion tonycrinion@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855164

18 Innovations A bumper 21 pages of the latest contracts and products news from international plant builders and suppliers.

36 COVER STORY Direct Reduced Iron: A focus on North Africa by Midrex Corporation.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Diprose SUBSCRIPTION Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email subscriptions@quartzltd.com

1

36

44

56 Stainless steel Outokumpu on the bright future for duplex stainless steels.

60 Environment Shell’s blue hydrogen process.

66 Perspectives Q&A: Taylor-Winfield Blake Rhein, vice president of sales.

68 History Gun making on the English Weald.

52

60

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

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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 2021

ISSN0143-7798

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2

LEADER

Trump is out, Biden is in, and steelfolk hope tariffs remain

Matthew Moggridge Editor matthewmoggridge@quartzltd.com

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distinctly remember the Americans being mildly embarrassed about their President George ‘Dubya’ Bush; and now I wonder what they are thinking about Trump.

On the world stage, my impression is that people laughed behind his back. I feel the same about the UK’s Boris Johnson who, like Trump, looks a little ridiculous in his ill-fitting clothes. Along with Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom in Holland, they all three resemble honey monsters in suits, which appears to be the ‘populist’ way. If you want to get ahead, don’t get a hat, get a silly haircut.

But was Trump all bad? No he wasn’t.

He opened some kind of dialogue with Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, and let’s face it, Trump never went to war. From the perspective of the North American steel industry, he introduced Section 232 tariffs on imported steel, a move widely supported by the major steel industry trade associations who are now calling on Biden to keep them in place – or risk a torrent of cheap steel coming in from China and elsewhere, causing untold damage to American steelmakers and making a nonsense of all the investments made by the North American steel industry.

Donald Trump is out of the White House and banned from social media. It’s an odd state of affairs having the President of the United States, the so-called ‘leader of the free world’, banned from Twitter and Facebook, but that’s the reality of the situation, and it all boils down to the recent storming of the Capitol Building in Washington DC by Trump supporters.

People died and some say Trump has blood on his hands for inciting the violence. Let’s face it, Trump was never very ‘presidential’ and since losing the election to Joe Biden he’s shown his true colours as a bad loser, who, despite providing no evidence, convinced himself and his followers that the Democrats stole the election. And now as I write this on the day of President-elect Biden’s inauguration, DC is in lockdown and the military patrols the streets to prevent a repeat of the early January violence.

Trump is not going down in history as one of America’s great statesman, and in so many ways he’s shown the USA in a very bad light.

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4 NEWS ROUND-UP

• NLMK Lipetsk has mastered the production of a new grade of high-strength cold-rolled steel, a unique product for the Russian market. Its properties enable the production of lighter components while maintaining the same strength of the material, meaning NLMK steel can replace imported steel in the automotive and metalworking industries. NLMK delivered the first batch of such steel to Specta, a leading manufacturer of steel packaging straps.

Source: NLMK, 25 November 2020.

• Tenova, a leading company specialized in innovative solutions for the metals and mining industries, has signed a contract with the HBIS Group for the implementation of the Paradigm Project, a high-tech hydrogen energy development and utilization plant. The project includes a 600kt/yr ENERGIRON direct reduced iron (DRI) plant.

Source: Tenova, 23 November 2020.

• ‘The Global Life Cycle of Stainless Steels’, a summary of the results of a 2015 study which quantified the stocks and flows cycle of stainless steels, has been published

by Team Stainless, an informal alliance of Eurofer, the International Chromium Development Association, the International Molybdenum Association, the International Nickel Study Group, the International Stainless Steel Forum, and the Nickel Institute.

Source: Team Stainless, 25 November 2020.

• British Steel is recruiting 66 new employees to support increased production at its operations in Scunthorpe and Teesside. The company, which is maintaining production during the pandemic, is looking to recruit 41 people into manufacturing roles at its Special Profiles business in Skinningrove, and a further 25 into trainee positions at its headquarters in North Lincolnshire.

Source: British Steel, 26 November 2020.

• Indian steelmaker JSW has purchased land in Jagatsinghpur, Odisha and plans to set up an integrated steel plant and a 900MW power plant for captive usage, according to an online media report. The land is close to Paradip port and in the same area where South Korean steelmaker POSCO had been interested in opening a 12Mt/yr steel plant. Environmental issues and local protests put a stop to the POSCO project.

Source: Business Today, 29 November 2020.

• A report by Reuters claims that China’s biggest privately owned steelmaker, Jiangsu Shagang Group, is to invest around $2.25 billion on buying and then modernising steel mills in the central Henan province.

The aim is to create a highend manufacturing base.

The project is being led by Shagang subsidiary Anyang Yongxing Special Steel.

Source: Reuters, 30 November 2020.

• The World Trade Organisation isn’t happy with South Korea and has accused the nation of violating international trade rules by renewing tariffs on Japanese stainless steel bars without providing sufficient evidence to justify the continuance of the duties. Seoul has been asked to comply with its international trade obligations.

Source: Bloomberg, 30 November 2020.

• A man recovered in a Canadian hospital after a workplace accident at Gerdau Manitoba Steel Mill. He was airlifted from the plant with what was described as a serious leg injury. The company was issued with two improvement orders related to ladders and the incident was investigated. According to Workplace Safety and Health there were three other serious incidents at the plant last year.

Source: CTV News Winnipeg, 30 November 2020.

January/February 2021

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NEWS ROUND-UP

• Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau has concluded its acquisition of Siderúrgica LatinoAmericana (Silat) according to a report by Metal Bulletin. The 600kt/yr facility produces long steel products, mainly rebar and wire rod.

Source: Metal Bulletin, 1 December 2020.

• A report by Nikkei Asia claims that Nippon Steel and ArcelorMIttal will more than double the steel production capacity of their Indian subsidiary to 23Mt/yr by the 2030s. When the two steel giants acquired Essar Steel, which has since been renamed as AM/NS India, the plan was to boost production to between 12Mt and 15Mt per annum. At the moment, AM/ NS India is producing around 9.6Mt/yr.

Source: Nikkei Asia, 1 December 2020.

5

• Russian steelmaker PAO Severstal, one of the world's largest vertically integrated steel and mining companies, has launched coke battery No. 11, a new 700kt/yr unit using coal charge ramming technology, at its Cherepovets Steel Mill. The new unit will increase coke production to meet increasing cast iron output and, consequently, higher steel production volumes.

Source: Severstal, 2 December 2020.

• The Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation (IMIDRO) is investing in the development of mines in West Azarbaijan Province in the North West of Iran, according to a report in the Tehran Times. A memorandum of understanding was signed

by Khodadad Gharibpour of IMIDRO and MohammadMehdi Shahiari, the GovernorGeneral of West Azarbaijan outlining plans to conduct exploration activities, participation in large-scale mining projects, construction of access roads and power supply networks as well as exploration of precious and semi-precious stones. Source: Tehran Times, 2 December 2020.

• Essen-based energy company STEAG, Duisburgbased steel producer thyssenkrupp Steel and Dortmund-based thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, specializing in electrolysis technology, are working on a joint feasibility study. The study deals with the construction of a water electrolysis plant at the STEAG site in Duisburg-Walsum by thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, the structuring of energy supply and operation of the electrolysis plant by STEAG and the supply of green hydrogen and oxygen to thyssenkrupp Steel's steel mill in the neighbouring Duisburg district of Bruckhausen.

Source: ThyssenKrupp, 3 December 2020.

• Premier special steels manufacturer Valbruna ASW Inc, has awarded Tenova, a leading specialist in innovative solutions for the metals and mining industries, with the contract to supply a new electric arc furnace (EAF). Valbruna ASW Inc. is a premier manufacturer of special steels and the EAF will be installed at its facility in Welland, Ontario, Canada.

Source: Tenova, 3 December 2020.

• The USA imported a total of 1.50Mt (net tons) of steel in October 2020, including 1.24Mt (net tons) of finished steel (up 19.6% and 6.6%, respectively, when compared with September final data).

Source: AISI, 7 December 2020.

• Dr. Andreas Liessem has been appointed to the executive management board of Steelwind Nordenham (SWN), a whollyowned subsidiary of AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger) with effect from 1 April 2021. On 1 July 2021 he will assume the duties of Dr. Hubo (62) who will be retiring. Dr. Liessem (56) is an engineer in metallurgy and materials technology/materials science. 7 December 2020. www.steeltimesint.com

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January/February 2021

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6

NEWS ROUND-UP

• United States Steel Corporation has acquired the remaining equity of Osceola, Arkansas-based Big River Steel for approximately $774 million. The transaction is subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including antitrust approval, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.

Source: Big River Steel, 8 December 2020.

• Chinese steelmaker Shagang Group carried out maintenance work on a 480 cubic metre blast furnace in December that lasted 21 days and cost the business a shortfall in production of 35.7kt of melted iron.

Shagang is a privatelyowned steelmaker. Repair work on two bar production lines lasting 13 and 15 days respectively lost the company an estimated 88kt of rebar output, it is claimed.

Source: Steel Orbis, 3 December 2020.

• A salt lake in Argentina purchased

by South Korean steelmaker POSCO in 2018 has been found to contain 13.5 Mt of lithium, six times more than the company’s initial estimation of just 2.2Mt. According to one online media report, this means that POSCO’s plan to become a major player in the lithium battery market are on track. Lithium is often referred to as ‘white petroleum’ because it is ‘a core secondary battery cathode material that enables electric production and charging’, according to Pulse News.

Source: Pulse News (Korea), 4 December 2020.

• Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has announced that its crude steel production figures rose by 7% to 1.414Mt during the month of November. The figure for the same month in 2019 was 1.328Mt. Anil Kumar Chaudhary said the good news was reflective of the continuous efforts of the company to revert to precovid levels and improved market conditions.

Source: Livemint.com, 4 December 2020.

• Coal imported into India dropped by 18.6% to 116.81Mt between April and October 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019.

India imported 143.63Mt of coal during the 2019-2020 period, according to figures compiled my mjunction, a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL, which publishes research reports on coal. That said, coal imports increased to 21.50Mt in October 2020 against 18.28Mt in October 2019 of which 14.46Mt was non-coking coal (compared to 13.57Mt in 2019).

Source: Business Today, 6 December 2020.

• Sheffield Forgemasters, which is thought to make components for Trident nuclear submarines, might be taken over by the UK Ministry of Defence. One of Britain’s oldest steelmakers, dating back to the 1750s, it has been forced to cut its workforce by 10% as a result of a combination factors including the pandemic. According to the This is Money website, BAE Systems, Babcock International and Rolls Royce clubbed together in 2016 to underwrite a £30 million Wells Fargo loan to keep the business afloat. An agreement is likely to be ‘months away’.

Source: This is Money.co.uk, 6 December 2020.

• Saudi Aramco and South Korean steelmaker POSCO are looking into a possible joint venture on an integrated steel plate mill that will target the oil and gas industry. POSCO will conduct a feasibility study.

Saudi Aramco is not new to steelmaking. In 2018 it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation Saudi Arabia to evaluate an integrated mill in the Ras aiKhair area. Source: Commodity Inside.com, 7 December 2020.

• South Korean steelmaker POSCO has contracted the German SMS group to supply a new coke plant for the company’s Pohang works. Subsidiary Paul Wurth is charged with the task of supplying the oven and all associated key equipment. Once installed the batteries are designed to produce 1.5Mt of coke per annum. Source: Paul Wurth/SMS group, 4 December 2020.

January/February 2021

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20/01/2021 12:48:21

NEWS ROUND-UP

7

• British Steel has developed a new high-strength structural steel grade.

The company believes its S460M product will find a ready market in the development of multi-storey and high-rise buildings as well as a wide range of other commercial and industrial uses. The new steel product represents the first new product developed since the company was taken over by Jingye Group in March. Source: British Steel, 8 December 2020.

• ThyssenKrupp Elevator has been recognised for its leadership in corporate sustainability by the global environmental nonprofit CDP. The organisation has put the company on its A List for tackling climate change, in particular its efforts to cut emissions, mitigate climate risks and develop the low-carbon economy. CDP scored 9,600 companies in total. TKE hopes to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2040 and by 25% by 2030. Source: Yahoo Finance, 8 December 2020.

• 2021 will be a strong year in terms of iron ore demand, says Fortescue Metals Group of Australia. The company believes that a solid steel market in China and post-pandemic recoveries in other countries will aid the recovery. Danny Goeman of Fortescue says he is expecting ‘strong market dynamics’.

Source: Market Screener, 9 December 2020.

• South Korean steelmaker POSCO is looking to establish a hydrogen economy infrastructure to fuel future growth, according to the Korea Times. It is reported that chairman Choi Jeongwoo has asked his senior executives to assess the feasibility of such a business model and has emphasised the importance of the hydrogen market, claiming there is growing interest in the eco-friendly hydrogen industry.

Source: Korea Times, 10 December 2020. www.steeltimesint.com

Industry news – read MM....indd 4

• The nomination of General Lloyd Austin as the next US Defence Secretary is looking a little shaky as he has strong ties to the defence industry, first as a member of the board of Raytheon Technologies and second as a board member at Nucor Corporation, a second tier supplier to Oshkosh Defense, which is building 50,000 joint light tactical vehicles for the US military to replace the Humvee.

Source: Politico.com, 10 December 2020.

• POSCO CEO Choi Jeong-woo has been appointed for a second term in the role. His current term expires in March when a shareholders meeting will rubber stamp the appointment. Choi became the South Korean steelmaker’s ninth CEO in July 2018.

Source: Korea Herald, 11 December 2020.

• A report by Reuters claims that German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp is no longer seeking state aid from Germany’s economic stabilisation fund. The company’s chief financial officer, Klaus Keysberg, commented that the WSF fund was ‘not the proper instrument’. The news comes as a blow to the IG Metall union, which argued that such funding was the best way to rescue the company.

Source: Reuters, 11 December 2020.

• Nucor Steel has donated $22,000 to the Westside Seattle Foodbank. Every Christmas, the USA’s largest steelmaker encourages its employees to donate food and matches cash donations with $2 for ever dollar donated.

Well played, Nucor!

Source: Westside Seattle.com, 12 December 2020.

• ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, has signed a binding investment agreement with Invitalia, an Italian state-owned company, forming a publicprivate partnership between the parties. The investment agreement will result in a recapitalization of AM InvestCo, ArcelorMittal’s subsidiary that signed the lease and obligation to purchase agreement for Ilva’s business.

Source: ArcelorMittal, 12 December 2020.

January/February 2021

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8

• LIBERTY France, the French subsidiary of Liberty Steel Group, part of Sanjeev Gupta’s sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, and SNCF Réseau have announced that Europe’s first GREENSTEEL on the French rail network have been approved.

Source: Liberty Steel Group, 14 December 2020.

• Russian steelmaker NLMK Group has been ranked among the top five most competitive global steel companies by World Steel Dynamics (WSD), a strategic information service providing critical and new perspectives on possible and probable steel industry developments.

Source: NLMK, 15 December 2020.

• The new Paris headquarters of the French daily newspaper Le Monde, which was officially opened on 16 December, contains 1,000 tons of Dillinger heavy plate. Dillinger steel plate plays a key 'supporting role' in the structure and was produced by Dillinger and Dillinger France.

Source: Dillinger, 17 December 2020.

January/February 2021

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NEWS ROUND-UP

• Nippon Steel Corporation, Japan’s largest steel producer, and Rio Tinto, a leading global mining and metals company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore, develop and demonstrate technologies to transition to a low-carbon emission steel value chain.

Source: Nippon Steel Corporation, 17 December 2020.

• A steelworker has died while working at US Steel’s Gary Works mill in Gary, Indiana, having suffered a medical emergency at the plant.

Troy Allen (45) was rushed to the nearby Methodist Hospital’s Northlake campus by the steelmaker’s in-house emergency medical services where he was pronounced dead. By 12 December no details of how Mr Allen died had been released and it is understood that a full autopsy report would take around 10 weeks .

Source: WSWS.org, 18 December 2020.

• Indian steelmaker Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited (JSHL) has been awarded the first prize at the prestigious ‘Global Environment Awards 2020' in the ‘Platinum’ category.

Established in 2010, the Global Environment Awards recognise outstanding contributions by individuals and organisations in the field of sustainable environmental practices.

Source: Jindal Stainless, 21 December 2020.

• Jay Timmons, the president of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in the USA, has condemned the actions of Trump-supporting protestors who stormed the US Capitol building as members of Congress met to count the electoral votes.

National Association of Manufacturers, 7 January 2020.

• PAO Severstal, one of the world's largest vertically integrated steel and mining companies, has put blast furnace No. 3 (BF-3) at the Cherepovets Steel Mill (part of Severstal’s Russian steel division) onto hot test mode.

The new furnace has been named 'Cherepovchanka', its name having been chosen by local residents. BF-3 has the capacity to produce more than three million tons of pig iron per year.

Source: Severstal, 25 December 2020.

• Four of the leading USbased domestic steel industry associations and the United Steelworkers union have urged President-elect Joe Biden to ensure steel tariffs and quotas, put in place in 2018 to protect national security, are preserved.

Source: AISI, 13 January 2020.

• NLMK Group, the largest steelmaker in Russia, has started commercial operation of a digital solutions package for production planning at its Lipetsk site. It will improve the accuracy of customer order fulfillment, ensure tracking transparency, and increase production productivity.

The all-in-one digital platform integrates order acceptance, setting order fulfillment deadlines, calendar planning and production scheduling.

Source: NLMK, 13 January 2021. www.steeltimesint.com

20/01/2021 12:50:07

11

LATIN AMERICA UPDATE

AHMSA’s rocky road to acquisition

AHMSA faced a bumpy road along the way to its eventual acquistion by Alianza Minerometalúrgica Internacional in December last year, as Germano Mendes de Paula* reports ALIANZA Minerometalúrgica Internacional (AMI), a trust led by Julio Villarreal, president of Grupo Villacero Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) is a leading Mexican producer of flat steel products. The company had been looking for a strategic partner after accumulating financial losses following its involvement in a corruption probe in Mexico. In September 2019 the company was considering several capitalisation and partnership options. By February 2020, there were rumours Ternium was negotiating a potential acquisition, and in June 2020, a non-binding merger agreement between AHMSA and Villacero (a leading Mexican steel service centre and distributor) was signed. The deal was completed in December 2020.

A bumpy road AHMSA experienced many financial problems after it was privatised in 1991 (STI, May 2000, p. 6; STI, March 2015, p. 13). Looking exclusively at the last two years, in May 2019, Mexico’s Finance Ministry ordered AHMSA’s bank accounts to be frozen amid the aforementioned corruption investigation. The government was scrutinising Pemex’s (the Mexican SOE oil company) purchase of Agro

Nitrogenados (a fertilizer plant) in 2014 from AHMSA at what federal auditors said was an inflated price. The company was able to resume financial transactions in the same week, but its chairman, Alonso Ancira Elizondo, was arrested in Spain in late May 2019.

AHMSA reported $316 millon in losses during 2019 and attributed its financial performance to ‘unfounded actions carried out by the federal government’ and ‘the economic situation in the country,’ which had reduced its funding capacity. The company’s net debt reached $993 million at the end of 2019. AHMSA has capacity to produce nearly 5.6 Mt/yr of slabs and 3.8 Mt/yr of hot rolled coil and plates. It also fabricates cold rolled coil, tinplate, heavy sections and beams and operates iron ore and coal mines in México. However, it was working at 40% of its capacity after idling blast furnace number six and BOF number one in January 2020, prior to the COVID19 pandemic.

In this context, AHMSA’s potential $500 million worth of expansion projects, originally scheduled for 2018, remained on hold. It included: a) the implementation of a third cold-rolling facility, allowing the expansion of CRC output from 800kt/yr to

2.3Mt/yr; b) the replacement of its number three continuous caster, permitting an increase in capacity from 2Mt/yr to 2.5Mt/ yr; c) the amplification of hot-rolling from 2.8Mt/yr to 3.5Mt/yr and the tinplate line from 150kt/yr to 450kt/yr.

The non-binding agreement In June 2020, AHMSA and Villacero entered into a non-binding agreement to merge their assets under a new company.

A financial injection of an undisclosed magnitude into AHMSA would be part of the deal, necessary to cover part of its debt and to allow it to raise funds through new issues. AHMSA declared: “Through a new legal vehicle, [both companies] will unite their operational synergies and consolidate their production and processing capacities”.

The agreement gave the companies 90 days to consider the transaction and was signed

by Villacero’s subsidiary Lámina y Placa Comercial.

Villacero is comprised of steel manufacturing plants and service centres, and is considered to be Mexico’s largest steel distributor. It is worth remembering that in December 2006 Villacero sold Sicartsa (a long steel integrated mill in Mexico, which it acquired in 1991) and

* Latin America correspondent Professor in Economics, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. E-mail: germano@ufu.br www.steeltimesint.com

LA Update – read MM.indd 1

January/February 2021

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12

LATIN AMERICA UPDATE

Border Steel (a long steel minimill in Texas which it purchased in 1997) to ArcelorMittal for $1.44bn. At that time, Sicartsa and Border Steel had a joint capacity of 2.7Mt/yr. Villacero group also owns the Afirme bank, which is an important creditor of AHMSA (US$162 million roughly, according Mexican newspaper El Universal).

Some obstacles and a final agreement In June 2020, AHMSA’s coal subsidiaries said they would lay off 2,400 workers, of which 2,000 were in Mexico (Micare) and 400 in Texas (Dos Republicas Coal Partnership); this followed a decision by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), a SOE power company, to ‘unilaterally’ cancel a contract to purchase coal. Coal mining in Mexico extracts some 7Mt/yr of steam coal, which it sells to CFE’s coal-fired power plants. The Mexican newspaper Vanguardia reported that CFE reviewed the coal supply contracts and found them to be ‘disadvantageous’. Micare and Minosa (AHMSA’s subsidiaries engaged in thermal and metallurgical coal mining) filed for bankruptcy protection afterwards due to liquidity problems and changes in the Mexican government’s energy policy. In the same month, AHMSA announced a withdrawal of bankruptcy filing for these coal mining subsidiaries.

In July 2020, the Mexican federal government declared that it would not cancel a $200 million debt owed to public authorities if Grupo Villacero went ahead with the acquisition of AHMSA. The debt amount referred to the investigation of the inflated sale price of Agro Nitrogenados, the fertiliser company sold by AHMSA, brought at current value. In August 2020, an arrest warrant issued against Alonso Ancira Elizondo, AHMSA’s chairman, was cancelled due to the ‘extinction of January/February 2021

LA Update – read MM.indd 2

the criminal action’, AHMSA said in a statement. In fact, he is living in exile in Spain, where he has been conditionally released as required by the Mexican government’s extradition order.

In September 2020, AHMSA and Villacero decided to postpone a merger decision to the end of the year. Meanwhile, AHMSA’s financial conditions have further deteriorated. According to the Mexican Chamber of Industry and Construction, the company is unable to cover salaries or pay its suppliers and service providers. In Q3 2020, AHMSA recorded a negative EBITDA

of $58 million, down by 65% year-on-year.

Indeed, the company became insolvent as its current liabilities were higher than its assets and it faced dissolution, having lost more than two-thirds of its share capital.

Finally, in December 2020, Alianza Minerometalúrgica Internacional (AMI), a trust led by Julio Villarreal, president of Grupo Villacero, agreed to acquire a controlling stake in AHMSA from Grupo Acerero del Norte (GAN), owned by the Ancira family. In reality, GAN has sold 55% of its 64% stake in AHMSA. Unfortunately, the additional information concerning the acquisition, such as the transaction value and the shareholding composition of AMI, was not disclosed. However, except for Julio Villarreal, all the remaining investors of AMI are not connected to the steel business and do not have more than 10% of the trust. Obviously, the deal is subjected to the antitrust authority’s approval.

Not surprisingly, the main goal is to create synergy between the companies, combining AHMSA’s experience in steel production and sales and Villacero’s experience in the field of distribution, transportation and logistics. For Julio Villarreal, the transaction implies a large step for the company towards becoming an important steel producer again, as AHMSA is bigger than Sicartsa. Moreover, AHMSA is and will continue to be the main supplier of steel products to Villacero, which would have been quite different if AHMSA had been sold to another steel company. In the same direction, it will be easier for Afirme bank to receive back its loans to AHMSA. Last, but certainly not least, it is understood that Villarreal attracted others investors to be shareholders of AHMSA, via AMI’s stake, which enabled him to reduce his financial risks. �

www.steeltimesint.com

20/01/2021 14:00:44

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USA UPDATE

Joe Biden

15

– what next?

The million dollar question on the lips of most CEOs of US-based steel manufacturers is how will President Joe Biden approach the industry and what will his take be on import tariffs, protectionism, China and many other issues of vital importance. By Manik Mehta* AS the results of the 3 November elections kept pouring in and the scales tipped in favour of challenger Joe Biden as the next US President, the US steel industry went into a frenzied discussion over how a President Biden would deal with issues such as tariffs on steel imports, protectionism that affects steel-consuming industries in the US, China and the trade war and other important issues.

Pundits and crystal-ball gazers contended, even before the contours of Biden’s global trade policies were made known, that President-elect Biden will very likely continue with his predecessor Donald Trump’s policies, including tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from many countries, and on almost 75% of all that the US imports from China. Polls taken among both Republicans and Democrats suggest that there is widespread distrust and negative perception about China, not only because of the latter’s trade practices and technology theft, but also because of the pandemic.

Though Biden is expected to re-visit the issue of steel tariffs, which Trump imposed in March 2018 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the new

President will face a Republican-dominated Senate, which can possibly act as an inhibiting factor to Biden’s attempts to change Trump’s trade policies.

Also, removing the tariffs could alienate the new administration from the Midwest and its people who supported Biden and got him elected.

Biden will face pressure from several quarters, including US Steel Corp., Century Aluminum Co. and the United Steelworkers Union who will lobby for protection against foreign steel imports. One analyst, preferring to remain anonymous, told Steel Times International that it was ‘very likely’ that Biden would retain the tariffs and embrace multilateral trade talks with key allies – the European Union, Japan and Canada – to oppose subsidized companies in China that produce more than half of the world’s steel and aluminium. “The biggest visible change in steel policy is that Biden will resort to a multilateral approach as opposed to Trump’s unilateral moves,” the analyst said.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), which touts itself as the industry’s voice, emphasized that maintaining Section 232 tariffs on steel imports and the passage

of a large-scale infrastructure bill are its priorities.

The AISI’s recently appointed CEO Kevin Dempsey said that he did not expect any near-term change in the 25% steel import tariff, cautioning that this was not the time to remove the tariffs in light of rising concerns over global steel overcapacity.

“Given all that is going on, we think it would be very dangerous to lift the steel tariffs now,” Dempsey said in a recent interview with S&P Global Platts. “Frankly, that could lead to a repeat of what we’ve seen the last couple of decades in the wake of other global economic shocks.”

The AISI referred to a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Steel Forum in late September, which expressed a ‘deep concern’ over increases in steelmaking capacity. The group noted that despite the global negative shock caused by Covid-19, production and inventories had significantly increased from the year-earlier levels in China. “Increased production and the unwinding of these inventories in China could lead to a global crisis for steel,” Dempsey said, cautioning that if the Biden administration lifted tariffs, it would create

* USA correspondent www.steeltimesint.com

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20/01/2021 14:03:25

16

USA UPDATE

conditions ripe for a big surge in imports that would be devastating for the US industry and the steelworkers, one of the core constituencies supporting Biden in his last campaign.

The AISI, which wants tariffs to be retained, supports what Dempsey called a “co-operative approach to enforcement”, urging the Biden administration to work closely with the AISI and its allies on trade issues for better co-ordination and on taking strong trade enforcement actions using various US laws to deal with overcapacity problems – be it from China, Southeast Asia or Turkey.

Though fearful of foreign surplus capacity entering the US market, US steelmakers are relieved to note that the steel industry had fared well in recent months, notably in November, when US Steel, for example, produced the first ton of steel at its new facility in Fairfield, Alabama, which is using the latest and cleanest steelmaking technology available – an electric arc furnace (EAF) – and will annually produce 1.6Mt of steel.

Meanwhile, Nucor Steel, has started building a new steel plate mill in Brandenburg, Kentucky, while earlier this summer, Commercial Metals Company announced plans to build a second rebar steel mill in Mesa, Arizona.

These are viewed as positive developments amid the industry’s pessimism over declining production.

Nevertheless, many steel executives say that Trump’s steel tariffs had generated a surge in steel investment and the deployment of the latest technologies that can create good-paying jobs in the industry.

Obviously, the tariffs were designed to check China’s unfair trade practices January/February 2021

USA – read MM..indd 2

and steel dumping in the US market.

China’s heavily-subsidized steel production accounted for nearly 54% of global production in 2019; a large chunk of which was dumped in foreign markets, depressing global steel prices and making US steelmakers uncompetitive. Indeed, tariffs had reduced Chinese steel exports to the US, besides driving US steelmakers to make investments and rebuild the national steel industry.

Besides Nucor and US Steel, other companies like Cleveland-Cliffs, Steel Dynamics, CMC, and AK Steel invested billions of dollars in at least 16 major new projects throughout the nation. The top five US steel companies more than doubled their total annual investments between 2017 and 2019, from $1.5 billion to $4.2 billion. These new steelmaking plants, steel mills, and ore processing facilities use modern EAF technology that is cleaner and more efficient per ton of crude steel produced.

The US now has a more modern steel industry than in the past, producing 70% of its steel by EAF; by contrast, China deploys EAF methods to produce just 10% of its steel, with experts saying that China is not only the major source of global oversupply, but also of highly-polluted blast-furnaceproduced steel. A carbon-border tax that Joe Biden reportedly favours could be used with Section 232 tariffs to keep out lowquality steel from China and other oldertechnology steelmaking nations.

Meanwhile, US steel imports declined by 22.8% in the first 10 months of 2020, although imports surged in October. Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the AISI reported that the US imported a total

of 1.5Mt (net tons) of steel in October 2020, including 1.24Mt (net tons) of finished steel (an increase of 19.6% and 6.6% respectively compared to September). The first 10 months of 2020 recorded total and finished steel imports at 19.1Mt (net tons) and 13.6Mt (net tons), down 22.8% and 25.9%, respectively, over the year-earlier period. The year-to-date drop in imports is attributed to the effects of Covid-19 and the 25% tariff on steel imports imposed by the Trump administration.

The biggest volumes of finished steel were imported in October from South Korea with 146kt (net tons) up 17% from September; Japan with 78kt (net tons) up 32%; Turkey with 68kt (net tons) up 943%; Germany with 67kt (net tons) up 31%; and Brazil with 34kt (net tons) up 5%.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh-based US Steel says it is restarting blast furnace #4 at its Gary Works mill earlier than anticipated as the steel market recovers from pandemicrelated economic turmoil. The company had taken the blast furnace offline in April for planned maintenance, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was idled.

Major steel-consuming sectors have seen a revival in demand. The automotive industry, for example, has rebounded strongly on the back of a strong recovery in customer demand. Indeed, major US automakers are ramping up production to boost lean vehicle inventories at dealerships in the wake of surging demand. The automotive rebound is driving demand for flat steel products. The construction sector’s revival has also fueled demand for long and flat steel.

Another trend noticed in the industry is the steelmakers’ shift to using solar energy.

Nucor Corp. recently signed a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with EDF Renewables North America for 250 MW of new solar energy, to be set up in Texas. � www.steeltimesint.com

20/01/2021 14:03:33

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18

INNOVATIONS

Strategic partnership to boost satisfaction

Since October 2020, Buehler - ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, has been co-operating in a strategic partnership with Bremen-based OMNILAB-Laborzentrum GmbH & Co. KG, one of Germany's largest independent specialist laboratory distributors.

The objective of the collaboration for the EMEA region is to boost efficiency and thus increase customer satisfaction. With an expanded inventory, response times for the delivery of equipment, spare parts and consumables have been shortened; this along with a focus on customer service will accomplish this goal, the company claims. Buehler's sales, service, marketing and application teams will continue to serve

January/February 2021

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existing customers in Europe from its European headquarters in Esslingen and further sites in Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

OMNILAB, a family-owned business, offers individual service solutions and first-class customer care to the industrial and scientific markets.

As CEO Nils Herrmann explains, “Doubling the number of products held in stock and extending shipping hours will make Buehler synonymous with rapid fulfillment and seamless customer service throughout Europe and the Middle East and parts of Africa too.”

Lutz Werner, business unit manager for Buehler in Europe, adds: “The partnership with OMNILAB will strengthen the already deep trust

our customers and partners have developed in Buehler over our 70 years of commitment to Europe. As ever, they will be able to rely on the technical expertise of our sales and service teams in material sample preparation, image analysis and hardness testing. And they will also benefit from the additional know-how and the logistical and organizational expertise of OMNILAB in supplying machines and consumables. All-in-all, this will enhance our ability to meet demand for innovative material sample preparation solutions quickly and expertly.”

For further information, log on to www.buehler-met.de

www.steeltimesint.com

21/01/2021 14:57:54

19

INNOVATIONS

Enhanced thermal imaging Ametek Land, a leading player in non-contact temperature measurement and combustion emissions monitoring for industrial applications, has enhanced its flare stack monitoring thermal imaging solution with the inclusion of its IMAGEPro advanced image processing software. The goal, claims the company, is to deliver accurate and reliable monitoring of the flame and the pilot light at the flare stack.

AMETEK Land’s flare stack monitoring solution includes an infrared imager that produces high-resolution thermal images of the target, from any distance. This allows the camera to be positioned at a safe distance from the flame and makes it easily accessible for installation and maintenance, the company claims.

IMAGEPro software monitors, captures, and displays data from multiple thermal imaging cameras simultaneously and provides real-time

analysis and, says Ametek, exceptional functionality, ‘delivering state-of-the-art protection against unwanted emissions’. Detailed visualisation of the thermal data and the ability to set alarms enables the system to warn if action needs to be taken.

David Primhak, director of development and product management, said he was delighted to bring to the market this latest innovation in flare stack monitoring. “IMAGEPro offers specific application functionality for exceptional process control. Combined with our highly accurate infrared thermal imaging systems, it ensures that plants can meet flare stack emissions requirements in a safe and efficient operation. It will have wide-reaching benefits for the industry, specifically for chemical, petrochemical, and steel industries, providing more relevant application-specific data to enhance safety and operational efficiency of the flare stack.”

In addition to producing a visual image, Ametek Land’s imager also detects the infrared radiation emitted from the flame. This means the camera sees the flame, whether it is coloured or clear, regardless of the weather.

With a wide detection range from 100 °C to 1000 °C (212 °F to 1832 °F), even if the gas composition changes and affects the temperature of the flame, the imager continues to supply an accurate measurement. The range is also high enough to ensure that background heat is ignored, plus it operates in ambient temperatures from -20 °C to 60 °C (-4 °F to 140 °F), making it suitable for installation in most locations.

The ability to select multiple regions of interest ensures that measurements continue to be made even when the flame is moved by wind conditions. According to Ametek, by delivering accurate and reliable monitoring, the solution helps ensure that plants can meet flare stack emissions requirements in a safe and efficient operation.

For further information, log on to www.ametek-land.com

Leybold extends VARODRY platform Leybold, part of Atlas Copco, which offers a broad range of advanced vacuum solutions for use in manufacturing, has extended its VARODRY dry screw pump with the introduction of a ‘heavy duty’ and oxygen VD HD/O2 version.

The original VARODRY dry screw pump was developed and launched in 2018 specifically for ‘demanding industrial applications’.

The VD HD/O2 offers a stainless steel exhaust and integrated purge module which, Leybold claims, makes it ideal for rough coating, drying and regeneration applications where extra robustness is required and the exhaust gases are usually discharged via piping.

The new variant VARODRY is available in pumping speed sizes 65, 100, 160 and 200 m3/h.

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According to Leybold, the VARODRY is completely oil-free when compared to other screw vacuum pumps on the market. There is no oil migration, the company claims, from the gear chamber into the vacuum chamber or into products or processes. This, it is claimed, prevents

potential reactions of the lubricant with process media as well as back diffusion towards the process chamber.

The new VARODRY also tolerates 100% oxygen, proven by intensive and sustained testing by a notified body.

Leybold claims that VARODRY scores with reliable performance and low operating costs over its entire service life. According to the company, the renouncement of complex oil changes makes it the ideal pump for industrial vacuum processes, even when using 100% oxygen or other demanding applications. “Handling this vacuum pump is uncomplicated for its users and offers many advantages,” says Leybold.

For further information, log on to www.leybold.com January/February 2021

21/01/2021 14:58:01

20

INNOVATIONS

Kocks hard at work in China

For further information, log on to www.kocks.de

Kocks has been hard at work in China supplying steelmakers with reducing and sizing blocks (RSBs) and other related steel production technologies.

Chinese special steel producer Henan Jiyuan Iron & Steel has successfully commissioned its new special bar quality (SBQ) rolling mill with a reducing and sizing block 300++/4 in 5.0 design. It is the second RSB installed by the company, the first being in 2008. The equipment is designed for thermo-mechanical rolling and finishes most flexible all straight bars ranging in size from 12mm to 42mm.

Hunan Valin Xiangtan Iron & Steel has started up its new SBQ mill number 3. The core equipment is a 3-roll RSB, also in 5.0 design. According to Kocks, Henan’s RSB 5.0 is designed for thermo-mechanical rolling and will finish most flexible all straight bar sizes ranging from 16mm January/February 2021

innovations – read MM....indd 3

to 100mm onto the cooling bed.

In addition to Hunan’s RSB 5.0, the roll shop for the preparation of the 3-roll stands and 3-roller guides, plus supervision services, were also Kocks’ responsibility. Hunan’s first 3-roll RSB was installed in 2005.

Guangdong Shaoguan Iron & Steel has commissioned a new combined wire rod and BIC line, which includes Kocks’ 3-roll technology. The line incorporates a RSB 300++/4 in 5.0 design that operates as a finishing unit for the production of BIC within a dimensional range from 15mm to 50mm, and supplies as pre-finisher all feeders for the wire rod line.

According to Kocks, a remote control system means that size changes can apply within a billet gap and stand changes can be done in five minutes, thanks to an advanced stand quick-change design. www.steeltimesint.com

21/01/2021 14:58:25

INNOVATIONS

21

Intelligent qualification for stainless steel Acciai Speciali Terni, an integrated cycle stainless steel manufacturer, has entrusted Fives, an industrial engineering group, with a quality qualification project for its flat production facility in Terni, Italy. According to Fives, the project is an essential part of the digital technology improvement plan, prioritized by AS Terni.

Fives, a French industrial engineering group with a heritage of over 200 years, has proposed a digital solution in the shape of Eyeron, a real-time quality qualification system that automatically captures and analyses data from different steel processes to give operators a clear view of product quality.

Eyeron brings together data from the laboratory, steelmaking, surface inspection, production orders and quality claims and replaces the need for separate software tools, and tracks any quality issues. It automatically controls the quality of each coil in real time, recommends coil reassignment based on the end-customer quality target, and predicts the occurrence of surface defects according to specific process conditions on upstream lines.

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Antonio Iaia, innovation manager at Acciai Speciali Terni, said that the company opted for Eyeron because of its fully automatic features of product qualification and its ability to adapt to AST’s complex operational needs. He said that the company appreciated its flexibility and the advantages offered by interconnecting the steelmaker’s databases into a single platform.

“Eyeron will allow us to extract useful information from an automatic visual inspection system to control more precisely product and process quality and take thoughtful decisions. It will help us to reduce considerably downgraded and scrap coils and decrease a time-consuming process to track production quality issues,” Iaia said.

In 2018, Eyeron was successfully installed in the steel shop, the hot rolling mill and the plate rolling shop N2 of Severstal, a leading Russian steelmaker. It also received an award in 2019 – for being a breakthrough digital solution – at the French-Russian Forum, ‘Industry of the Future’.

For further information, log on to www.fivesgroup.com

January/February 2021

21/01/2021 14:58:30

22

INNOVATIONS

Three new cranes for British Steel

January/February 2021

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www.steeltimesint.com

21/01/2021 14:59:06

INNOVATIONS

Kocks Ardelt Kranbau of Eberswalde, Germany, will deliver three new rail-mounted cranes to British Steel that will operate at the Immingham Bulk Terminal (IBT) in the UK. The order was confirmed following the successful takeover of the steel manufacturer by the Chinese Jingye Group.

Jingye Group has a significant investment and growth plan for British Steel and the three new cranes will replace two existing unloaders operating at IBT since the 1970s.

The Ardelt Tukan K 3000s cranes have a capacity of 50 tonnes in grabbing mode and an operating radius designed for Capesize vessels.

The material imported at IBT – iron ore fines and lump material, iron ore pellets and coal – will be handled with a mix of grabs from 13 to 33 cubic metres, with peak handling rates of up to 2,000

tonnes/hr for each crane.

The cranes’ double jib system and integrated hopper, ensures the shortest possible cycle times, while giving added flexibility by being able to slew, which is a huge advantage during vessel cleaning, grab changes and maintenance, claims Ardelt.

The cranes were selected for the best overall return on investment, factoring in design, performance, maintenance and redundancy. The double jib design was invented by Ardelt and is constantly advanced as part of a continual improvement programme. The current cranes are classified for dry bulk handling in the highest possible category.

The performance of the three cranes will ensure quicker vessel turn-arounds, than was possible with the two existing unloaders.

23

Crane maintenance was a significant driver in the selection process; they offer all-electric drive, no on-board hydraulics and maintenance intervals of between 800 – 1,000 hours. Maintaining the cranes is simple and requires minimal labour; the crane’s rope system is designed to give the customer extended lifetime and considerably lower running costs. Dig depth optimisation, a system designed by Ardelt engineers, ensures continuous peak performance and eliminates inefficiencies during the duty cycle.

The cranes will be assembled in Germany and delivered to IBT fully assembled at the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022.

For further information, log on to www.kocksardelt.de

Konecranes updates Liftace range Konecranes’ Liftace 4532 TCE5 has similar features and the same high-level performance as the old Liftace reach stackers, but offers a fresh design and the latest technology, according to the company.

“Customers will get the same quality, standard and benefits they are used to, with some extra perks added. It’s a standardized offer with full performance and a fast lead time,” says Johan Bjerstedt, global sales manager for Konecranes Liftace products.

The Liftace 4532 TCE5 is equipped with an OPwww.steeltimesint.com

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TIMA cabin for outstanding comfort and visibility and a premium driving experience. According to Konecranes, high-quality core components, such as a strong box-type chassis and a wide drive axle with a long wheelbase, provide high stability, safe handling and long-lasting performance. Smart systems integrate with Konecranes’ TRUCONNECT remote monitoring system, allowing a near real-time view of truck usage and the progress of KPIs as well as easier planning of preventive maintenance.

“Every enhancement that we make to a Kone-

cranes lift truck is based on customer feedback,” says Patrik Lundbäck, director and head of sales and distribution at Konecranes Lift Trucks. “Our customers love the Konecranes Liftace reach stackers, and with these upgrades we are improving their safety, productivity and cost effectiveness. This strong, compact and reliable machine is there to meet all our customers’ needs.”

For further information, log on to www.konecranes.com January/February 2021

21/01/2021 14:59:08

24

INNOVATIONS

New coke making technology for Taiwan Taiwan’s largest steel company, China Steel Corporation (CSC), has chosen Luxembourg-based Paul Wurth to supply state-of-the-art coke making technology for a new coke oven complex to be built at CSC’s Kaohsiung steel mill.

Paul Wurth’s scope will comprise two batteries, two sets of coke oven machines and the upstream portion of a new coke oven gas treatment plant. For these plant units, the contract, which was officially signed on 24 November last year, includes engineering, supply of key equipment as well as supervision services to erection, commissioning and performance guarantee tests.

The two top-charged Paul Wurth Jumbo oven

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batteries (No. 9 & 10), featuring 74 ovens per battery with an oven chamber dimension of 7.6m height, 0.55m average width and 20m length, are equipped with an under jet, air staging heating system combined with waste gas recirculation. The batteries are designed to reach a total annual production of 2.095Mt of coke, while the gas treatment plant is designed to treat a coke oven gas flow of 130,000 Nm3/h.

With a special focus on environmental protection and automation, Paul Wurth will equip the new batteries with products developed in-house such as the SOPRECO® system (Single Oven PREssure Control), the Smokeless Charging

System for emission control, the highly automatic system for coke oven machines, and the CokeXpert™ level-2 automation system. Paul Wurth claims that its state-of-the-art features will enable the customer to meet the highest standards in terms of coke productivity and quality, emission control, energy consumption, user friendliness and plant safety.

The start-up of the new coke oven plant is expected to be in 2024 for battery No. 9 and 2025 for battery No. 10.

For further information, log on to www.paulwurth.com

21/01/2021 14:59:23

INNOVATIONS

25

Nucor improves plant safety with Powerfleet Powerfleet Inc, a leading global provider of subscription-based wireless IoT and M2M solutions for securing, controlling, tracking, and managing high-value enterprise assets such as material handling equipment, tractor trailers, containers, cargo, automobiles, and light and heavy duty truck fleets, has announced that it has been selected by Nucor Tubular Products (NTP) to improve safety, compliance, and utilization by using PowerFleet's telematics solutions.

NTP has employed PowerFleet to enhance the safety of all warehousing operations at its facilities. After a rigorous pilot programme, Nucor Tubular Products has chosen to deploy the PowerFleet Enterprise telematics solution across all lift-truck equipment and instrument cranes at a second location in Q4 2020 and the remaining six of its tubular products facilities during the first half of 2021.

According to Powerfleet, it sets the industry safety standard through its telematic solutions, which, it is claimed, improve material handling productivity, reduce costs, and ensure equipment is in the proper place at the right time. Its products are also claimed to provide improved safety while maintaining strict compliance and reducing slowdown friction lost in manual check-ins.

NTP will also deploy PowerFleet Forewarner MAXI Crane Safety lights and CP4 Forklift Camera solutions to increase visibility, safety and guarantee accurate records of equipment use in real-time.

“Steel manufacturing by nature has incredibly unique and extensive requirements to ensure that we have enhanced safety protocols and procedures available for our team. After assessing solutions on the market, Nucor Tubular Products has made the decision to partner with PowerFleet,” explains Nathan Fraser, Nucor vice president and general manager. “To help meet our mission of becoming the world’s safest steel company, we’ve brought on a technology partner

at the edge of innovation and performance to further ensure the safety of all our Nucor Tubular Products teammates.

According to Powerfleet’s general manager Mark Stanton, the company is excited to continue expanding its work with NPT and is keen to ensure the highest level of safety across their facilities. “At the core of all PowerFleet solutions is

the foundational goal to drive stronger, safer and more efficient practices. Extending our work with Nucor Tubular Products is an exciting milestone in continuing to champion these ideals”, he said.

For further information, log on to www.powerfleet.com

Rigaku showcases its KT 100 series Rigaku Analytical Devices, a leading player in the handheld laser-based technology market, showcased its handheld KT 100 Series of metal alloy analyzers at the virtual American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) 2020 Annual Conference, held 9-12 November last year.

The Rigaku KT-100 Series is claimed to provide on-the-spot identification of a variety of alloy grades. The KT-100 Basic analyzer is described by the company as ‘a new, cost-effective solution for accurate alloy identification for quality assurance of alloy groups, such as stainless steels, low alloy steels, nick alloys, and cobalt alloys’. While the award-winning KT-100S spectrometer provides analysis of these same alloy groups, with the addwww.steeltimesint.com

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ed capabilities to identify aluminium, titanium, and copper alloys, the KT Series offers unique auto surface preparation with its Drill-Down™ feature and is smaller and lighter than other handheld LIBS analyzers on the market. Another major user benefit is that, because the KT-100 Series utilizes a laser excitation source, there are minimal to no regulatory licensing requirements.

According to Rigaku, the KT-100 portfolio is designed to provide the ideal analytical tools for use in fabrication shops, plant environments and scrap metal yards. They are MIL-STD 810G droptest certified and have an IP-54 dust protection rating. Manufacturers now have the ability to provide on-site certification of verification of

outgoing material, as well as confirm or re-establish the chain of custody of incorrectly labelled components.

For further information, log on to www.rigaku.com/KT January/February 2021

21/01/2021 14:59:35

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INNOVATIONS

Fall restraint system installed at Port Talbot Rope and Sling Specialists Ltd. (RSS) has designed, fabricated and installed four bespoke fall restraint systems at Tata Steel, Port Talbot.

The solution consists of eight bespoke fall restraint posts, designed and fabricated by Gemmak Engineering, part of the RSS Group, and four MSA Latchways fall protection systems that, in combination with full body harnesses and lanyards, allow safe access to a railway track located near an open pit.

A torpedo car is employed on a railroad to transport molten metal from the BOS (basic oxygen steelmaking) plant and take it around the facility as part of the primary steelmaking process. The end user is required to perform planned inspection and maintenance on a rail that involves working at ground level, located next to an open pit where there is a risk of falling.

The systems are either 12m or 14m in length, fixed to 1.3m-high posts and fixed together using M16 bolts, nuts and washers. Atop the posts are MSA Latchways heavy-duty D-rings, while all floor fixings are M16 x 200mm Hilti resin anchor rods. The rope, which spans varying gaps between the two posts in each system, is marine-grade stainless steel, 316 8mm, in 7x7 construction. All structural steel work complies with BS EN 1090 (marking for structural steel and aluminium fabricators) execution class II and applicable working at height regulations.

Matthew Rogers, engineering services director

at RSS, commented: “End users arrive at the system already wearing a full-body harness with set-length lanyards that they connect onto the line using the provided PPE (personal protective equipment). The length of the lanyard means that they can carry out their periodic inspection work in complete restraint, removing the original fall risk. The whole solution was fabricated, using the latest design, cutting and welding technology.”

This was RSS’s first installation since being named an MSA Latchways approved installer.

Rogers explained that the project timeline, including manufacture, spanned 10 days from the receipt of the order to installation and commissioning on-site. RSS had to add extensions to certain posts in order for the systems to accommodate obstacles in the facility.

The application served as another example of the company’s expanded engineering capability, having fully integrated the Gemmak Engineering business, located near to de facto headquarters in South Wales, that was acquired 18 months ago. The facility, also located on the Village Farm Road Industrial Estate, will be the company’s eighth in the UK upon opening of its latest lifting and rigging depot next year.

Tenova, an Italian plant builder, part of the Techint Group, and a specialist in innovative solutions for the metals and mining industries, has announced that its TSX SmartBurner for reheating furnaces is ready to install. The equipment, it is claimed, marks a new milestone in the decarbonisation of steel production and offers the potential for zero carbon dioxide emissions, working across a full range of hydrogen and nature gas mixtures.

According to the company, it’s the first flameless burner of a megawatts family that has been successfully tested with 100% hydrogen’.

In keeping with Tenova’s experience of developing cutting-edge combustion technology the new TSX SmartBurner releases less than 80 mg/Nm3 at 5% of oxygen with the furnace running at 1250 C. The system also works with 100% hydrogen and can maintain an optimal heat transfer uniformity within the furnace. Burner control logic

For further information, log on to www.rssgroup.co.uk

The end user is required to perform planned inspection and maintenance on a rail that involves working at ground level, located next to an open pit with a risk of a fall.

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INNOVATIONS

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Tenova’s TSX SmartBurner for reheating furnaces is ready to install regulates the quantity of hydrogen used, allowing steelmakers to adapt the fuel mixture to meet their needs without mechanical intervention.

The TSX SmartBurner is fitted with a Smart Burner Monitoring System (SBMS) which monitors and optimizes performance, operation and maintenance using a network of embedded sensors connected to Tenova’s digital infrastructure using secure connection protocols and intrinsic system reliability.

Collected data is post-processed locally on an edge computing unit and remotely on the Tenova

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Cloud; the data enables the monitoring of burner status and introduces ‘breakthrough approaches’ to inspection, maintenance and tuning, reducing safety risks to on-site operations.

Antonio Catalano, Tenova EVP and head of digital transformation, said that the achievement paves the way to a significant reduction of the carbon footprint of hot rolling processes. It doesn’t compromise productivity, he said, and it gives steel producers total flexibility to modify the percentage of hydrogen used through a simple change in the control software settings. “This

is not the only reason why we call our burners ‘smart’: thanks to our sensor system technology, we will be able to support our customers remotely to guarantee optimal performances for each burner,” he explained, adding that the SmartBurner’s Industrial IoT platform represents ‘the cornerstone of the next generation of industrial combustion systems’.

For further information, log on to www.tenova.com

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INNOVATIONS

Tebulo’s remote access game changer Due to import duties, transport costs and higher labour costs, in recent years robots from Europe have become less and less competitive in countries such as China. For Tebulo Industrial Robotics it became more and more difficult to compete with local companies abroad, so, the company decided to utilise remote access during system commissioning. In recent years they have gained a wealth of experience with this methodology.

Now, in the COVID-19 period, remote access for Tebulo Industrial Robotics turned out to be the game changer.

Rob Beentjes, general director at Tebulo Industrial Robotics, explains the new approach: “The engineering of all parts of our robot cells for the Chinese market is still carried out in the Netherlands. Subsequently, the drawings package, excluding the drawings of the intelligent parts, will be transferred to Tebulo’s Chinese distributor,

who acquires and manufactures the various components on location: This includes components such as control cabinets, the steel frame and the standard ABB robot. During the construction of the different parts of the robot cell in China, the project is handled directly by the Dutch Tebulo organisation. The robot’s intelligent parts, such as the nozzle with the robot tools and the software, are fully manufactured and tested in the Netherlands and then transported to China with the necessary cables and hoses for on-site assembly.

Subsequently, the Chinese distributor and his team assemble the robot cells in their own test and assembly hall.”

Upon purchase, the system is then transported to the customer. Together with Tebulo’s Dutch colleagues, who are monitoring the software by remote access while watching ‘live’ images, the Chinese distributor brings the robots into

operation. It is worth mentioning that Tebulo in the Netherlands has extensively trained the Chinese distributor’s team. Moreover, Tebulo’s Dutch colleagues, well before the COVID-19 crisis, visited China to provide instructions on location. It is a Covid-proof approach which has yielded a substantial improvement in efficiency, considerable time savings, and a lower total cost of ownership. The proven concept is now further being developed for the European market. “We do this in order to achieve independence, despite travel restrictions, and to optimally serve our clients, even during Covid times. The first projects in Switzerland and Germany have already been successfully completed during the lockdown period,” said Beentjes.

For further information, log on to www.tebulorobotics.com

Echomac Ultrasonic NDT systems for ERW mills Magnetic Analysis Corp of the USA is offering a selection of Echomac Ultrasonic NDT systems for producers of ERW tube, ranging from the latest robotic and cantilevered phased array designs, to conventional cantilever UT systems.

A US-based tube mill has ordered one of MAC’s Echomac PA TW robotic phased array systems to detect weld zone defects in tube and pipe. It uses a single phased array transducer to sequentially monitor scarf, evaluate laminar defects, or detect longitudinal OD/ID defects, all without the need for mechanical movement or January/February 2021

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operator adjustment to realign the system with weld location.

Innstallation can be online in the hot zone for profile and flaw detection or in a lower temperature area for flaw detection after forming and shaping. B-scan and C-scan views of the quality of the weld and seam-trim tool alert the operator to issues within the scarfing process.

No averaging or AGC is used for processing the data and the robot’s small footprint allows the customer to select the exact part of the process to be monitored.

An Echomac phased array ultrasonic system installed in an ERW mill in Greece, is testing OCTG oil and gas pipe, ranging from 50mm to 190mm with 12 different wall thicknesses. The test head is supported by a cantilevered beam.

It is installed in the welding hot zone and inspects for flaws and weld profile variances.

For further information, log on to www.mac-ndt.com www.steeltimesint.com

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INNOVATIONS

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VELCO celebrates 50 years For 50 years VELCO GmbH/Germany has been building a solid reputation as a reliable partner of the foundry, steel and refractory industries.

The company was established in 1971 by Kurt Wolf, father of today’s owner Christian Wolf, in the city of Velbert, located at the border of the Ruhr industrial area. Velbert was once an important centre of the foundry industry. Velco’s first Rotomat rotor gunning machine was launched in this year and is still manufactured there today. There are almost 1,300 in use around the world. The Rotomat is small and flexible and can be used for many types of repair in the steel, cement and construction industries.

Over the decades VELCO improved and broadened its machine, respecting industry’s demand for cost savings, improved efficiencies and rising safety. Besides the rotor gunning machine, VELCO’s delivery programme now comprises pressure vessel gunning machines and gunning robots for the refractory repair of the different aggregates.

These installations allow the automatic repair of furnaces and other aggregates in hot conditions, saving costs for re-heating, refractory material and manpower and improving worker safety.

Based on its know-how of this machinery and its use in steel plants, VELCO has built up a second business line: the pneumatic transport of dry bulk materials. In steel plants this is mainly the injection of carbon or lime for slag foaming in the EAF. Other areas are secondary metallurgy or the injection into the blast furnace. Project highlights are a pneumatic transport line of 1000m distance and approvals for different ATEX zones.

The lowest achieved feed rate for an application was 20g/h and the highest was up to 500kg/min. As environmental demands became more important, VELCO used its know-how to develop equipment for the pneumatic transport of filter dusts and other residues for injection into furnaces. Customers are able to concentrate the Zn share in the filter dusts and to reduce the total amount of their dust. As a consequence, the costs for dust deposit are also reduced.

VELCO has been headquartered in Velbert for over half a century and developments are continuing in terms of improving dry gunning in respect of quality and dust creation as well as implementing industry 4.0 technologies on to its machinery. A remote access module which allows for worldwide connection using only a smartphone is available for all machines and can access data such as operation hours, flow rates, water pressure, operational conditions, fault messages and even the location For further information, log on to www.velco.de of the machine.

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INNOVATIONS

COVID-19 forces a strategic rethink German plant builder SMS group has been keeping very busy with new equipment being commissioned in steel mills around the world.

In addition, the business has focused on its corporate structure and has been reaffirming its strategy and long-term goals in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic as plant construction has been severely impacted as witnessed by reduced forecasts and order volumes.

SMS group is lowering its outlook for the coming years as it expects its order intake to be around one third lower than originally planned.

That said, it is reaffirming its growth strategy and realignment towards areas of future growth.

While plant construction has taken a hit, SMS group’s service and digitisation business is proving to be much more stable and will continue to grow as big data technologies and new business models allow customers to turn capital expenditure into operational spending.

SMS group is pressing ahead with establishing leadership in the decarbonisation of industry and is concentrating heavily on the use of hydrogen for CO2-free steelmaking as well as priority projects in the fields of battery recycling and electronic scrap.

As well as establishing new technologies in the metals industry, such as 3D metal printing and the recovery of precious metals from electronic scrap, SMS group is using its expertise in other industries. Examples include generating environmentally friendly synthesis gases from sewage sludge, which have numerous uses including fuel and energy production. Through this ‘New Horizon’ strategy, the company claims it is diversifying its product portfolio outside of its core business. A recent example is the commissioning of a high-bay storage system for shipping containers in Dubai, which offers three times the capacity of a typical container storage facility

on the same area, boasts a far higher handling speed, improved worker safety and a carbon-neutral footprint.

SMS group plans to continue supplementing its organic growth with acquisitions of suitable start-ups or established specialists and when it comes to the realignment of its corporate structure, the key components are a cross-divisional and international focus on customer projects.

In contrast to the present structure, six regions will assume project responsibility for sales and execution. In place of the current business units, Centres of Excellence (CoEs) will be created to deliver their services and technologies to the projects. Global Support Functions will serve the entire organization, which will be implemented worldwide from spring 2021.

For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com

Duferco to build ultra-modern rolling mill Italian steelmaker Duferco Steel, based in Brescia, Italy, has commissioned the SMS group to supply a medium section mill powered exclusively by renewable energy. According to SMS, this flagship project will focus on the core components of digitalisation and automation in production and logistics as well as sustainability. The mill itself is being described as a ‘new, ultra-modern rolling mill’ that will make Duferco one of the most important centres of steel beam production in Europe.

SMS group further claims that once operational, the new mill will have an annual output of 1.5Mt of long products. Antonio Gozzi, presJanuary/February 2021

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ident of Duferco, commented: “Our main goals are to set new standards in customer service, maximise the overall process efficiency and become the best-cost producer in Europe. We are committed to making beam production more sustainable, meeting the highest standards in environmental protection and safety,” he said.

SMS is going to supply the complete new medium section mill, including electrics and automation systems up to Level 2. Furthermore, a SMS DataFactory will also be implemented, combining the information from the product tracking system with all available data in the plant from the sensor level up to higher-level

automation systems. In this way, it is claimed, a product genealogy will be created, which is the basis for digitalising the complete production process and will be setting new benchmarks in digitalisation. Because of a Power Purchase Agreement signed by Duferco, the entire power supply and the new rolling mill will be covered by renewable energy. Commissioning is planned for the end of 2022.

For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com www.steeltimesint.com

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News from SMS group • 15 September 2020: On 6 August last year Belarus steelmaker Miory Steel produced its first coil using a new reversing cold rolling mill supplied by SMS group. The RCM, which is located in Miory, north of Belarus, is part of a completely new, integrated and expandable production complex manufacturing tinplate.

• 29 October 2020: Jiangyin Xingcheng Special Steel Works Company ordered a jumbo continuous caster to produce 1,200mm round blooms. The mill is located in Jiangsu Province.

• 3 November 2020: Russian steelmaker TMK awarded SMS group with a Final Acceptance Certificate for a heat treatment line for tubes and pipes at its Seversky Pipe Plant. According to SMS, the line is one of the world’s most productive facilities with an annual capacity of 300kt of pipes with diameters ranging between 168mm and 370mm.

• 4 November 2020: One of the world’s largest continuous slab casters as well as heating and heat treatment facilities are being developed by SMS group for Nucor Corporation’s new plant in Brandenburg, Kentucky, USA. The caster will produce slabs with thicknesses of between 200mm and 305mm.

• 10 November 2020: HBIS Laoting Iron & Steel Company has started production on a new high-performance hot strip mill supplied by SMS group. The mill has an annual capacity of 4.1Mt and produces hot coils with widths of up to 1,900mm and final thicknesses ranging between 1.2mm and 25.4mm.

• 7 December 2020: SMS announces that Big River Steel of Osceola, Arkansas, USA, has commissioned the second construction stage of the plant, doubling the mill’s annual production capacity to approximately 3Mt of steel.

• 16 December 2020: Lamina y Placa Comercial SA de CV, part of the Villacero Group has completed the hot commissioning of a revamped galvanizing line in Apodaca, Mexico. The line upgrade was undertaken by SMS group.

• 21 December 2020: Anhui Anhuang Machinery orders a fully automatic piston forging line, which is China’s first fully automatic forging line for flash-free forged pistons for cars and trucks.

For further information, log on to www.sms-group.com

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INNOVATIONS

Primetals upgrade boosts production capacity Following a major upgrade, Acciaieria Arvedi’s endless strip production line in Cremona, Italy, was restarted. The modernisation was performed

by Primetals Technologies and has resulted in an increase of mass flow and, consequently, production capacity.

According to Primetals, the upgrade is the first step to raise the overall production capacity of the ESP line to 3Mt (metric tons) per year. The measures undertaken will also improve product quality.

All modernization work was carried out during

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planned shutdowns in December 2019 and August 2020, with the ESP line starting up three days ahead of schedule. In the first month of operation after re-starting, production exceeded previous levels.

The first pioneering ESP line at Acciaieria Arvedi has been operating for 10 years. The company has gained extensive experience of how to improve quality and increase productivity and charged Primetals Technologies with the task of designing, supplying and executing the upgrade.

In terms of upgrading, the metallurgical length

of the line´s caster was elongated to 21.8m by adding two caster segments; provisions for an additional segment 13 were also made, allowing an increase of casting thickness to 105 mm and resulting in a mass flow of 450 tons/hr, the highest for a thin slab casting plant worldwide.

The required space for the additional segments was obtained by moving the first high reduction mill stand R1 downstream of the original R3 to becoming the new R3 stand. The flexibility to increase the metallurgical length, as well as the option to later move the rolling stand R1 to the

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INNOVATIONS

R3 position, including foundations, was already foreseen in the original plant design of 2006. A special crane moves rolling stand R1 to its new position as R3.

The EAF of the ESP melt shop also received an upgrade and a ladle size increase. Accordingly, the ladle turret was replaced with a larger unit, including new software features. Improved automation models will give further support to serve a higher value added products market directly from the new line.

Acciaieria Arvedi’s ESP line at the Cremona

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production site is the first of its kind in the world, claims Primetals Technologies, and started up in 2009. With its older ISP line, Acciaieria Arvedi also operates Europe’s first and the world’s second minimill for the manufacture of flat rolled steel.

Both lines for the production of steel in the form of hot rolled coils are fitted with their own melt shop for the production of liquid steel.

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Primetals Technologies’ Steel Contracts • 19 November 2020: Primetals Technologies revamps electrics and automation systems at the Presidente Vargas Steelworks of Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The electrics and automation systems of a RH degassing plant, a ladle furnace and the common alloy system were replaced with new versions.

• 26 November 2020: Primetals Technologies completes the online commissioning of the new software for optimizing the Level 2 process automation for the CCM1 continuous caster at Outokumpu’s plant in Tornio, Finland. The remote commissioning used empirical values gained from commissioning the similar CCM2 continuous caster at the same location in December 2019.

• 3 December 2020: Turkish steelmaker Tosyali Demir Celik Sanayi places an order with Primetals Technologies to supply an EAF Quantum electric arc furnace, a twin vacuum-degassing plant with oxygen blowing and a two-strand slab caster for a flat steel greenfield project in Iskenderun, Turkey. The EAF Quantum is designed to handle metallic scrap and virgin materials such as HBI, pig iron in different composition and quality.

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• 3 December 2020: thyssenkrupp Hohenlimburg awards Primetals Technologies with an order to convert its existing cyclo-converter drive systems to medium-voltage drive systems on stands 7 and 9 of its medium-wide hot strip mill in Hohenlimburg, Germany.

The aims of the project are to replace the existing cycloconverter drive system and increase performance for future products.

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www.GRAPHALLOY.com www.steeltimesint.com

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INNOVATIONS

Steel contracts aplenty for Danieli Stainless steel long products producer Viraj Profiles, India, has been supplied with new guide equipment for the rolling of equal angles and flats at its mill in the Mumbai area.

Supplier Danieli, an Italian plant builder, says the scope of supply consisted of entry and exit guides for the intermediate and finishing mill.

The Danieli rolling guides team developed a new series of roller-type entry and exit guides which mean that Viraj Profiles can deliver scratchfree finished rolled stock.

Installation of the Danieli roller guides allow the stainless-steel producer to achieve a reduction of downtime and a consequent increase of

productivity as high as 25%, and also means the company can extend its product portfolio.

It is believed that the investment payback will be earlier than expected.

Danieli Service is now implementing a new cut-to-length area, fully equipped with an in-line straightener and cold shear.

New roller guides for Viraj Profiles

Severstal has awarded Danieli an order to supply a new rolling mill for special steels

Danieli Projects Undertaken • 16 December 2020: Commercial Metals Company (CMC) ultra-green micromill, CMC Steel Arizona, is about to be expanded with CMC’s third micromill. It will be the first in the world to produce merchant bar quality products using a continuous-continuous production process. Danieli’s contribution will be its famed Q-One technology that will enable CMC to have a direct connection between the EAF and Ladle furnace to renewable energy sources.

• 18 December 2020: It is announced that Russian steelmaker Severstal has awarded Danieli with an order for the supply of a new rolling mill for special steels. The new mill will be installed in Cherepovets and will produce 1Mt/yr of 5.5mm to 32mm diameter smooth wire rod and coiled bars for the engineering and automotive industries.

• 22 December 2020: It is announced that US minimill operator Commercial Metals Company (CMC) – a producer of long-product merchant sections and rebar – has taken on Danieli to design and supply new containers and spindle supports for its Seguin, Texas, bar mill, to replace GCC340 and GCC430 cartridges that have worked for over 30 years.

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• 23 December 2020: Danieli Centro Combustion announces the completion of an improvement project at Hoa Sen Dong Hoi’s plant in Nghe Non province of Vietnam. The objective was to enhance the performance of the plant’s galvanising line 2, in particular strip coating quality and operational costs.

• 8 January 2020: Since 18 December 2020, endless casting and rolling operations have been a reality at Nucor Steel Florida, thanks to Danieli and Nucor’s in-house teams. The plant, which is located in Frostproof, Florida, uses a new MIDA minimill with a rated capacity of 380kt/hr (short tons) and will produce rebar ranging from 9.5mm to 35.8mm in straight bars up to 60ft and spooled coils up to 5 tons.

For further information, log on to www.danieli.com

CMC Steel Arizona

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DIRECT REDUCED IRON

North Africa is at the forefront of the modern age of iron making.

Eleven direct reduction modules, with a total rated capacity of almost 14.7Mt, are either installed or under construction in Algeria, Egypt, and Libya.

By comparison, there are only two blast furnaces (one each in Algeria and Egypt), with a total installed capacity of 2Mt. DRI production in 2019 was 6.46Mt compared with approximately 0.75Mt of hot metal. By Guido Bonelli*

DIRECT reduction of iron – extracting metallic iron from iron ores without melting the material – is one of the first industrial processes developed by humans. Early iron makers were unable to achieve the high temperatures required to melt iron ores, so they heated them together with charcoal to produce a pasty, metallic substance which they could hammer into tools and other implements. Today, direct reduction is the fastest growing, most innovative and environmentally clean method to produce high quality metallic iron for steel production.

North African steel industry since WW2 Since the end of World War II, Egypt and Algeria have been the leading steelproducing countries in North Africa. The Egyptian Iron and Steel Company, founded in 1954, established the region’s first classically integrated steel mill based on the blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BF/ BOF). The philosophy at the time was state involvement for generating profitability in the social sense, while economic profitability was secondary. Since the 1990s, as the private sector was granted more access to the steel industry, there have been huge investments in new technologies with the aim of enhancing economic profitability.

As a result, direct reduced iron (DRI) production has taken over as the dominant iron making method and the electric arc furnace (EAF) in combination with a DRI

North Africa: Focus on Direct Reduction Ironmaking plant has become the preferred steelmaking route. Beginning with start-up of the first MIDREX® Module in El Dikheila, Egypt,

by Alexandria National Steel Company (ANSDK) in 1986, the ability to match steel production to market requirements with the EAF and the opportunity to derive added value from natural gas resources with DRI plants has stimulated growth and self-reliance in the North African steel industry. ANSDK went on to add two more MIDREX Modules in 1997 and 2000, which along with the associated steel mill are now owned and operated by Ezz Steel. The company also operates DRI/EAF facilities in Adabia and Ain Sokhna, Egypt, which include HYL/Energiron plants, bringing the total installed DRI capacity of Ezz Steel to 5.1Mt. Libyan Iron & Steel Company (LISCO)

began operating two MIDREX modules in 1989-90 to feed DRI to its new EAF melt shop in Misurata, Libya, and added a MIDREX HBI plant in 1997, to take advantage of the growing merchant metallics market. Although the DRI/EAF complex has been disrupted by restricted natural gas supply and civil war in recent years, LISCO increased DRI production in 2019 by more than 55% over 2017.

Algeria is the newcomer to DRI/EAF steelmaking in North Africa. Tosyali Algérie, which has been producing steel rebars in Bethioua (Oran), Algeria, since 2013, began commissioning the world’s largest simultaneous discharge (hot and cold product) DRI plant in July 2018, and commenced cold DRI (CDRI) operation in November of that year. The first hot DRI (HDRI) was transferred to the nearby melt

* Head of ironmaking technical sales, Paul Wurth Italia.

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DIRECT REDUCED IRON

shop in February 2019, and the 2.5Mt/yr MIDREX plant set the world record for daily DRI production in July 2019 – one year after start-up. A second 2.5Mt/yr simultaneous discharge MIDREX plant is nearing completion in Bellara, Algeria, for Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS), and is expected to start operation in the near future. Additional details of the two plants are included later in this article.

DRI/EAF steelmaking in North Africa There is no doubt that the technology of the blast furnace/basic oxygen (BF/BOF) route has improved steelmaking efficiency, productivity, and product quality compared to the open-hearth furnace. However, the direct reduced iron/electric arc furnace (DRI/EAF) route is a better option for North Africa and the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region. What makes the DRI/EAF combination attractive when compared to traditional BF/BOF steel production?

• Value-added use of associated natural gas • Capacity sized to market needs • More flexibility to deal with market conditions • Lower capital cost • Fewer emissions, less solid by-products • Less water required

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• Capable of meeting the most stringent steel specifications The abundance of natural gas and the low cost of electricity for industrial use are two of the main reasons for the dominance of DRI/EAF steel production in the MENA region. Algeria had the world’s third lowest natural gas price in 2018, as shown in Fig. 1, and Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are among the 10 lowest.

Egypt had the 26th lowest natural gas price in 2018.

The price of electricity for business in Algeria is $0.036/kWh and $0.073/kWh in Egypt (www.globalpetrolprices.com).

However, the reliance on imported iron oxide pellets is a source of concern for the region’s steel producers (iron oxide pellets typically make up 70-80% of DRI OPEX).

The development of a regional source, such as in Morocco and in Algeria (Gara Djebilet site), is under consideration.

Algeria – the rising star in DRI production Reasons Algeria is in ascendency: 1. Political stability to boost confidence of foreign investors 2. Availability of natural gas resources – weight of NG cost in a traditional DRI OPEX (Fig 2)

* Status Codes: Table 1. North African Iron Production (DRI vs. HM)

O – Operating. I – Idle. C– Under Contract or Construction

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Clean and Reliable Ironmaking Solutions for Steelmakers Around the World

Did you know the natural-gas based MIDREXÂŽ Direct Reduction Process paired with an EAF has one of the lowest CO2 emissions of any steelmaking route today?

The CO2 footprint can be further reduced by using green hydrogen as it becomes available on a sufficient scale utilizing MIDREX H2TM technology.

With MIDREX, the approach is flexible enough to provide a staged transition to the Hydrogen Economy.

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DIRECT REDUCED IRON

Fig 1. 30 Lowest World Natural Gas Prices $/MMBTU Source: IGU Wholesale Gas Price Survey, 2018 edition

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Fig 2. Estimated DRI Opex in Algeria

ALGERIAN QATARI STEEL (AQS) Main Features: • World’s largest combination

HDRI/CDRI plant • 7.65 metres diameter MIDREX MEGAMOD® furnace • 8 rows x 18 bays MIDREX Reformer AQS, a joint venture between Qatar Steel International; SIDER, an Algerian investment group; and the National Investment Fund of Algeria, contracted with Midrex and Paul Wurth to supply a 2.5Mt/yr direct reduction plant capable of producing cold DRI (CDRI) and hot DRI (HDRI). The MIDREX Plant is part of an integrated EAF-based steel mill in Bellara, Algeria, 375 kilometres east of Algiers. Construction of the DRI plant was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, and is expected to begin production in the near future.

TOSYALI ALGÉRIE Main Features: • World’s largest combination

HDRI/CDRI plant • 7.65 metres diameter MIDREX MEGAMOD® furnace • 8 rows x 18 bays MIDREX Reformer Tosyali Algérie, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Tosyali Holding, started production of steel rebar in Bethioua, near Oran, Algeria, in 2013, using scrap as feedstock.

It subsequently added 500kt/yr of wire rod production capacity, which was started up in 2015. The decision was made to add a direct reduction plant, which was commissioned in 2018 and began production in 2019. It is the world’s largest single module MIDREX Plant (2.5Mt/yr) in operation. www.steeltimesint.com

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A 4Mt/yr pellet plant was constructed to produce iron oxide pellets for use in the DRI plant and went into effect at the end of 2018. The pelletizing and DRI facilities will significantly contribute to the economy of Algeria by efficiently using the country’s subterranean mineral resources.

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DIRECT REDUCED IRON

Fig 3. Natural gas resources in Morocco.

Fig 4. European CO2 Emissions Allowances Prices.

Source: World Energy News, 2015

(Source : https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/CO2-emissionsrechte

• Algeria has the world’s thirdlowest wholesale NG price (only Venezuela and Turkmenistan are lower) • Strong governmental policies favouring the industrial sector • Competition with exporting natural gas at higher prices (revenues for the state) versus using it for national industry development • Long-term pricing policies for electrical energy for the industrial sector What’s next for DRI in North Africa?

ALGERIA If the Algerian Government keeps supporting local industry by selling natural gas at low prices, there is the real possibility of having new plants in Algeria for DRI/HBI production in the mid-term. The possibility of exploiting local iron ore deposits, such as Gara Djebilet in Tindouf Province would further reduce the OPEX for DRI production.

EGYPT The strongest, fastest growing economy in North Africa already has about 8Mt/yr of DRI capacity and many years of operating experience, both producing and using DRI. In recent years, production was increased from 30% to almost 60% of rated capacity.

However, the issue of natural gas shortages will need to be solved for full utilization of the existing DR plants and the possibility of new construction.

LIBYA With an abundance of natural resources, its economic future depends on stabilizing the political and social structure in the next years.

MOROCCO As one of the highest rated countries for January/February 2021

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Fig 5. HBI trade routes from North Africa to the EU

political stability in the region, it could have a future as a DRI producer thanks to new gas resources found in the southeast (Tendrara, with near-term potential up to 3-4 trillion cubic feet of gas Fig 3).

Opportunities • Abundant natural gas resources • Close to Mauritanian iron ore mines • Development of automotive industry (PSA, Renault, Fiat).

Challenges • Availability of natural gas for iron and steel industry • Economics of exporting natural gas to Europe versus internal use (pipelines in place).

Opportunity arising from EU CO2 reduction guidelines A major challenge for all industries worldwide is how to comply with more stringent environmental emissions standards. The Paris Agreement, which entered into force on 4 November 2016, has a goal to increase the global response to the ‘threat of climate change by keeping

a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels’ [1]. Reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by the industrial sector is widely recognized as a key to achieving these targets, especially in the iron and steel industry, which is among the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions.

Iron and steelmaking accounts for almost 7% of mankind’s entire carbon footprint [2] . Ironmaking alone constitutes 80-85% of iron and steel’s total CO2 output. Integrated mills are the largest producers of CO2 by both volume and percentage.

Mitigating CO2 emissions is becoming critical, especially in Western Europe, as the cost continues to increase. For example, emission allowance prices quadrupled in 2018 (see Fig 4). The general consensus is that emissions restrictions will get tighter globally and this will severely affect the sustainability of many industries, particularly traditional integrated steelmakers because of their reliance on refined coal (coke) as both an energy source and a reductant to produce high carbon (~4.5%) metallic iron from iron ore.

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DIRECT REDUCED IRON

on the traditional integrated route (BF/ BOF). Based on the world steel industry’s coal consumption, it is estimated that BF iron making (including the processing step to make the coke from metallurgical coal) generates approximately 1.8 tons of CO2 for every ton of iron produced. As no proven carbon capture system exists for blast furnaces, the best way for integrated steelmakers to reduce CO2 emissions is simply by not creating the emissions in the first place.

Shuttering a certain percentage of BF capacity will no doubt be necessary in the next few decades, but economics will prevent simply replacing BF/BOF works with DRI/EAF mills. A practical way to keep efficient BFs operating is needed. The solution would still involve the benefits of DRI, but from an operational standpoint rather than as an outright replacement of BF capacity.

European Union (EU) steelmakers have started to make plans for a gradual shift over the next 20 years to EAFs, but there is serious concern about scrap availability. Steel produced with end-of-life (obsolete) scrap in an EAF has the lowest CO2 emissions; however, a plateauing of steel stocks in mature economies coupled with a strong demand growth for steel in developing economies means that scrap supplies are sufficient for only approximately a 22% share of metallic input for global steel production. Scrap supplies are forecasted to grow but the availability of obsolete scrap lags steel demand by 1050 years following production, depending on the application[3] A long-term solution is to produce DRI with hydrogen to supplement scrap supplies. However, a near-to-mid-term

solution is available now – merchant HBI produced in North Africa for use in the BFs and EAFs of the EU (Fig 5).

Paul Wurth and Midrex – a powerful relationship Midrex has a long and successful history of partnering with leading international companies to develop, finance, and construct DRI plants based on the MIDREX Process. These companies are acknowledged leaders in their fields – from design and engineering of iron and steelmaking equipment to development and management of full turnkey iron and steel plant projects. Midrex partners are highly regarded for their technical expertise, adherence to project schedules, and exceptional performance.

Tosyali Algérie and Algerian Qatari Steel, the two largest and most recent MIDREX Plants were supplied by the consortium of Paul Wurth and Midrex. Paul Wurth, headquartered in Luxembourg since its creation in 1870, has developed over the course of its history into an international engineering company. Its considerable know-how and effective policy of innovation has made the Paul Wurth Group one of the world leaders in the design and supply of the full-range of technological solutions for the primary stage of integrated steelmaking (Fig 6). Paul Wurth has been a member of the SMS group since December 2012 and a Midrex Construction Licensee since 2014.

The Paul Wurth scope of supply for the two Algerian projects included engineering (basic for civil and buildings; detail for piping, structural steel, and electrical), equipment and materials supply, and local services.

Summary North Africa is emerging as a focal point of direct reduction-based iron making. Algeria and Egypt are transitioning from the blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BF/BOF) steel production route to take advantage of the economy of scale of EAF-based steelmaking and the operating cost advantages of producing and using DRI. Algeria is a rising star in the world of DRI production, with the two largest MIDREX Plants in the world located in the steelworks of Tosyali Algérie and Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS) in Bethioua (Oran) and Bellara, respectively.

The potential exists for Morocco to emerge as a significant player due to its natural gas resources, proximity to iron ore mines in Mauritania, and political stability.

The guidelines for CO2 reduction in the European Union (EU) could have a positive effect on North African DRI production, as the use of HBI in the blast furnace presents an immediate-to-medium term solution for EU steelmakers. Libya already exports HBI to Europe, and producers in Algeria and Egypt could follow suit. The partnership of Paul Wurth and Midrex has the local experience and proven track record to continue assisting North Africa in its emergence as a direct reduction iron making region. �

References 1. United Nations Climate Change website (https://unfccc.int/) 2. ArcelorMittal Climate Action Report 1 2018, page 10.

3. Robert L. Hunter, “Massive Savings in CO2 Generation By Use of HBI,” Direct From Midrex, Midrex Technologies, Inc., Charlotte, NC, 3-4Q 2009, pp 9-11.

Fig 6. Paul Wurth technological solutions for primary steelmaking

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W E

C O N V E Y

Q U A L I T Y

Efficient Conveying Technology

Value in Use considering Productivity, Environment and Resource Efficiency.

Raw material assessment for the DR-EAF route

Hot Charging of DRI, HCI • Enclosed nitrogen sealed and heat insulated conveying system • No metallisation losses • Significant energy savings

• Value in use considering productivity, environment and resource efficiency • Scrap chemical analysis and uncertainty • Benchmarking recipe cost against theoretical optimum

• Reduced tap to tap cycles • Reduced electrode consumption

Making Steel Production Faster

Contact rutger.gyllenram@kobolde.com / www.kobolde.com

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GREEN STEELMAKING

Decarbonising the steelmaking industry Currently there are various ways of approaching the decarbonisation of the steelmaking industry. The main trend is the progressive conversion of BF-BOF steelmaking facilities to direct reduction-electric arc furnace (DRI-EAF). The reduction of CO2 emissions can be further enhanced by the partial or total use of hydrogen (H2) for DRI production. There is, however, an alternative approach which allows the integrated mill operator to optimise investment costs by keeping its downstream facilities in operation while replacing only the BF ironmaking installation using a direct reduction-open slag bath furnace (DRIOSBF) for hot metal (HM) production. This is also an attractive possibility for a new steelmaker looking to produce pig iron with a minimum carbon footprint. By Pablo Duarte* 1. Steelmaking through the route DRIEAF/OSBF THE schematic process for production of liquid steel through the combination of gas-based DR and EAF or OSBF is shown in Fig 1. For this analysis, Best Available Technologies (BAT) have been selected for DRP, EAF and OSBF. ENERGIRON DR Process The process configuration when using natural gas (NG) and/or H2 as reducing

gases makes ENERGIRON technology (jointly developed by Tenova and Danieli) very efficient in terms of energy consumption and scheme simplicity. This scheme is the most flexible for sustainable production of suitable DRI quality for steel production via EAF or hot metal via OSBF using NG and H2 as the energy replacement for coal. Features fitted for these purposes: 1) High-carbon DRI has unique benefits: saving of 36-40 kWh/tLS per each 1%C in EAF and the only possibility for

producing HM with ~4%C in the OSBF. In general, hot, high-Carbon DRI represents around a +22% productivity increase and -160 kWh/tLS in an EAF as compared to cold, low carbon DRI. So far, ENERGIRON is the only existing and proven DR technology capable of producing DRI with >4%C when using 100% NG. This is possible due to the prevailing operating conditions in the reduction reactor: - high methane (CH4) concentration of >20%,

* Tenova HYL senior consultant January/February 2021

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GREEN STEELMAKING

high sulphur content since it is eliminated in the CO2 removal system, unlike other DR technologies for which sulphur is a limitation due to the potential damage of the reformer catalyst. In general, ENERGIRON technology possesses a higher flexibility towards the use of cheaper raw materials, including low-grade iron ore (BF pellets).

- H2/CO ~ 4-5, - high temperature of the bed (>860°C), which favours the diffusion of carbon into the iron matrix and the formation of iron carbide; 3Fe° + CH4  Fe3C + 2H2 2) The top gas is recycled directly to the reduction shaft after selective elimination of H2O and CO2. In this way, there is no restriction for processing iron ores with a

3) Due to selective elimination of CO2, the process inherently provides the possibility of CO2 capture and commercialization (CCU).

Fig 1.

4) The process has the highest efficiency for the specific high quality DRI @94% Mtz and 4,2%C. ηProcess: ~ 93%; ηOverall: ≥ 80%; where: η = EDRI / ΣEi = EDRI / (ENG/H2 + Eelect) where: η= efficiency, EDRI= DRI energy, ENG/H2= energy from NG/H2, Eelec= electric energy.

45

5) Unlike other DR technologies, the ENERGIRON process is the most flexible and with long lasting experience for use of H2.

Any proportion of NG and H2 from 0% to 100% can be fed to the DR plant without any change of the process configuration or plant equipment. Even with H2 injection of ~70% vol., carbon in the DRI is >3%.

It also presents the highest flexibility of % carbon in DRI for various % H2, as indicated in Fig 2.

The expected energy consumption for this process with H2 is as low as 6,6 GJ/tDRI as H2 for process plus 1,7 GJ/tDRI of fuel and about 55 kWh/tDRI for the core plant. This exceptionally low electricity consumption is not only because of H2 use, but also due to the high operation pressure of the ENERGIRON system (≥6 barA @ top gas).

By using H2 as the only source of reducing gas, there is no need for a CO2 removal system (it can be bypassed), simplifying the scheme and reducing energy consumption.

Tenova EAF technology The EAF can process a mix from 100% scrap, batch or continuously charged material, and up to 100% DRI/HBI continuously charged. The negative effect of the gangue in DRI can be offset, to an extent, by feeding high-metallised, high-carbon, hot DRI to the EAF, which significantly reduces power consumption to figures close to the case of 100% scrap melting. Typical power consumption for a charge of 80% hot, high carbon DRI and 20% scrap is about 400 kWh/tLS. Feeding high percentages of DRI is required for the production of high-end quality steels.

Fig 1. Routes for sustainable steelmaking ENERGIRON process + EAF for liquid steel/ OSBF for hot metal production

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GREEN STEELMAKING

Fig 3. DRI-EAF scheme

Besides long-lasting experience in design for melting DRI, the EAF from Tenova is provided, among others, with two main technologies for further optimization of energy, i.e.: • Consteel®, the exclusive system for preheating and continuous scrap charging.

• iRecoverye® system, for energy recovery from the off gases, with potential savings of 25-30% of the primary energy to the EAF, which can be used: • To produce steam at 5-55 bar @ 150 - 270°C. • Use of pressurized circulating water in the off gases duct with constant temperature at boiling point (220°C).

• To produce hot water at ≤100°C. Besides increasing productivity and reducing energy and consequently CO2 emissions, the above features can be

Fig 2. Energy consumption and %C in DRI for different %NG/H2

implemented in EAF-based steelmaking facilities.

Tenova OSBF technology OSBF technology is a successful method of producing HM from DRI. Compared with EAF operations, the OSBF has a much longer campaign life, reducing the logistic requirements associated with EAF relining (crane, building, frequent downtime, etc.).

A large bath surface area results in a lower slag rise. Operating costs using Söderberg electrodes in OSBF, as compared to graphite electrodes, is lower. The furnace hood

can be used for energy recovery, normally complemented by a gas booster system, where cleaned CO gas is delivered as fuel for the PGH of the DR plant.

DRI is hot-charged by gravity from the DR reactor, and HM tapping volumes are defined by the torpedo car volume. The scheme developed by Tenova, as shown in Fig 4, is a totally integrated DRP + OSBF with the following characteristics: • Continuous production of HM by matching the continuous operation of the DRP with the operation of the OSBF. • Achieving HM quality requirements

Fig 4. Integrated process scheme for production of hot metal with natural gas: ENERGIRON ZR + OSBF Tenova smelter

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GREEN STEELMAKING

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Fig 5. CO2 emissions for DRI-EAF/OSBF-BOF schemes

by the control of %Mtz and %C of the DRI and being able to make on-the-fly recipe corrections to ensure a stable quality of the HM produced.

Fig 6.

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• Ready for the gradual switch towards further reduced carbon footprint production from HM to steel, using H2 in the DRP up to 35% as process energy, for

achieving ~3,3%C in DRI and ~4% in HM with carburisation balance in the furnace.

• OSBF operates in a reducing environment and provides the flexibility to modify slag chemistry. Having a low basicity index due to the chemistry of the low-grade pellets, the slag will be extremely low on metallic oxides as there is no use of oxygen in the furnace. It will also abe suitable for granulation and use as a by-product in the cement industry.

• Flexibility for producing high-carbon cold DRI in the DR plant whenever required and/or there is no demand by the smelting unit.

2. Economics The integrated energy consumption figures of the DRP-EAF scheme are: 11,2 – 8,9 GJ/ tLS and 500 – 560 kWh/tLS from 100%NG to 100%H2 (%energy), respectively, minus ~0,8 GJ/tLS credit from the i Recovery® system. Figures for DRP-OSBF-BOF are 10,6 to 9,9 GJ/tLS from 100%NG to 35%H2 (%energy) and 630-600 kWh/tLS respectively, including off-gases energy recovery in OSBF. For OSBF, DRI with >3,0%C is possible with 70% volume H2 with ENERGIRON technology as the differentiating factor versus other DR technologies.

Compared to BF-BOF, the OPEX of the DRP-OSBF-BOF scheme, using low-grade iron ores, is similar, but shall be defined on a case-by-case basis since it depends on local cost structures for energy and raw materials.

In terms of CAPEX, DRP-EAF and DRPOSBF offer attractive investment solutions for the decarbonisation of integrated mills. DRP-OSBF technology provides the possibility of HM production while keeping the BOF and downstream steelmaking facilities in operation, shutting down the BF in steps.

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Safetyfittings for oxygen lances � Lance-holders � Slag return safety devices � Quick shut-valves � Oxygen safety hoses � (glas fibre, metal braiding) � Carbon injection lances EAF � Safety hose reels � Argon Bubbling Equipment � 600 °C heat resist. on ladles � Safety devices for � Oxy-fuel burners EAF

GREEN STEELMAKING

3. Environmental – reduction of carbon footprint The analysis of CO2 emissions for the schemes DRI-EAF/OSBF, as compared to BF-BOF, are presented in Fig 5. Locations are: 0,4 kg CO2/kWh and carbon-neutral electricity, including CCU for CO2 in DRP, which is selectively removed from the ENERGIRON DRP as an inherent characteristic of the process. The emission factor for iron ore (typically Scope 3) is not included in this analysis; for all others, Scope 1, 2 and 3 are applicable (CO2 Emissions Data Collection User Guide, Version 7. WSA). If iron ore is included as Scope 3, all figures will be ~+10% vs. BF-BOF (100%).

4. Summary A general overview can be summarised as follows in Fig 6: While the DRI-EAF route is the most flexible in terms of %scrap/%DRI and %H2 for the largest reduction of CO2 emissions, and is economically linked to using premium raw materials, the DRI-OSBF-BOF scheme allows significant carbon footprint reduction while processing low-grade ores and keeping BOF downstream lines operational, as an intermediate step in decarbonising the BF-BOF mills. �

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REVOLUTIONARY DANIELI MIDA HYBRID MINIMILL Unique performances using patented

ANIEL

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REVOLUTIONARY DANIELI MIDA HYBRID MINIMILL

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SCRAP MANAGEMENT

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Please visit www.danieli.com to learn about the orders for the first MIDA Hybrid minimill received from CMC Steel in the USA,

and a new 2.5-Mtpy direct reduction plant that allows the use of hydrogen and natural gas, for OMK in Russia.

danieli.com

14/01/21 13:55

REVOLUTIONARY DANIELI MIDA HYBRID MINIMILL

— Green Steel technologies for quality products at competive OpEx

Unique performances using patented

DIGIMELTER® OCTOCASTER® DYSENCASTER® DUE®

Lateral and top continuous charging system (ECS).

Scrap shredding and cleaning; smart handling (automated scrap yard).

Up to 260 kWh/ton saving.

DIGISAVER 20 kWh/ton saving

11% lower electrode consumption; Zero power grid disturbances.

SCRAP MANAGEMENT

ENDLESS SCRAP CHARGE

20 kWh/ton saving

30 kWh/ton saving

Additional digital overall plant optimization

QSP-DUE® Danieli Universal Endless for flat products DDM - DANIELI DIGIMELTER: THE EVOLUTION OF THE EAF

C02 reduction: 800 kgCO2/tls DR+DDM route vs.

1,800 kgCO2/tls BF+BOF.

DRI HOT CHARGE

QLP-DUE® Danieli Universal Endless for long products

100 kWh/ton saving

WIDE RANGE OF QUALITY HOT-ROLLED STRIP

OCTOCASTER® UP TO 10 M/MIN CASTING SPEED

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HYBRID VIA Q-JENIUS 50 kWh/ton saving

Use of alternative power sources at site to Q-One via patented Q-Jenius DC link and Q3-Jenius energy management.

Up to 330 kWh/ton saving.

ANIEL I

GRE

Note: energy savings expressed in kWh/ton (1 kWh/ton = 3.6 MJ/ton)

D

324 kgCO2/tls using up to 70% hydrogen instead of 100% natural gas (without compromising DRI quality).

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and a new 2.5-Mtpy direct reduction plant that allows the use of hydrogen and natural gas, for OMK in Russia.

danieli.com

14/01/21 13:55

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TESTING & ANALYSIS

In this article, Michael Molderings*, explains which metals analysis technique is best at different points during the EAF steelmaking process.

THERE are over 3,500 different types of steel and each individual type must conform to an exact material specification to ensure the finished product performs as expected.

And, as you may know if you operate a steel mill, getting that specification absolutely right involves analysis at many stages of the process, from raw material to final product check – with several measurements made during each cycle to ensure impurities are sufficiently removed.

As a steel maker you have several different analysis technologies to choose from. Which one you choose depends on what materials you need to test for, how low the detection limits need to be and the practicality of taking measurements in a busy production environment. We’ll walk through the EAF process from raw material analysis to final QC and discuss which analyser type is best at each stage and why.

What’s the best metals analysis technique for EAFs?

STAGE 1: SCRAP SORTING The first analysis step isn’t carried out in the steel mill at all – it’s in the scrapyard. As the main feedstock for steel, the type of scrap for each melt has to be carefully chosen to avoid unwanted impurities entering the melt as much as possible. This means that the scrapyard will select the right type of scrap to meet the melt specification. Using analysis, the scrap needs to be sorted into specific scrap classification classes based on the requirements for the steel grades to be produced. It’s essential that impurities are identified at this stage to avoid unwanted tramp elements ending up in the melt. For example, if a low-phosphorous steel is to be made, then scrap with low phosphorous levels must be chosen.

When it comes to scrap analysis, the

most crucial aspects are portability and speed – you really need to be able to take the analyser to the scrap, not the other way around. Happily, today’s portable and mobile analysers are extremely accurate, with short analysing times, and are well within the detection limits for scrap sorting.

This is what you can choose from: For rapid alloy identification, handheld LIBS (laser induced breakdown spectroscopy) analysers are perfect.

These, like the Vulcan from Hitachi, are lightweight, truly portable and can identify an alloy grade in seconds. They are perfect for sorting high volumes of scrap.

If, however, you need to measure low levels of sulfur or phosphorous in steel, then you have a choice of two other technologies, XRF (X-ray fluorescence) or OES (optical emission spectroscopy) also known as spark spectrometry. You can use something like the X-MET8000 handheld analyser that uses XRF technology, or the portable PMI-MASTER Smart that uses OES. And if you are selecting scrap based on carbon, nitrogen, boron content, or other elements which must be monitored at very low levels such as copper, tin and lead, then OES technology gives the most accurate reading for these elements.

*Product manager for the Optical Emission Spectrometer range at Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science.

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TESTING & ANALYSIS

QUICK OVERVIEW OF ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY: The types of analysis technology I mention here are LIBS, XRF and OES, here’s a very quick overview of each: X-ray Fluorescence (XRF): A focused beam of X-rays is fired at the surface of the metal. The high energy beam displaces electrons in the atoms and as these electrons fall back into their natural state, they release a very specific energy signature, which the instrument can detect.

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS): A small amount of material on the metal surface is heated with a laser which turns part of the solid metal surface into a very small amount of plasma. As the plasma cools, it emits radiation of a very specific wavelength. Analysis of these wavelengths tells you which elements are present in the sample.

Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES): Similar in principle to LIBS, but here the metal surface is heated to thousands of ºC with electrical spark discharges.

The energy applied causes the atoms in the material to emit characteristic light, which is analysed to determine which elements are present in the sample.

STAGE 2: EAF MELT COMPOSITION AND SLAG ANALYSIS Now we’ll look at the melting and refining process in the electric arc furnace itself.

Bath chemistry analysis is carried out once the final scrap charge is fully melted and furnace conditions have stabilised. The results from this test determine how much oxygen needs to pass through during refining. Measurements are also taken at the end of refining, before passing to the next phase.

Here, metals analysis is primarily concerned with detecting phosphorous, sulfur, aluminium, silicon, manganese and carbon as solid impurities, and hydrogen and nitrogen as dissolved gasses.

You may need to take several measurements during the furnace processing until you have removed impurities, such as phosphorous, to the desired level. A dedicated analyser for EAF www.steeltimesint.com

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melt chemistry analysis is essential for rapid analysis and feedback on processes.

For EAF melt chemistry, because of the low detection limits and element types, OES technology is the one to choose as it’s the only one that is capable of measuring most of these elements at the limits required.

Unlike the scrapyard situation, here it’s not essential that the analyser be portable or mobile. A small sample is taken from the melt and taken to the analyser, so stationary OES is perfectly sufficient.

Depending on your specific melt chemistry, you’ll need to ensure that the OES instrument you choose can measure all critical elements in metal to the lowest detection limits possible. There’s a huge range of models on the market, from low-end instruments to large lab-based spectrometers. Finding the right one will

depend on your needs and your budget.

But your starting point should be looking at the detection capability of the instrument.

Slag analysis is important at this stage for two main reasons: Firstly, as the basitivity of the slag can adversely affect the refractory lining of the EAF walls, the slag must be monitored through routine analysis. The second reason is to promote the production of what’s known as ‘foam-slag’. This is where the slag is foamed to increase its volume by forming gaseous carbon oxides.

This helps to shield the arc and prevents burning of the steel bath. When done effectively, this process increases thermal efficiency and makes reaching the high temperatures needed for melting much easier. EAF slag is typically comprised of oxidic components, such as CaO, SiO2, and Al2O3, January/February 2021

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TESTING & ANALYSIS

STAGE 3: SECONDARY PROCESSING IN LADLE FURNACES Specific processing in the ladle furnace – and the analysis that’s required as a result – depends on the processing setup of your steel works, but often analysis in secondary processing in ladle furnaces occurs after deslagging, alloying and vacuum degassing.

One effective step to achieve maximum cleanliness of steel is the use of vacuum technology and purging the material with inert gases. This technology serves to adjust the carbon content, deoxidation, desulfurisation, dephosphorisation and degassing of the liquid steels. Slag process control at this stage is to remove impurities that have not been removed in the EAF. Slag can be analysed with XRF instruments and wavelength dispersive or energy dispersive instruments are available.

For example, in the Hitachi range of energy dispersive XRF equipment, the X-Supreme benchtop analyser is ideal for slag analysis.

This instrument has been optimised for rapid analysis of steel slag and has many

other features that are crucial for the steel industry. Minimal dust ingress, high reliability and ease of use are essential in a busy production environment. Other features, such as multi-sample analysis, help to make the analyser efficient when in 24/7 use.

XRF technology essential for the accuracy required is a powerful X-ray source, highsensitivity silicon drift detector (SDD) and the ability to take measurements in helium to reduce the effects of interference from the atmosphere. The manufacturer of your XRF equipment will be able to confirm whether the analyser is suitable for the analysis of slag compositions for your specific application.

For alloy analysis, you will need to detect the exact alloy composition and given the range of elements involved and the low levels contained, OES is by far the best technique. And, as in EAF melt chemistry analysis, stationary OES is fine and has

been well established over decades as the ‘workhorse’ for routine elemental process analysis.

The final process in the ladle furnace that involves analysis is vacuum degassing. One of the key elements here is hydrogen. It’s necessary to control hydrogen to ultra-low levels in certain types of steel and this is where you’ll need to have the capability to measure hydrogen to very low levels.

Gases like oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen are typically analysed with combustion analysers. But modern OES analysers are able to analyse nitrogen at low levels.

However, even among OES analysers there’s a variation in performance, and this is especially true when testing for gasses. For example, in my own product line there is a stationary OES analyser (OE750) that can analyse nitrogen at low detection limits.

Again, check with your own instrument’s manufacturer to see what the detection limits are.

STAGE 4: CONTINUOUS CASTING OR INGOT CASTING For continuous casting processes, you’ll need to monitor the composition during mixing a new grade or batch. Again, stationary OES analysis is the essential method. Today’s specifications for plates, wires and rods are complex due to the

final applications. Steel wire destined for aerospace or high-performance tyres has very specific requirements and OES is the only technology that can analyse the complete spectrum of elements involved down to the limits required.

OES is also the method you need to choose for process control during ingot casting, and the final steel sample is taken during the casting process for analysis.

STAGE 5: FINAL SPECIFICATION CHECK BEFORE SHIPPING Whether measuring wires, plates, rods or other products from a continuous casting process or individual components from ingot casting, most robust QC programmes will require a final compositional verification January/February 2021

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check. This is to create a final component composition certificate and to avoid the risk of material mix-up when preparing shipments.

Clearly, we are now dealing with solid,

finished components and, like the scrap yard situation, it’s not convenient to take parts to the analyser for verification. So, you have two options: mobile analysis or in-line automation. www.steeltimesint.com

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TESTING & ANALYSIS

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Mobile analysis Depending on actual composition of your components, you can choose between handheld XRF analysers, such as Hitachi’s X-MET8000, or mobile OES, like the PMI-MASTER range, or the TEST-MASTER Pro that’s specially designed for continuous operation and 100% testing. The XRF handheld is more portable than the mobile OES and will be ideal for most material verification purposes. However, if you need to verify low alloy steels or light elements such as carbon, boron or other lowlevel elements that handheld XRF cannot detect, OES is the best technology to use.

Automation Many quality control programmes require 100% material testing prior to shipping and this is where automation can help streamline your testing process and ensure you maintain a steady throughput in your production and a total avoidance of material mix-up. Many OES instruments can be integrated into a production line to provide continuous feedback on final product specification. Products like Hitachi’s TEST-MASTER Pro OES analyser are designed specifically for high volume testing on conditioning lines.

Conclusion Probably the most obvious take-away from this is the need to use more than one analyser and perhaps more than one technique over the production process. The OES equipment used to determine melt chemistry shouldn’t be tied up with final QC analysis, where a hand-held XRF instrument could do the job more easily. At the end of the day, it’s a question of balancing instrument cost with productivity and accuracy to make sure you are producing a high-quality product, but your analysis doesn’t cause a bottleneck in your process. �

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STAINLESS STEEL

Bright future for duplex stainless steel As governments around the world look to a post-pandemic green recovery, duplex stainless steel offers sustainability as Outokumpu celebrates 90 years since its development.

THE Avesta Steelworks in Sweden introduced the first duplex steel grades in 1930, less than two decades after the development of stainless steel itself in 1913. The first stainless steels had either an austenitic or ferritic microstructure – and the breakthrough with duplex was to combine both of these in a single material.

As a result, it offers the best properties of the two types: corrosion resistance and high strength. In addition, because it has lower alloy content than classic austenitic grades, duplex grades also have a price advantage.

Since then, a whole set of alloys have been introduced for applications in the chemical and process, oil and gas, pulp and paper, infrastructure and civil engineering industries, and beyond.

Today, global demand for duplex grades is under 1Mt/yr, compared with 45Mt/yr for all stainless steel and one billion tonnes for carbon steel.

However, duplex grades are growing in popularity. That’s because their corrosion resistance, high strength and low cost means that they give a long life and make financial sense when considering Life Cycle Cost (LCC).

Sustainability coming to the fore Duplex stainless steel could be used as an alternative to austenitic grades like 304 or 316 in almost every application. That’s because of a changing mindset when it January/February 2021

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Outokumpu’s Avesta plant

comes to sustainability.

New markets, such as electric vehicles, are emerging based on sustainable technology and as these develop, carbon footprint and longevity will become more important.

For example, structural engineers and architects are waking up to the potential for duplex stainless steel. Highways agencies and local authorities want bridges that don’t need extensive maintenance, that will keep looking good and will be cheaper over a longer life. Many carbon steel bridges in Europe and North America were built in the mid 20th century or earlier. They now need extensive repair and maintenance that is considerably more costly than their initial investment cost.

Using a duplex stainless steel instead of carbon steel will extend the life of a bridge.

For example, specifying a duplex grade for rebar in the ‘splash zones’ of a reinforced concrete bridge can extend its life from 80 to 300 years. Duplex stainless steel is also being specified instead of painted or coated carbon steel for bridges.

Wind turbines are another application.

Coated carbon steel is suitable if a windmill only needs to give 15 years of life. However, as energy companies push to become more sustainable, duplex grades can help assets to last longer with less maintenance.

Elsewhere, duplex grades are ideal wherever high strength and long life are important; for example as the walls of www.steeltimesint.com

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STAINLESS STEEL

The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway in Kuwait

Duplex stainless steel has a lot to offer as sustainability becomes more important and as more engineers prioritise long life and low maintenance.

train carriages, in storage and chemical processing tanks and in pressure vessels.

The high strength of duplex grades is extremely valuable in these applications as less steel is needed. As a result, the total cost of a tank in a duplex material can be less than building it from an austenitic grade. In addition, thinner gauges also mean less welding.

Welding and fabrication When it comes to fabrication and welding, customers need to take care as duplex grades require different treatment. It’s important to use the right energy input, filler material and shielding gas. It is not difficult, but it is different and you need to know what welding parameters to use to get a successful result.

As for all stainless grades, it’s also important for fabricators to remember that they’re handling the final surface quality from the outset. With carbon steel, you can just paint over scratches and surface defects, but when you’re working with a finished surface of stainless steel, you need to take care by using the right tooling and lifting rather than rough handling.

And while surface finish is visually appealing, it also adds to environmental sustainability. There’s no need for regular shot blasting and repainting in the field.

This keeps maintenance costs down and minimises risk to the environment, as well www.steeltimesint.com

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as the health and safety of technicians.

Customer education is key to adoption Duplex grades are generally the most sustainable long-term alternative to painted or coated carbon steel. However, many engineers are still not aware of its potential.

That’s why Outokumpu works closely with its customers to explain duplex grades and how to work with them.

For example, it developed a tank calculator tool for storage tank designers to quickly estimate the thickness of tank walls. Traditionally, storage tanks were built from carbon steel. This needs to be shot blasted and painted with layers of primary

paint and epoxy coatings, depending on the chemical to be stored.

The tank calculator was helpful when Outokumpu’s experts needed to explain the benefits of duplex stainless steel to a large chemical company in the Netherlands. Its team of design engineers and researchers also asked in-depth questions about welding methods, corrosion resistance, high strength properties and availability, as well as how it performed in testing.

It’s a similar process for many manufacturers. Adopting any new material is a chicken-and-egg situation. Engineers need to see it in use before they’re able to build it into their standard specifications

Heat exchanger tube

January/February 2021

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STAINLESS STEEL

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Padre Arrupe pedestrian bridge in Bilbao

or include it on their lists of approved materials. However, they won’t use it until it’s approved.

Therefore, it’s a case of providing guidance and advice, backed up by R&D data and field experience.

Financial benefits of high strength The high strength of duplex stainless steel means that it is possible to reduce the thickness of a structure by up to 50%. As a result, it creates lightweight structures that require less energy to build, less transport and logistics, and more straightforward handling, fabrication and welding.

These financial savings were the driving force behind the adoption of duplex in the 1930s, primarily for the pulp and paper industry when the first grades were used for castings, bar and plate.

Five generations of duplex There have been five generations of duplex, with the first generation being these 1930s alloys.

Duplex stainless steel achieved wider

Pulp and paper industry

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commercial success in the 1970s when the second generation of duplex grades proved weldable, leading to their adoption in oil and gas such as blast walls on offshore structures.

The offshore oil and gas industry also drove the development of the third generation of grades, known as super duplex because of their higher alloyed compositions. This gives better corrosion resistance for extremely challenging environments.

Tanker

The fourth generation is made up of lean duplex grades. These were also developed for the oil and gas industry during the 1980s and have less nickel content.

Reducing the nickel content provides greater price stability. That’s because the

nickel price has been volatile over the years, making it tricky to forecast pricing.

A fifth generation of formable duplex grades has been developed over the past 15 years. These grades also have enough ductility to create complex and lightweight components such as plates for heat exchangers.

We’ve also seen development of hyper duplex grades, which have Pitting Resistance Equivalent (PRE) of almost 50, making them suitable for very challenging and corrosive environments. These are currently used for niche applications and are not, at present, produced in bulk, but could be a direction for future development.

The challenge of developing new grades Before developing a new duplex grade, Outokumpu has a good idea of what its customers need to achieve, but seldom starts with the exact composition that eventually goes to the market. It’s a matter of testing to evaluate different compositions against the needed final properties.

The real challenge is to understand and anticipate market need – a new grade of stainless steel will only be a success when customers want to buy what has been developed.

The future of duplex Duplex stainless steel has a lot to offer as sustainability becomes more important and as more engineers prioritise long life and low maintenance.

Its high strength, corrosion resistance, and competitive pricing give it a lifetime cost advantage compared to painted or galvanized carbon steel. Even though duplex has had 90 years of applications, it has a bright future. � January/February 2021

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ENVIRONMENT

Shell’s blue hydrogen process Helping heavy industries, refiners and resource holders to meet their net-zero-emission ambitions through the integration of proven technologies for affordable greenfield blue hydrogen production

By Nan Liu* A growing number of national governments and energy companies, including ShellRef1, have announced net-zero-emission ambitions. Although renewable electricity is expanding rapidly, without low-carbon hydrogen as a clean-burning, long-termstorable, energy-dense fuel, a net-zero goal is difficult to achieve, especially when it comes to decarbonising fertiliser production and hard-to-abate heavy industries such as steel manufacturing and power generation.

Hydrogen also has potential as a transport and heating fuel that could repurpose existing gas distribution infrastructure or be introduced into existing natural gas supplies.

Consequently, hydrogen plays an important part in many green strategies.

The EU’s hydrogen strategyRef2, published in July 2020, describes it as ‘essential to support the EU’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and for the global effort to implement the Paris Agreement while working towards zero pollution’.

Momentum is building with a succession of commitments to hydrogen by various companies and governments. For example, in June 2020, Germany announced a €9-billion hydrogen strategyRef3, and the International Energy Agency says that ‘now is the time to scale up technologies

and bring down costs to allow hydrogen to become widely usedRef4. Over the last three years, the number of companies in the international Hydrogen Council, which predicts a tenfold increase in hydrogen demand by 2050 [Ref 5], has jumped from 13 to 81 and includes oil and gas companies, automobile manufacturers, trading companies and banks.

In 2018, global hydrogen production was 70 Mt/yr [Ref 4]. Today’s demand is split between being used for upgrading refined hydrocarbon products and as a feedstock for ammonia production for nitrogen fertilisers. Nearly all production comes from fossil fuels: it accounts for 6% of natural gas and 2% of coal consumption, and 830 Mt/yr of CO2 emissionsRef6 – more than double the UK’s emissions Ref7.

‘Grey’ hydrogen is a major source of CO2 emissions.

If hydrogen is to contribute to carbon neutrality, it needs to be produced on a much larger scale and with far lower emission levels.

Long term, the answer is likely to be ‘green’ hydrogen, which is produced from the electrolysis of water powered by renewable energy. This supports the integration of renewable electricity generation by decoupling production from use. Hydrogen becomes a convertible

currency enabling electrical energy to be stored and for use as an emissions-free fuel and chemical feedstock.

Green hydrogen projects are starting.

For example, a Shell-led consortium is at the feasibility stage of the NortH2 wind-tohydrogen project in the North Sea, and a Shell–Eneco consortium secured the right to build the 759-MW Hollandse Kust Noord project at a subsidy-free Dutch offshore wind auction in July 2020; this project will include a green hydrogen technology demonstration.

However, electrolysis alone will not meet the forecast demand. It is currently expensive and there is insufficient renewable energy available to support large-scale green hydrogen production. To put the scale of the task into perspective, meeting today’s hydrogen demand through electrolysis would require 3,600 TWh of electricity, more than the EU’s annual useRef4. Moreover, using the current EU electricity mix would produce grey hydrogen from electrolysis with 2.2 times the greenhouse gas emissions of producing grey hydrogen from natural gasRef8.

An alternative is blue hydrogen produced from natural gas along with CCUS (Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage). Hydrogen production via electrolysis has a similar efficiency to blue hydrogen production,

* Licensing Technology Manager Gasification, Shell Catalysts & Technologies January/February 2021

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ENVIRONMENT

Hydrogen Production Costs in 2030

but the levellised cost of production is significantly higher for electrolysis at €66/ MWh compared with €47/MWh for SMR– CCUS [Ref 9].

In addition, it is widely acknowledged that scaling up blue hydrogen production will be easier than delivering green hydrogen. For example, the EU strategyRef2 says that ‘other forms of low carbon hydrogen [i.e., blue] are needed, primarily to rapidly reduce emissions… and support the parallel and future uptake of renewable [green] hydrogen”.

The strategy goes on to say that neither green nor blue hydrogen production is cost-competitive against grey: the hydrogen costsfootnote1 estimated for the EU being €1.5/kg for grey, €2.0/kg for blue and up to €5.5/kg for greenRef4.

With the cost of CO2 at $25–35/t, blue www.steeltimesint.com

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hydrogen becomes competitive against grey, even with higher capital costs, and green hydrogen may still be more than double the price of blue hydrogen by 20304. Some forecasts indicate cost parity will occur in or around 2045Ref10.

Greenfield technology options This article considers three technology options for greenfield blue hydrogen projects: SMR, autothermal reforming (ATR) and Shell gas partial oxidation (SGP) technology SMR SMR, a proven catalytic technology widely applied for grey hydrogen production, uses steam in a multi-tubular reactor with external firing for indirect heating.

Post-combustion carbon capture can

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be retrofitted to convert grey hydrogen production to blue. For example, the Shell CANSOLVFootnote2 CO2 Capture System is proven to capture nearly all the CO2 (99%) from low-pressure, post-combustion flue gas.

For greenfield blue hydrogen applications, oxygen-based systems, such as ATR and SGP technology, are more cost-effective than SMR, a conclusion backed by numerous studies and reportsRef11. Note that the cost of CO2 makes grey hydrogen via SMR more expensive than blue hydrogen from SGP technology. The cost advantage of oxygenbased systems over SMR increases with scale because the relative cost of the air separation unit decreases with increasing capacity. Another advantage is that more than 99% of the CO2 can be captured using the lower-cost, pre-combustion Shell ADIP ULTRA solvent technology.

ATR ATR uses oxygen and steam with direct firing in a refractory-lined reactor with a catalyst bed. It is more cost-effective than SMR, but requires a substantial feed gas pre-treatment investment and the fired heater produces CO2 emissions SGP technology SGP technology is also an oxygen-based system with direct firing in a refractory-lined reactor, but it is a non-catalytic process that does not consume steam and has no direct CO2 emissions. Compared with SMR, SGP technology saves money by maximising carbon-capture efficiency and simplifying the process line-up, both of which offset January/February 2021

22/01/2021 12:39:54

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ENVIRONMENT

Relative CO2 intensity

the cost of oxygen production.

A key advantage of SGP technology over ATR is that the partial oxidation reaction does not require steam as a reactant.

Instead, high-pressure steam is generated by using waste heat from the reaction, which can satisfy the steam consumption within the SBHP as well as some internal power consumers.

With no need for feed gas pretreatment, SGP technology has a far simpler process line-up than ATR and, as a non-catalytic, direct-fired system, it is robust against feed contaminants, such as sulphur, and can thereby accommodate a large range of natural gas quality, and thus give refiners greater feed flexibility to decarbonise refinery fuel gas.

SGP technology provides substantial savings compared with ATR: a 22% lower levellised cost of Hydrogen. This saving comes from a 17% lower capital expenditure owing to the potential for a higher operating pressure leading to a smaller hydrogen compressor (singlestage compression), CO2 capture and CO2 compressor units, and a 34% lower operating expenditure (excluding the natural gas feedstock price) from reduced compression duties and more steam generation for internal power. SGP technology consumes 6% more natural gas, but this is offset by power generation from the excess steam.

The SBHP is an end-to-end line-up that maximises the integration of SGP and ADIP ULTRA technologies.

Compared with an ATR unit, modelling shows that a SBHP line-up producing 500 www.steeltimesint.com

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t/d of pure hydrogen would haveFootnote3: � $30 million/yr lower operating expenditure; � 35% less power import; � >99% CO2 capture; and � a 10–25% lower levellised cost of hydrogen.

The SBHP is best for large-scale blue hydrogen projects and shows the principle advantages of integrating the SBHP with other Shell and open-source technologies.

The choice between a methanator or pressure-swing absorption unit for the hydrogen purification step depends on the required hydrogen purity. For example, a pressure-swing absorption unit is necessary to achieve the >99.97% purity required for the hydrogen used in fuel cells. The offgas is predominantly hydrogen with trace contaminents such as carbon monoxide, CO2 and nitrogen. In the ATR process, this off-gas is typically burned to preheat the natural gas, which produces direct CO2 emissions.

In a methanator, the purity of the final hydrogen is lower (>98%, depending on the feed gas properties).

Unlike pressure swing absorption, Methanator doesn’t generate an off gas, which avoids the direct CO2 emissions from burning the pressure-swing absorption offgas. The main advantage of a methanator is that hydrogen is not lost via the pressureswing absorption off-gas. Consequently, it reduces natural gas consumption for the same hydrogen production. A methanator satisfies the hydrogen purity requirements of most industrial consumers.

The history of SGP technology SGP is a mature (TRL9), ‘low-carbon’ technology eligible for government funding.

Shell has a long history of developing SGP technology, beginning with research in the 1950s.

SGP has over 30 active residue and gas gasification licensees, and more than 100 SGP gasifiers have been built worldwide.

For example, in the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant, Qatar, 18 SGP trains, each with an equivalent pure hydrogen production capacity of 500 t/d have been operating since 2011Footnote4. Since 1997, Pernis refinery in the Netherlands, has been operating at a 1-Mt/yr CO2 capture capacity using SGP technology: the CO2 is used in local greenhouses. The CO2 stream is an essential part of the Pernis CCS project.

CCUS experience No matter how cost-effective the hydrogen production and carbon capture technologies, without sequestering the CO2 directly or through enhanced oil recovery, the hydrogen remains grey.

Shell has growing experience in CCUS through its long-term involvement in multiple CCUS projects in different phases of development, and can offer key insights into each of the four major steps in CCUS: 1. Capture – Shell Catalysts & Technologies has two proven carboncapture technologies: ADIP ULTRA solvent technology and the CANSOLV CO2 Capture System.

2. Compression – Captured CO2 is compressed into liquid form for transport using commercial, fully available January/February 2021

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ENVIRONMENT

The cost of SGP technology relative to ATR

technology.

3. Transport – CO2 is moved from the industrial site where it is produced to its storage site, which could be on- or offshore. It’s generally pumped through a pipeline, but ship transport may also play a role.

4. Utilisation and storage – The CO2 is either injected deep underground into the microscopic spaces in porous rocks or it is sold for uses such as in the beverage industry or to industrial greenhouses to accelerate plant growth.

Although the market size for those applications is small, this is highly relevant for those refiners located near other industries that need CO2.

Shell has worked with customers on location identification and measuring, monitoring and verification to ensure that the CO2 is permanently stored.

Key takeaways Hydrogen will be part of the future energy mix and there are several mature technologies available for producing costeffective, low-carbon blue hydrogen.

Shell has a proven record in blue hydrogen production with Shell SGP technology at the 500-t/d scale and is

a leader in developing full-scale CCUS projects. The SBHP is now available to thirdparty refiners.

For greenfield applications, SMR is an inefficient method of producing blue hydrogen owing to poor CO2 recovery and scalability: oxygen-based systems offer better value. The SBHP, which integrates Shell SGP and ADIP ULTRA technologies, offers key advantages over ATR, including a 10–25% lower levellised cost of hydrogen, a 20% lower capital expenditure, a 35% lower operating expenditure (excluding natural gas feedstock price), >99% CO2 captured and overall process simplicity. �

References 1. www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/theenergy-future/shells-ambition-to-be-a-net-zeroemissionsenergy-business.html 2. A hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe, European Commission (2020), www. ec.europa. eu/energy/sites/ener/files/hydrogen_strategy.pdf 3. www.bundesregierung.de/breg-en/news/ wasserstoffstrategie-kabinett-1758982 4. The future of hydrogen, International Energy Agency (2019), www.iea.org/reports/the-futureofhydrogen

5. Hydrogen scaling up. A sustainable pathway for the global energy transition, Hydrogen Council (2017), www.hydrogencouncil.com/wp-content/ uploads/2017/11/hydrogen-scaling-uphydrogencouncil.pdf 6. www.iea.org/fuels-and-technologies/hydrogen 7. www.edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/overview. php?v=booklet2018&dst=co2pc 8. Shell hydrogen study: Energy of the future?, Shell Deutschland Oil GmbH (2017), www.shell. com/ energy-and-innovation/new-energies/hydrogen/_ jcr_content/par/keybenefits_150847174/ linkstream/1496312627865/6a3564d61b9aff4 3e087972db5212be68d1fb2e8/shell-h2-studynew.pdf 9. Hydrogen from natural gas – The key to deep decarbonisation, Pöyry Management Consulting (2017), www.poyry.com/sites/default/files/zukunft_ erdgas_key_to_deep_decarbonisation_0.pdf 10. Commercial scale feasibility of clean hydrogen, European Zero Emission Technology and Innovation Platform (2017) 11. Reference data and supporting literature reviews for SMR based hydrogen production with CCS, IEAGHG Technical Review 2017-TR3 (2017), http://documents.ieaghg.org/index.php/ s/7ii9wgeaufompvp/download

Footnotes 1. Based on an assumed natural gas price for the EU of €22/MWh, an electricity price of €35–87/MWh and capacity costs of €600/kW 2. CANSOLV is a Shell trademark.

3. Excluding inerts, methane, CO2 and carbon monoxide, which will also be present, depending on the final purification step: based on costs of $396/te for natural gas, $8.4/te for demineralised water and $86/MWh for power import; estimated costs for solvent, triethylene glycol and catalyst; hydrogen discharge pressure of 72 bara and CO2 discharge pressure of 150 bara; and 95% plant availability 4. fined as pure hydrogen production, i.e., not including any inerts, methane, CO2, or carbon monoxide, which will also bepresent, depending on the final purification step

January/February 2021

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66

PERSPECTIVES Q&A: TAYLOR-WINFIELD

North America our busiest market Primary steel finishing and cold rolling are the two key steel industry sectors where Taylor-Winfield conducts most of its business. The company is currently very busy in the US marketplace thanks to major investments in new facilities and equipment throughout the country. In an ideal world, Blake Rhein* wants a level playing field so that steelmakers can compete on equal terms without tariff and non-tariff trade barrier restrictions 1. How are things going at TAYLORWINFIELD? Is the steel industry keeping you busy?

As with many companies that service the industrial sector of the economy, 2020 was a challenging year due to the COVID pandemic. The idling of plants in the steel industry due to declining demand in their markets effected most suppliers to the industry. Many new and existing CAPEX projects were delayed or postponed.

Fortunately, our backlog of work-in-process business and order intake was sufficient to minimize the negative effect.

producers via mergers and acquisitions over the past several years. These activities have created opportunities for suppliers to support those companies and help them succeed with their investments.

2. What is your view on the current state of the global steel industry?

The Pandemic continues to affect the global steel industry. We are seeing an uptick of previously delayed projects being rejuvenated which is creating a more optimistic view that new CAPEX investments and related projects will happen.

3. In which sector of the steel industry does TAYLOR-WINFIELD mostly conduct its business?

Primary steel finishing and the cold rolling sectors of the industry. We are a niche provider of new laser and resistance coil joining welders and related equipment to steel processors worldwide. We also support our installed base of machines with upgrades, spare parts, field and online service.

4. Where in the world are you busiest at present?

Overall, North America is our busiest market at this time. There have been major investments in new facilities and equipment throughout the North American steel industry, and a consolidation of steel

the automotive sector have been impressive.

7. What are your views on Industry 4.0 and steelmaking and how, if at all, is TAYLOR-WINFIELD using it?

Industry 4.0 and IoT is real. Big River Steel is probably at the forefront of Industry 4.0 technical advances in steel production with others rapidly catching up. Taylor-Winfield’s engineering teams are keenly aware of Industry 4.0. Many of the new machines we produce have sensors, data acquisition, operator feedback, and internet connectivity that enable them to be smarter machines than in the past.

8. Hydrogen steelmaking appears to be the next big thing. What’s your view?

The process looks promising, but I do not have enough knowledge about the technology to offer any thoughtful comments.

5. Can you discuss any major steel contracts you are currently working on?

We have NDAs in place that preclude us from discussing specific projects.

That being said, we are involved in and supporting the new SDI Sinton, Tx project, Nucor-JFE Mexico project and others.

6. Where does TAYLOR-WINFIELD stand on the aluminium versus steel argument?

We support both industries and have equipment in most aluminium and steel production plants. The advances in Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) materials being produced by the steel industry in response to aluminium gains in

9. In your dealings with steel producers, are you finding that they are looking to companies like TAYLORWINFIELD to offer them solutions in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability? If so, what can you offer them?

Taylor-Winfield continues to support its installed base of coil joining welders, many of which are over 40 years old, to maintain their sustainability for our customers. In some cases, existing machines are upgraded with new controls and features that make them more energy efficient.

10. How quickly has the steel industry responded to ‘green politics’ in terms of making the production process more environmentally friendly

* Vice president of sales, Taylor-Winfield January/February 2021

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PERSPECTIVES Q&A: TAYLOR-WINFIELD

and are they succeeding or fighting a losing battle?

The steel industry has been under ‘green’ pressure for more than 60 years and has responded well to environmental regulations and requirements, particularly in developed countries. I believe the industry is succeeding, but compliance is expensive and should be enforced equally worldwide to level the playing field for all producers.

11. Where does TAYLOR-WINFIELD lead the field in terms of steel production technology?

Taylor-Winfield leads in the coil joining steel production technology market. We recently introduced the most advanced coil joining laser welding system, called the Eclipse X1, for metal finishing lines such as CGL, CAL and other lines. This welder is more energy efficient than older style machines and costs less to maintain and operate. TaylorWinfield also offers the most sophisticated and reliable traditional resistance seam and flash welders on the market today.

12. How do you view TAYLORWINFIELD’s development over the short-to-medium term in relation to the global steel industry?

Taylor-Winfield has participated in the global steel industry since the beginning of continuous steel production. We have a worldwide installed base of machines we continually support. With the introduction of our Eclipse X1 Laser Welding System, we plan to contribute to the global steel industry for many years and decades to come.

We focus on a niche in the steel production industry; coil joining (welding) technologies.

Within that niche, laser coil joining has been the dominant new technology in the industry. Every steel producer is trying to innovate to reduce production costs, increase line uptimes and tonnage throughput particularly in older less efficient production lines.

15. How optimistic are you for the global steel industry going forward and what challenges face global producers in the short-to-medium term?

I am optimistic about the global steel industry. We are seeing a consolidation of companies and producers that should create opportunities in the industry for buyers of steel and suppliers to the industry. The biggest challenge is, and always will be, levelling the worldwide playing field between producers to create a fair competitive environment. Not a new dynamic in the industry.

16. What exhibitions and conferences will TAYLOR-WINFIELD be attending in over the next six months?

The AIST trade show in June in Nashville, TN USA. We also plan to attend and present at webinars and other conference events.

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17. TAYLOR-WINFIELD is headquartered in the USA, but what’s happening steel-wise in the country?

The steel industry in North America has been making major investments in new plants and equipment for the past eight to 10 years. Many of these investments/ projects take years to come to fruition.

COVID and related domestic and international travel restrictions slowed many existing current projects, in some cases to a stand-still. There has also been a consolidation of producers in the USA via mergers and acquisition activities. This has happened in the industry in the past and will likely continue in the future.

18. Apart from strong coffee, what keeps you awake at night?

The thought the new USA administration will turn its back on the steel industry and industrial/manufacturing sector and naively think that raising taxes will somehow help the USA compete in the global economy.

19. If you possessed a superpower, how would you use it to improve the global steel industry?

I would wave my magic wand and create a World of Oz where there is a fair and level worldwide playing field by which all steel producers and suppliers to the industry can compete without tariff and non-tariff trade barrier restrictions. �

13. What is TAYLOR-WINFIELD’s experience of the Chinese steel industry?

Taylor-Winfield has many machines and customers in China. We have machines still in operation that were installed before the Cultural Revolution. COVID and the political and economic tension between China and the USA during the previous administration did not help our business opportunities in that part of the world. We plan to continue to support our customers in China and compete for new project opportunities in the future.

14. Where do you see most innovation in terms of production technologies – primary, secondary or more downstream?

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HISTORY

Gun casting on the Weald

Wealden gun production – all sizes – 1668-1699 The Mount Aetna ‘cannon’

More than 35,442 guns, ranging in sizes from 0.5lb to 42lbs,were case on the Weald in England between 1588 and 1770, says Tim Smith* THE Weald is an area in southern England running parallel to the coast extending approximately 66 miles (110km) EW and from 18 to 24 miles (30-40km) NS. It was here that the first blast furnace came to Britain in 1490, the Walloon method arriving with immigrants from present day Belgium and France.

In 1543, the first successful iron gun was cast at Buxted, East Sussex, giving rise to the ditty: ‘Master Huggett and his man John, They did cast the first can-non’.

Prior to 1543, cast iron guns had failed due to their measurements being copies of lighter sectioned brass guns. Brass gun dimensions increased in 1538 and the production of cast iron guns became possible with much reduction in the cost of the metal.

The casting of guns was governed by the Board of Ordnance which issued licences to cast guns and tested these by proof firing with a double charge of powder in London.

What is amazing is that well in excess of 35,442 guns ranging in sizes from 42 lb shot to 0.5 lb were cast on the Weald during the period 1588 to 1770 – a time for which official records survive. This number does not include guns that failed on initial inspection or test firing at the furnace site, or were sold clandestinely without licence. Also, there are incomplete records for the numbers cast for the first 26 years 1538 to 1564. 54 iron guns and 568 brass guns were recorded by 1588, the year Spanish Armada threatened Britain.

Vertically cast guns As casting guns was a specialist task, only 38 furnaces of the 119 operating in the Weald over a period of 323 years were capable of undertaking this work. Guns

of 1776 with gun head still attached, Maryland USA https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?

were cast vertically in a pit in front of the furnace, the mould incorporating a core to produce a hollow gun. A bulbous gun head was included on the muzzle to feed molten metal into the gun to counter shrinkage cavities formed during solidification and also to act as a reservoir for slag and impurities to rise out of the gun into this head. The head was sawn off prior to reaming the barrel bore true. Diderot (1751) illustrates the moulding of a gun in which the gun head can be seen accounting for about one fifth of the final gun’s length.

The amount of iron needed for the largest guns would be around three tonnes.

The largest gun cast on the Weald was the Cannon, weighing around 5,500lb (2.5 tonnes) and would require some 6,600lb (3 tonnes) of metal to also accommodate the gun head. The smallest guns cast on the Weald weighed around 400lb requiring around 480lb (22kg) of metal.

larger guns, with the inherent dangers of a break-out of the metal or cooling causing a ‘freeze-up’ in the furnace. Indeed, a leading gun founder, John Fuller, writes in 1747: “will not make 42 pounders (cannon) at £20 a ton – a gamble at £80 a throw, also when making 4 tons of metal 1 ton is burned away……”. George Browne, an earlier gun founder, makes a similar comment in 1664, regarding the time needed to accumulate sufficient metal “… being so long as four nights if not more in the hearth, which will be in great danger of cooling in the hearth when it should run, which when it happens (as in casting great pieces…is frequently to be expected) is the loss of the piece”. There are references to air furnaces being used in which metal could be melted and kept molten, certainly when casting brass guns, which several gun founders, such as the Brownes, also undertook.

Further evidence for the size of the gun head is a rare find in the USA of a gun still with its head in place. These heads seem unusually large since, when casting grey iron, as required for a gun, the graphite formed counteracts much of the shrinkage porosity, but no doubt trial and error determined this as the correct size. Since Wealden furnaces typically produced little more than 1.0 to 1.5 tonnes of iron a day, it would be necessary to allow an accumulation of metal in the hearth over a period of three or four days to cast the

Four wars and a rebellion The demand for guns varied greatly from year to year as illustrated in a plot for the 31-year period 1668 to 1699 during which time 13,495 Wealden guns of all types were proofed in London. During this period England was involved in no less than four wars and a rebellion, peaks corresponding to the third Anglo-Dutch war (1672-74), the Franco-Dutch war (1672-1678) and the largest resulting from the Nine Years war (1688-1697).

This trend of variable gun production is also reflected for later periods and it was not uncommon for the government to rescind orders placed during times of war, leaving gun founders with surplus stock, the larger guns sometimes put to use as mooring bollards or gate posts at a substantial loss of revenue, while smaller guns may have been sold to merchant ships or even foreign powers. �

*Secretary Wealden Iron Research Group January/February 2021

History – read MM....indd 1

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