Welcome to the second Steel World issue of Ironmaking and Steelmaking in 2016.
We have three invited articles; the first is by Sridhar Seetharaman and Zushu Li of the Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick entitled ‘Can there be a sunrise in steel town?’
A sustainable UK steel industry is vitally important to UK’s future growth prospects and this article first analyses the grand trends and challenges that the UK steel industry is facing, followed by a brief review of alternative ironmaking processes with regard to its flexibility in raw material and energy and reduction in CO2 emissions.
It is concluded that given the availability of cheap, clean electricity in the near future, abundant scrap supply in 20 years’ time, and the existence of a domestic steel market for high quality steel, the UK steel industry has great potential to become a sustainable business.
In the long term, the scrap-based EAF route can be considered a viable process route for the UK steel industry and the current integrated process is sustainable by substantially improving its energy and material efficiency and by focusing on the creation of value-added steel products. The authors also point out that ensuring the sustainability of the UK steel industry requires a clear strategy, substantial capital expense and support from the government and the industry itself. The UK has to invest in/re-shape steel-related research creating new competences for the viability of the industry.
The second article ‘Conventional and near net shape casting options for steel sheet’ by Roderick I. L. Guthrie and Mihaiela M. Isac of the McGill Metals Processing Centre, Montreal, Canada is based on a paper prepared for the Challenges and Transformative Solutions to Sustainable Steelmaking and Casting – Emi Symposium, in September 2–4, 2015, Tokyo, Japan.
This article addresses the pros and cons of two alternative near net shape casting processes versus the conventional slab casting route for strip products. The two near net shape casting processes are twin roll casting and horizontal single belt casting. While twin roll casting of steel sheet by ‘Castrip’ has now been operating commercially for some 12 years within Nucor, producing low carbon steel sheets, belt casting has only just been commercialised, at Salzgitter’s Peine plant, in Germany, under the name ‘Belt Cast Technology’.
The authors conclude that the belt casting process can provide a future solution as a viable near net shape casting process for sheet products, but is not expected that there will be rapid capitulation of conventional casting unless equivalent quality levels can be assured.
The third article entitled ‘Grain oriented electrical steels for power and distribution transformers’ by Kimberley Price of Swansea University provides some background into what grain oriented electrical steels are, how they are used in power distribution networks as transformer cores and the material compositions and processing routes required to achieve low electrical core losses via texture control and inclusion control. The compositions and process routes are very distinctive compared to more ‘conventional’ mild steels and will make interesting reading for those not familiar with these steels.
Research continues into processing parameters, chemistry, oxide formation, phase transformation and magnetic properties throughout the process, in producing strip that is even thinner than 0.2 µm to reduce electrical resistance and into producing and processing the ‘ideal’ silicon content for magnetic properties of ∼6.5%.