Chernye Metally

The 9th issue of "Chernye Metally" journal (2014) is opened by with the actual metallurgical news from different countries and news of metallurgical companies.

The section "Development of metallurgy in Russia and CIS countries" is opened by the paper "On the possibility of replacement of the coke paradigm" by S.R. Islamov and S.G. Stepanov. The article gives a brief description of the technology of cogeneration production of thermocoke on the basis of standard coal-fired boilers, its technical and economic parameters and physico-chemical properties of the thermocoke are displayed. This product differs principally from the coke in three basic indicators: thermocoke is cheaper by many times than coke, it has an order of magnitude with higher reactivity and it is a grained material.

The attempt to determine the condition of a converter bath surface before oxygen blowing using a cold modeling approach has been done by the specialists from St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University V.K. Yashchenko and V.P. Karasev in their paper "State of converter bath in the starting period of top oxygen blowing". The model simulated a 350-400 ton basic oxygen furnace (BOF) with mass fraction of scrap as large as 110 tons. It is recommended to take into account a bath surface condition for calculation of material and thermal balance; for setting an oxygen lance position at initial blowing step; for optimization of slag-formation and dephosphorizing.

This section is finalized by publication "Influence of technological parameters on steel shot properties" by G.G. Zalazinskiy and T.L. Shchennikova from the Institute of Metallurgy of the Ural branch of Russian Academy of Sciences. Control of water-air proportion in their consumption allowed to choose optimal conditions of obtaining particles with preset size and their cooling. This nozzle block was used in shot production, while shot is alloyed simultaneously by copper and molybdenum.

Huge efforts are currently undertaken to reduce CO₂emissions with the ULCOS programme, as the conventional plants are already operated at the plant minimum of CO₂ emissions. The European Commission requires from the industry in total a decrease of absolute CO₂emissions of more than 80% by 2050 compared to 1990. A joint study of BCG and Steel Institute VDEh ordered by Eurofer demonstrated that this target is not reachable for the steel sector even in the case of 100% applying CCUS (CO₂ Capture Usage or Storage). These problems are analyzed by P. Dahlmann and H. B. Lüngen in the paper "Efficient steelmaking and steel's contribution to a low-carbon world".

Another publication "Sustainable trunnion mounting on steel and pig iron ladles" in the section "Iron and steel making" is presented by the specialista from several German companies - Folz Gleitlagertechnik GmbH, Asku-Scholten GmbH, Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH and Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH. The article describes operating results from the re-equipment of Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH in 1999/2000 with 26 steel and mixing ladles of the latest generation and a payload of 375 t. At the steelworks of Salzgitter Flachstahl in Germany the bearing arrangement was adapted to the existing 250-t vessels.

The automotive sector requires completely different combinations of properties to the construction, machinery and packaging industries. Features such as strength, formability, elongation and corrosion resistance are difficult to combine. Improvements to one attribute are frequently achieved at the cost of another.Research and development at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe is focused on four core areas: innovative steels, hot stamping processes, new coatings and finishes, and hybrid materials and composites. It is the theme of the article "Strength alone is not enough - the search for the optimum material" by H. Ferkel.

Continuing this agenda, G. Ludkovsky from ArcelorMittal in his paper "Provider of engineering solutions" presented a new research project – Phoster, which stands for photo-voltaic steel roof. This is to develop steels which will serve as construction materials while producing energy at the same time. It is shown that ArcelorMittal is working on three key aspects: implementing new products, investing to enable production of these materials in key countries, and holding discussions with carmakers to ensure these products are correctly used in new models.

Other publications in this issue covers opinions of top managers of AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke, Saarstahl AG, voestalpine Stahl AG and Tata Steel about current state and tendencies at European and global metallurgical markets. B. Ritterbach from Salzgitter Manesmann Forschung GmbH analyzes trends in steel research and shows that in comparison with other construction materials, such as aluminum, magnesium or fiber-reinforced plastics, steel has an extremely good life cycle assessment.

The issue also includes economical and historical sections.

You can find more details about this issue below or by ordering the printed or electronic version of the journal.