steel FACTS A collection of amazing facts about steel 2018 STEEL FACTS CONTENTS WHAT IS WHAT IS STEEL’S VALUE STEEL? TO SOCIETY? Discovered more than 3,000 years ago, Produced in every region of the world, steel is continuously perfected, today steel is one of the backbone of modern society, generating the world’s most innovative, inspirational, jobs and economic growth. versatile and essential materials. Explore what goes into its making. Pages 6-25 Pages 56-69 WHY ARE WE THE USES PROUD OF STEEL? OF STEEL Infinitely recyclable, steel allows cars, cans and Steel is the world’s most fundamental engineering buildings to be made over and over again. Zero waste and construction material. It is used in every strategies and optimal use of resources, combined aspect of our lives: in cars and cans, refrigerators with steel’s exceptional strength, offer an array of and washing machines, cargo ships and energy sustainable benefits. infrastructures, medical equipment and state-of-the- art satellites. Pages 26-55 Pages 70-127 4 5 STEEL FACTS WHAT IS STEEL? 6 7 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS All steel is originally made from When iron is combined with carbon, recycled steel and small amounts of other elements, it is transformed into a much stronger material called steel, used in a huge range of human-made IRON applications. Steel can be Iron is the th 4 most common element in the Earth’s crust after oxygen (46%), silicon (28%), 1,000 and aluminium (8%). times stronger than iron. When liquid iron is converted into steel it STEEL reaches temperatures of up to is an alloy of iron and carbon containing less than O 2% 1,700 C, carbon significantly hotter 1% than volcanic lava. manganese and small amounts of silicon, phosphorus, sulphur and oxygen. Stainless Steel is a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5% chromium content by mass. 8 9 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS Steel is the most commonly used metal in the world. It is everywhere in our lives 10 11 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS As early as the 11th century BC, an archaeological find in In the 3rd century BC, Cyprus indicates that craftsmen in southern India were craftsmen were producing using crucibles to smelt wrought quench-hardened iron with charcoal to produce steel knives. ‘wootz’ steel – a material that is still admired today for its quality. One of the earliest references to steel-working comes from the Greek historian Herodotus, A British inventor, Henry Bessemer, referring to a bowl inlaid with is generally credited with the steel by Glaucus of Chios in the invention of the first technique to mass produce steel in the 7th century BC mid-1850s. “A great bowl of pure silver, with Steel is still produced using technology derived a salver in steel curiously inlaid. from the Bessemer Process of blowing air Glaucus, the Chian, made it, the through molten pig iron to oxidise the material man who first invented the art of and separate impurities. inlaying steel.” 12 13 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS Steel is produced via two main routes: The blast furnace-basic oxygen An electric arc furnace furnace (BF-BOF) route and the electric arc furnace (EAF) route. Today about can be charged with of steel is produced is produced via the 72% using the BF-BOF route. 28% EAF route. Crude steel is then rolled into finished steel products, such as coil, plate, sections or bars. 100% steel scrap. A basic oxygen furnace can be charged with as much as 30% scrap. Most steel products remain in use Steel Production - Route 1: Steel Production - Route 2: for decades before they can be recycled. Therefore, there is not enough recycled steel Blast furnace or Electric arc available to meet growing steel demand. integrated route furnace route To produce 1,000 kg of The primary raw materials are steel scrap, crude steel, the main inputs direct reduced iron (DRI) and/or hot metal, are roughly: and electricity. To produce 1,000 kg of crude steel, the EAF route uses roughly: 1,370 kg of iron ore, 710 kg of steel scrap, 780 kg of coal, 586 kg of iron ore, 270 kg of limestone, and 150 kg of coal and 125 kg of steel scrap. 88 kg of limestone, and 2.3 GJ of electricity. 14 15 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS Steel is a permanent material that can be infinitely recycled and is 100recyclable without loss of quality. % 16 17 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS Steel closes the On average, material loop without being confined to new steel a single application. products contain ALL recycled types of steel can be recycled back into new 37%steel. steel of various grades, Today’s steel products will keeping their inherent become tomorrow’s cans, material properties. trains, bridges, or buildings. Steel scrap from lower value steel products can be converted into high value steels by using appropriate processing and metallurgy. For other materials this is not typically possible; in the case of concrete, wood and aluminium the quality of recycled material is often downgraded or downcycled and the material has a limited number of lives. 18 19 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS Steel is not a single product. There are more than New and innovative steels are continually being developed. In 2017, the steel industry invested 3,500 different grades of steel with many different physical, chemical, and environmental properties, allowing a range of thicknesses and shapes. Each grade of steel has properties designed for 5.9%of revenue in capital investment projects, its specific application. research and process improvement. 20 21 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS Over 75of the 3,500 steel grades in use% today did not exist 20 years ago. 22 23 WHAT IS STEEL? STEEL FACTS In 2017, on average To prevent the chemical reaction resulting in rust (iron oxide) forming 1.83 tonnes of CO2 were emitted for every tonne when steel is exposed to water and oxygen, many steel products will be of steel produced. The steel industry accounts for metallic coated. between 7 and 9% of global direct Paint is then used on cars, enamel emissions from the use of fossil fuels. is used on refrigerators and other The majority of the CO2 comes from domestic appliances, and so on. the chemical reaction of steelmaking. The industry is working together on many initiatives to develop breakthrough steelmaking technologies that could reduce CO2 emissions by more than Weathering steels 50potentially revolutionising the way% steel is made. are designed to rust, with the oxide coating providing protection, eliminating the need for painting. 24 25 STEEL FACTS WHY ARE WE PROUD OF STEEL? 26 27 WHY ARE WE PROUD OF STEEL? STEEL FACTS Steel is fundamental to achieving a circular economy. It ensures the maximum value of resources through recovery and reuse, remanufacturing and recycling. 28 29 WHY ARE WE PROUD OF STEEL? STEEL FACTS The steel industry uses Nearly its resources efficiently and produces very little waste. In 2017, 100of the steel industry’s % 96.3% co-products can be used. of steel industry raw materials were converted: Slag is used in cement, road construction, fertilisers, hydraulic engineering and 63.6% sea forestation. were converted into steel products. Process gases are used to produce heat and/or electricity. 32.7% Emulsions and oils are used as reducing agents. into co-products. As little as Iron oxides and zinc are recovered from dust and sludges. 3.7% Chemicals became waste. are used as input material for the chemical industry. 30 31 WHY ARE WE PROUD OF STEEL? STEEL FACTS In Europe, is the highest volume steel industry solid co-product. Slag On average, for the blast furnace route approximately, of slag is produced per 77% 400kg tonne of crude steel. of steelmaking slag is used to In the electric arc furnace, around produce cement and materials for road construction. The rest of the of slag is produced per recovered slag is used in other 170kg tonne of crude steel. applications, such as fertilisers, metallic applications, hydraulic engineering, etc. According to the International Energy Agency, substituting cement clinker with slag cement would allow significant reductions in annual energy consumption and CO² emissions - up to 500 million GJ, and 200 Mt of CO². 32 33 WHY ARE WE PROUD OF STEEL? STEEL FACTS Steelmaking process gases are used to produce heat and electricity. When process gases are fully reused they can provide between Technologies are being developed to convert steelmaking process 60-100% gases into methanol and ethanol, thereby conserving energy, and of the plant’s electricity requirements. reducing the need for fossil fuels in other sectors, such as transport. 34 35 WHY ARE WE PROUD OF STEEL? STEEL FACTS Energy consumption per tonne of steel has been reduced by 61% since the 1960s, which has contributed to a significant decrease in CO intensity. 2 Around 90% of water used in the steel industry is cleaned, cooled and returned to source. Most of the loss is due to evaporation. Water returned to rivers and other sources is often cleaner than when extracted. HBIS Tangsteel’s new waste water treatment centre located in North China has a water treatment capacity of 6,000 m3 per hour: 3,000 m3 of the water treated The average energy intensity per tonne of is industrial waste water and 3,000 m3 is urban waste steel produced has dropped from 50 GJ/t in water. Annually the centre saves 24.5 million tonnes of the 1960s to its current level of around fresh water and boasts a waste water 20 GJ/t 100% recovery rate 36 37 WHY ARE WE PROUD OF STEEL? STEEL FACTS Steel is the most recycled material in the world Being magnetic, steel is easy and affordable to recover from almost any waste stream.