Modern Technologies in Metallurgy and Global Trends

In fact, metallurgy is not an old-fashioned field, as is often believed, because it keeps pace with other sectors, following the main world trends. Today, the main focus is on “carbon neutral production of steel”. This allows this area to cope with environmental issues and regulatory pressure.

Today, the main focus is on “carbon neutral production of steel”. This allows this area to cope with environmental issues and regulatory pressure.

The growing demand for high quality steel requires special attention to equipment, both in new and modern enterprises, with digitization becoming an integral part of all stages of manufacturing activities.

Generally speaking, steel will be made in a sustainable, carbon-free, safe, rational and improved way in the future, which will probably lead to the creation of materials with such characteristics, which is hard to believe today. Anyway, let’s start with the beginning.

Hydrogen Vs. carbon
There is no need to demonstrate the need to move to “carbon neutral production of steel”, which is expected to make the manufacturing process more environmentally friendly. There are several directions to follow in this area. The first is currently considered the most environmentally friendly: the transition from carbon to hydrogen. Carbon reducing agents are replaced by hydrogen in various ways.

Metallurgical giants such as ArcelorMittal, voestalpine, SSAB, Dillinger and several other manufacturers have already begun to develop this technology. Nippon Steel in Japan has announced plans to switch from carbon to hydrogen technology by 2025. The necessary industrial plant is now missing, and when it is launched, it will operate on a small scale. However, this development is encouraging. The pilot industrial plants are expected to be put into operation in 2021.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *