Steel Manufacture - Sources and Properties of Raw Material Feedstocks - Article Example

Steel manufacture: sources and Properties of Raw Material Feedstock’s Steel is one of the metals that have always been high on demand from day one, with its usage varying through a wide spectrum as in industries, constructions, containers to house hold necessities. The steel rates, is one of the commodity that has been growing up constantly over decades and is expected to grow so. The largest manufacture of steel till the turn of 21st century (2000) was US and EU but now it is comfortably surpassed by Asian countries as China and India closely following the heel. Raw materials needed in steel making: The steel that is discussed here is the main steel produced, carbon steel which further with addition of alloy sir attuned to other forms. The major raw materials required is iron ore, and Manganese ore as fuel and reducing agent- coal , coke and petrofuels as fluxes- Limestone and Dolomite and Quartz as refractories- Silica, Magnesite and Alumina The main ore is the iron oxide, a compound of iron and oxygen. The hematite -abundantly available, limonite- the brown ore, taconite, and magnetite- black ore are principal ore. To make quality steel, an ore with iron content of at least 50% is to be processed in the furnace. This is economically taken care by many industries by removing rocks and major impurities before shipping, by subjecting it to a process of beneficiation, which includes the process as crushing, screening, tumbling, floatation, and magnetic separation. This increases the iron content by 60% that is then made as pellets and shipped. The next raw materials as coke (the residue left after heating coal in the absence of air, that has up to 90% carbon) and limestone (CaCO3) or burnt lime (CaO). These are added to the blast furnace at intervals, where the limestone or burnt lime is used as a fluxing material that forms a slag on top of the liquid metal. On an average it could be said that, to produce one ton of steel, two tons of ore, one ton of coke, and a half ton of limestone are required. Apart from it other minor elements as Carbon (0.5 to 1.25%), Manganese (0.03% to1.0%), small quantity of Phosphorus (0.04%), and Silica (0.5- 0.3%) are needed. The coal is needed as energy for the steel making that is spend for 60% of energy needs. Also scrap steel is used in the process. There are variety and grades of steel made by varying the amount of raw materials used. The iron ore is available earlier in bulk form, whereas now it is available in pellet form. The Coke and coal are available in bulk form.The limestone or burned lime is thus used as the flexing material and it has an oxidizing effect on the liquid metal underneath which helps greatly to remove the impurities. The Carbon, an important element in steel is added for strength, Manganese helps to remove unwanted oxygen and to control sulfur, where sulfur is known to make steel brittle or hot – short. The Phosphorus is added for adding strength and formidability to steel in small amount which when in excess reduces steels flexibility. The Silicon strengthens the steel by deoxidizing the molten steel. The Oxygen is another major element that is injected into the furnace mainly to improve and speed up the steel production. Other metals as Chromium, Molybdenum, Nickel, Aluminum, Cobalt, Tungsten, Vanadium and Titanium are added to form alloys. Sources and suppliers of raw material: The Ukraine (19%), Russia (16%), Canada (14%) China (13%), Australia (5%), Brazil (14%) are best sources of Iron ore. Coal - The greatest reservoir of coal is United States ( 27%), Russia ( 17%), China (13%), India (10%), Australia (9%) and South Africa (5%). Manganese - The supplier of Manganese is usually South Africa, Australia and Brazil. Phosphorus & Silicon – US, China & China, Russia respectively. Scrap Steel - Usually available from African countries that are shipped to United States and Western Europe. Molybdenum – US, Canada, China. Nickel – Russia, Australia, Canada. Cobalt – Congo, Zambia. Tungsten – China, Russia, Canada. South Africa, China, Russia are also largest exporter of Chromium and Vanadium. The Cost of raw material It could be estimated as Iron ore – 65 Cents / dmtu. Thermal Coal – 56.8 $ per tonne. Coking Coal – 8.27 $ per tonne. Natural Gas – 182.2 $ / 1000 m3. Steel Scrap – 200 to 210 $ per tonne Electricity – 5.23 Cents / KwH The Iron ore here refers to quality one that contains 67.55% iron in it. The Material Safety Data Sheet ( MSDS ) for the raw materials in steel making Limestone – CaCO3 – Also called as chalk, marble, appears as white crystal or powder with the melting point of 825’C. It is stable and incompatible with acid, fluorine, ammonium salts and alum. On transportation it is non hazardous for air, sea and road as a personal protection it is expected to minimizes exposure to dust. It is irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin on exposure. So as a safety measure it is advice to wear suitable protecting clothing during handling and to immediately rinse with plenty of water on contact with eyes. Burnt Lime – CaO – Also called as quick lime, burnt lime, etc appears white to gray solid and as a melting point of 2572’C and boiling point of 2850’C. It is stable and it is found to in compatible with water, Fluorine and strong acids. It is harmful on swallowing and it is known to cause severe irritation or burns on contact with skin or eyes. As a personal protection it is advice to wear safety glasses and avoid exposure to dust. The Ore Iron oxide – is described to be red to reddish brown in color whose dust may act as a irritant. It is also irritating to eyes, skin and respiratory systems. And on transport it is advised to wear safety glasses and is found to be non-hazardous in air, sea and road. In case of contact with eyes is advised to wash with plenty of water. The steel industry in future: It could be aptly explained that steel industry is one of the industry that is highly affected by the world environmental, economical and Global market. Till 2000 it was the US who was the major producer of steel but now it is highly surpassed by Asian countries like China and India. Steel being a main ingredient of a plethora of manufactures ranging from auto mobiles to utensils its price is raised due to the higher demand from the customer. The main reason, being the high demand of iron ore which has risen considerably over years, due to its depleting nature. Also the price of transport and export of raw materials and the labor cost has grown up. Over next 5 years it could be comfortably predicted with the present scenario that steel prices will still raise from 10 to 25% mainly due to the increased rate of raw materials, higher rate of depiction of energy resource - mainly coal making the manufactures to look for and establish the alternative energy resource as nuclear and atomic energy which again would add up its cost. The shortage of raw material coupled with weakening of dollars would again add up to the woe. This in turn would be attributed to the higher level of steel consumption with increasing infra structure built all over the world. The main reason for the present day situation and obviously for the future also would be the main stand off China, which has increased it level of manufacturing and consumption. The increased steel consumption explosion of China alone has risen up by 30% which has send up the prices of raw material soaring high. With the promising rampant economic growth of Asia – China and India especially definitely it could be forecasted that there would be increased consumption of energy and industrial raw materials owing to the depleting nature of raw material would in turn increase the price of steel. Another major issue is the worsening global energy consumption which would heavily have an impact on steel production. Iron ore is named to be one of the fast depleting with almost 1.25 billion tones being consumed every year. In future the iron ore will be high undoubtedly might be due to the market position of large firms as CVRD, BHP and Rio Tinto, also increasing cost of transport coking coal would add to the foe. The picture shows that already scrap metal demand world wide is high and supply is very short of demand. The scrap metal prices have tripled from 2002 to 2004 that is further bound to increase. One pleasing thing would be that through the prices may raise the raw material are still available in sufficient quality and immediate depletion is not in the anvil. But ht demand of raw material being high the transport charges soaring up, prices may fluctuate randomly. In nutshell it could be said the price of steel making would increase in next decade owing to Increased Chinese Consumption- an increased production nad consumption Raw materials shortage of iron ore, coke and scrap Shortage of shipping Global pressure Thus with this development it is sure that though the price may increase , the scarcity or depletion would not be there. References: 1. http://science.jrank.org/pages/6483/Steel-Raw-materials.html 2. http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS 3. USGS (US Geological Survey): Mineral Commodity Summaries 2005 (http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/). 4. Robert Dicianni ,2003 , Steel Update: The Rising Cost of Steel ,Structural change in the steel industry will change pricing patterns for moldmakers in the next several years. http://www.moldmakingtechnology.com/articles/080402.html Read More