Abstract
A description is given of practice at the steelplant of SSAB Tunnplåt AB in Luleå, Sweden, and of progress in the recycling of residuals and reducing environmental impact. An extensive study of greenhouse gases in steel production to slabs was carried out by SSAB during the years 2000–02. Current and new processes and possible alternatives were studied, as well as the effect of the product programme. Various emission alternatives were considered using a global calculation(SSAB plus combined heat and power (CHP) plant), and conclusions for long term and short term possibilities were discussed. Major efforts have been made recently to develop process integration technology. In Sweden, this has been realised within a national programme for the total processing industry (steel, pulp and paper, petrochemicals, food). There are synergies, as the optimisation problem itself is relatively similar, independent of industry sector. Similar efforts have been made in other Scandinavian countries, and a joint Scandinavian programme has been carried out. Discussions of ore versus scrap based metallurgy are often founded on the assumption that these routes are alternatives to each other. This is not the case; instead, ore based metallurgy is the first step in a series of subsequent life cycles, and both routes are necessary to carry out the 'cycle of cycles'. The philosophy of this is discussed. The Scandinavian climate makes the use of residual heat energy for district heating and cooling economically important, and a part of energy/sustainability considerations. Significant R&D efforts are being and have been made to increase recycling. Two programmes/centres of excellence in this field are described.
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