Items Tagged with 'steelmaking'

SMS group and SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together on sustainable steel production and decarbonization efforts. The MoU signifies their commitment to drive developments focused on implementing long-term sustainable steelmaking practices, with an emphasis on decarbonizing steel production in SAIL’s integrated steel plants across India.

Hybar, a newly formed company, successfully raised $700 million of debt and equity financing to build, start up and operate an environmentally sustainable scrap-metal recycling steel rebar mill in Osceola, Ark. The mill, which is expected to take 22 months to construct, is being built on a 1,300-acre greenfield site with direct access to barge, rail and truck transportation options. It will produce a full complement of high-yielding rebar that will primarily be used in large infrastructure projects, including projects supported by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Hybar plans to produce 630,000 tons of rebar annually with approximately 154 employees.

Steel Dynamics Inc. signed a renewable product purchase agreement (RPPA) with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources for 308 megawatts of energy to be produced by a new wind-farm project in Scurry County, Texas. Once operational, the wind-farm project is expected to produce approximately 1.1 million MWh of electricity annually, equivalent to 16% of the Steel Dynamics’ EAF steel mills’ electricity usage in 2022. In addition, the deal is expected to contribute to the company’s long-term reduction of Scope 2 greenhouse-gas emissions.

Danieli Centro Combustion will supply a 180-ton/hour walking-beam furnace, along with automation and material-handling equipment upstream and downstream of the furnace, to Nucor-Yamato Steel’s beam mill in Blytheville, Ark. The reheating furnace will deliver optimum thermal efficiency and minimum environmental impact through low carbon footprint and NOx emissions. The solution includes an optimized material-handling layout to be executed in phases, which will allow Nucor-Yamato to maintain production using the existing furnace without any major interruptions. This also will reflect minimal changes to the existing layout, enabling the use and retention of most of the existing equipment until the new equipment is installed.

Algoma Steel Group Inc. reported a fatal incident involving an employee of a contractor who was retained to perform specialized maintenance work at the company’s facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. On the afternoon of June 15, the worker lost consciousness while cleaning an out-of-service gas line. Algoma Steel Emergency Services personnel responded immediately with assistance from Sault Ste. Marie Fire and Paramedic Services. The worker was transported to Sault Area Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.

Tenova will supply an electric-arc furnace (EAF) equipped with a continuous scrap charging system and an electromagnetic stirring system to Posco for its Gwangyang plant in South Korea. The South Korean steelmaker, which produced approximately 43 million tons of steel in 2022, is gradually converting from the BF-BOF route toward electric steelmaking. After a two-year process of co-engineering and competitive comparison, Posco selected a full-platform EAF from Tenova capable of tapping 280 tons of liquid steel. The new EAF will be uniquely designed to match Posco’s needs of quality, productivity and efficiency and will include a full set of robotic applications and enhanced safety solutions.

The U.S. Department of Energy selected Arizona State University (ASU) to receive up to $70 million to establish a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute devoted to fighting greenhouse-gas emissions from industrial process heating. ASU will lead the multi-institution effort known as Electrified Processes for Industry Without Carbon, or EPIXC. The institute will support expanded use of clean electricity for industrial process heating in steelmaking and ironmaking. It will operate as a public-private partnership conducting research, development, demonstration and deployment of relevant technologies as well as necessary workforce training. 

Nucor Corp. signed an agreement with ExxonMobil to capture, transport and store carbon from the company’s direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant in Convent, La. ExxonMobil will capture up to 800,000 metric tons per year of CO₂ from the DRI plant and store it at an ExxonMobil-owned facility in Louisiana. The project is expected to start up in 2026 and supports Louisiana’s objective of reaching net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.

NuScale Power Corp. and Nucor Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore co-locating NuScale’s VOYGR small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) power plants to provide clean, reliable baseload electricity to Nucor’s scrap-based electric-arc furnace (EAF) steel mills. The companies will also explore an expanded manufacturing partnership through which Nucor would supply Econiq, its net-zero steel products, for NuScale projects. As part of the MOU, the companies will evaluate site suitability, transmission interconnection capabilities and capital costs for potential NuScale plants to be sited near and provide carbon-free electricity to Nucor EAF steel mills.

Brooklyn, N.Y.-based 72 Steel will invest approximately $218 million to build a steel manufacturing plant in Aliquippa, Pa. The nearly 44-acre site sits just outside of Pittsburgh and once was site of the former Jones & Laughlin/LTV steel mill. The company said it will use the world’s most advanced steel production technology and have an annual output of 500,000 tons of capacity. 72 Steel will mainly produce rebar and section steel that will be used in building structures, bridges and workshops. Its products will also be used by other industries.