Adjusting Reduction and Tension Patterns of Cold Rolled Steel
Key Takeaways Problem: A steel plant in Southeast Asia faced excessive steel breakages, averaging 8 per day—higher than the benchmark of 5 per day—leading to reduced throughput and increased costs. Challenge: Optimising reduction and tension patterns to improve process stability and product quality. Solution: Conducted a 360° diagnosis, identified reduction and tension settings as the […]
Reducing Longitudinal Depression and Hot Cracking in Duplex Stainless Steel Slabs
Key Takeaways Problem: A stainless steel producer in Asia faced defects in duplex stainless steel slabs due to improper casting parameters and powder formulations. Challenge: Defects led to material loss, reducing yield and disrupting downstream operations. Solution: Identified defect causes, optimised casting settings and powder formulations, and provided staff training. Improvements: Reduced grinding loss to […]
Optimising EAF Chromium oxide recovery and Oxygen Consumption for Duplex and Ferritic Stainless Steels
Key Takeaways Here are five key takeaways from this document: Problem: A client in Asia faced high oxygen and aluminium consumption in a 140-tonne EAF, leading to chromium losses in slag. Challenge: High operating costs due to inefficient raw material use and chromium losses. Solution: Reviewed and optimised EAF processes, including oxygen injection, charge mix, […]
Optimising AOD Chemical Composition of Duplex Stainless Steel
Key Takeaways Problem: A stainless steel producer in Southeast Asia faced quality issues due to non-optimised chemical compositions, leading to frequent casting defects. Challenge: Needed to optimise chemical composition to ensure consistent product quality. Solution: Adjusted desulphurisation and decarburisation steps and proposed SOP modifications for better chemical control. Improvements: Reduced steel sulphur content, controlled hydrogen […]
Operational excellence program at an Eastern European steel plant: Increasing yield by 15% with less than 1 million USD of capital expenditure
Key Takeaways Here are five key takeaways from this document: Problem: An Eastern European steel plant was underperforming, with low yield, high energy use, and inefficient scrap management. Budget for capital investments was very limited. Challenge: Key issues included long tap-to-tap times, outdated practices, and energy consumption far above benchmarks. Scrap operations and burner performance […]
Reflections on UK Metals Expo 2024: Insights and Opportunities for the Steel Industry
Key Takeaways: TATA Steel UK announced a £1.25 billion project to transition from traditional BF-BOF production to EAF technology, significantly reducing CO2 emissions. EAF production is seen as crucial for UK decarbonisation, yet only a small percentage of UK steel production currently uses EAF. High electricity costs in the UK present a major challenge, with […]
Steel at the Core: Driving Economic Diversification in Saudi Arabia
This article reflects on a two-week visit by Dr. Yasser Aboura, Senior Project Manager and Metallurgist at Steel Hub, to several steel plants across Saudi Arabia. During this visit, Steel Hub engaged in discussions with various steel producers, addressing operational and market challenges facing the Saudi steel industry in light of Vision 2030. This ambitious […]
Blast Furnace to EAF Transition: Navigating Challenges and Market Gaps
Main Takeaways The steel industry is shifting from traditional blast furnace (BF) methods to electric arc furnace (EAF) production to reduce carbon emissions and meet increasing demand, with EAF’s share of global steel production expected to rise from 28% to 41% by 2030. This transition is particularly notable in North America and Europe. EAFs require […]
The Rise of Steel Production in the MENA Region : Paving the way for a brighter future
Main Takeaways The MENA region, with an annual steel production capacity of 70 million tonnes, has substantial growth potential driven by infrastructure expansion and economic diversification efforts. The region is shifting towards more advanced steel production technologies, such as Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) operations, to meet increasing local demand and improve cost efficiency. The transition […]
How Remote Work Enhances Steel Operations
The pandemic accelerated trends that have been occurring already before it started, such as cashless payments, online shopping and remote work. Digital technology is an enabler of these trends. Remote work implies that office staff can attend online meetings just as easily from home as from their workplace and meanwhile keep safe.