Modernizations, expansions and reported capital expenditures for 2004 and 2005 are presented in alphabetical order by company.

Developing a culture that places as much importance on safety practices as steel quality and budgets is the key to moving a safety program to a new level. This article discusses why safety practices should reflect this commitment, and why OSHA standards should be the minimum.

Blast furnace operating practices, combined with equipment development and the implementation of safety-related initiatives, have reduced the severity and number of injuries associated with blast furnace operation. This integration is bringing Dofasco closer to an accident-free workplace.

This article discusses the latest techniques to reduce NOx emissions. Several unique burner configurations are presented, along with a review of various furnace configurations. Fuel efficiency and CO emission considerations are also discussed.

This article presents updated information on the 2004 edition of NFPA 70E, explains various methods for determining incident energy levels at electrical equipment and offers information for determining the proper level of personal protective equipment. The latest developments in arc-blast research are also discussed.

New designs of plants for granulating with hot or cold water are discussed, together with the resulting improvements in the granulation process, sand product and emissions.

This article discusses the practical installation of broken bag detection technology for cost-effective compliance with the latest emission standards. A review of the current status of these rules and their application to EAFs and melting furnaces is provided.

Software to simulate strip shape in a fully continuous cold rolling process is being developed through a joint effort of Quad Engineering Inc. and Dofasco Inc. The first phase of the model development is completed and is described in this paper. In this phase, three underlying models were developed. The first model is a strain rate–based finite difference three-dimensional (3-D) strip deformation model, in which the 3-D strain rate field and stress field are determined. Based on this, the lateral spread and roll force transverse distribution are calculated by integrating the strain rate and stress. The second model calculates the roll stack deflection and work roll 3-D flattening. This model also considers the inter-roll contact length variation and the condition of kiss rolling. The strip 3-D deformation model and roll deformation model were coupled together using an iterative procedure. The third model is an analytical model to simulate the stress unloading process after the roll bite and to determine the tension distribution between stands and after the last stand. Shapemeter readings are predicted by merging the above three models. The model is tuned and verified using the shape data collected from Dofasco’s CPCM (coupled pickling line and cold mill). A graphical user interface was developed to integrate the models into a user-friendly software package. For the next phase, the following models are being developed: an empirical roll surface roughness loss model, a 3-D roll thermal profile model, a 3-D stress unloading and a strip buckling model. These models will be integrated into the existing program to develop a comprehensive cold rolling simulation software package capable of shape and flatness prediction for a fully continuous cold rolling mill.