Click here for a list of Advertisers

April 2007
Vol. 4, No. 4
Safety and Environmental Technologies

About the Cover

U.S. Steel Košice: A Modern Steel Producer
Theodore J. Leczo, steel industry consultant (tjleczo@hotmail.com)

U. S. Steel Košice is one of the largest fully integrated, flat rolled steelmakers in Central Europe, producing and selling hot rolled and cold rolled material, value-added coated sheet, spiral welded pipes and panel radiators to a multitude of global corporations throughout the European Union and other European countries.

Minimizing the Cost of Arc Flash Evaluation Studies
Dan Laird, associate professor, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio (dlaird@ysu.edu)

This paper examines the criteria required to perform an arc flash analysis on a steel producing facility, including what information can be gathered in-house and what must be completed by a licensed power
systems engineer. A strategic program for minimizing outside costs is presented.

A Corporate Mass and Energy Simulation Model for an Integrated Steel Plant
Harry Gou (left), process automation consultant, and Susan Olynyk (right), senior energy specialist, Dofasco Inc., Hamilton, Ont., Canada (harry_gou@dofasco.ca, susan_olynyk@dofasco.ca)

A comprehensive model developed by Dofasco can monitor and simulate the material and energy flows through and between individual manufacturing processes. The model development and some example results are presented, as well as the model’s advantages.

Passive Dust Control for Steel Mills — Controlling Dust Without the Use of Baghouses or Suppression
Steven Arthur Bradbury, formerly of Air Control Science Inc., Boulder, Colo.

This paper investigates the application of passive dust control at various points in iron ore and steel production. In addition, the integration of Dustless Transfer® and air-supported conveyor technologies is shown to control dust, eliminate spillage and increase capacity at a large integrated steel mill.

The Use of Sand-ballasted Settling Technology to Improve Water Treatment Results
Keith A. Benson, project manager, John D. Casey, manager — wastewater solutions, Mark E. Smock, senior process specialist, Larry Gurnari, business development — Power/CPI/Biopharm market sectors, and Carla G. Robinson, project developer, N.A. Water Systems LLC, Moon Township, Pa. (john.casey@veoliawater.com); and Joyce S. Perri, formerly of N.A. Water Systems LLC

ACTIFLO® technology, which treats a wide range of water and wastewater streams, can reduce costs, minimize space requirements, and increase treatment plant reliability in the iron and steel industry. Successful installations under a variety of operating conditions are described.

Numerical Study of Pb Addition Effects on Hot-dip Galvanized Steel Microstructure Using Novel Hexagonal Growth Laws
Ali Chirazi, TomoMat Technology Transfer Unit, Cedex, France; Angéline Poulon-Quintin, Guy Reumont and Jacques Foct, Laboratoire de Métallurgie Physique et Génie des Matériaux, Universite de Lille, Cedex, France (chirazi@icmcb-bordeaux.cnrs.fr)
Featureless galvanized steel sheets are used extensively in automotive and related industries. The influence of additions such as Pb on the final solidification morphology of hot-dip galvanized steel sheets has already been observed experimentally. In this paper, a CAFD (cellular-automata and finite difference) model proposed by P.D. Lee et al. is used. Novel dendritic growth laws taking into account the preferential and nonpreferential growth directions of the hexagonal geometry, coupled to real pseudo-binary and pseudo-ternary phase diagrams of a Zn-Fe-Al-Pb system, are developed for the present study. The Zn-Fe-Al-Pb alloy system is considered a realistic approximation of the galvanization layer. Simulation results are compared to experimental observations for microstructure and microsegregation. Numerical results confirm the experimental observations, based on which the addition of Pb decreases the grain number and increases the grain size, and therefore encourages the formation of spangle-like features on the galvanized surface of the steel sheet. The experimentally validated numerical model is intended to be used as a time-efficient, multiparametric and inexpensive alternative to experimental procedures used for the galvanization study and optimization in an industrial environment.