Schedule
6–8 October 2026 • Drury Plaza Hotel Cleveland Downtown • Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Tuesday, 6 October 2026 | |
| 7 a.m. | Registration and Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. | Welcome, Introductions and Opening Remarks John Hill, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. |
| 8:15 a.m. | Introduction to Energy Management for the Steel Industry Chris Price, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Energy management systems such as ISO 50001 provide a proven framework for achieving sustained energy and cost savings. Facilities that adopt formal energy management consistently outperform those using informal approaches. This presentation highlights U.S. Department of Energy technical assistance programs that support energy management system implementation, with a focus on sector specific opportunities for the iron and steel industry. |
| 9:15 a.m. | Energy Systems Within Steel Mills Josh Davich, Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor This presentation will cover energy savings initiatives across the steel industry that result in impactful process improvements and tangible cost-savings to ensure a sustainable future. |
| 9:45 a.m. | Break |
| 10 a.m. | Forging Steel’s Strength With Sustainable, Reliable and Affordable Natural Gas April Stephens, Enbridge Ohio This presentation traces the natural gas process cycle from the ground to steel mill, highlights the operational, economic, and environmental benefits of using natural gas in steel manufacturing processes, and examines the emerging role of hydrogen blending |
| 10:30 a.m. | Renewable Energy Sources Ben Chadwick, Constellation Offsite Renewables This presentation reviews technical options for lowering scope 2 emissions, prioritizing efficiency and evaluating carbon free supply strategies for remaining demand. Attendees will gain a structured understanding of renewable energy certificates, power purchase agreements, virtual power purchase agreements and on /off site solutions, along with regional market constraints. A comparative analysis of renewable versus carbon free approaches highlights differences in emissions accounting, reliability and procurement flexibility. |
| 11 a.m. | Nuclear Power — What Is It and What Can It Do for Steel? Herbert Lam, Hatch This training explores the fundamentals of nuclear power, its role in providing reliable baseload electricity, and how it can be utilized to support the steel industry. |
| 11:30 a.m. | Power Availability for Mills in the Age of Data Centers Raj Bazaj, Constellation Energy This session examines current power system demand–supply dynamics, and how engineered, site specific strategies optimize reliability, cost performance and sustainability outcomes. A focused review of on site generation architectures is paired with steel mill case studies demonstrating load matching, resilience gains and measurable efficiency improvements. |
| 12:15 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:15 p.m. | Steel Mill/Electric Utility Partnership: A View From Both Sides Tim Burttram, Big River Steel – A U. S. Steel Co., and Matt Faries, Entergy Arkansas This presentation provides an overview of Big River Steel’s approach to electricity procurement and management, including its interface with Entergy and participation in MISO. Topics include metering, monitoring, and reporting practices; contract negotiations; and the role of Big River Steel as a load management resource, along with an overview of Entergy’s power generation mix. |
| 2:15 p.m. | Understanding Your Industrial Electricity Bills Chris Price, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Industrial electricity bills are often difficult to interpret, making it challenging to control energy costs. This presentation explains how understanding electricity rate tariffs and usage patterns can help facilities avoid unnecessary charges. Attendees will learn how managing when and how electricity is used can reduce penalties such as power factor and ratchet charges. |
| 3:15 p.m. | Break |
| 3:30 p.m. | Process Heating — State of the Art and Where the Industry Is Going Anup Sane, Air Products This presentation reviews combustion and process heating applications in the steel industry, highlighting state‑of‑the‑art energy‑efficient technologies such as regenerative and recuperative burners and oxy‑fuel combustion. It also explores emerging trends including hydrogen and ammonia fuels, carbon capture integration, and the growing role of automation and AI in advanced combustion systems. |
| 4 p.m. | What You Don’t Know Can Kill You: Energy and Fuel Safety Lessons From the Steel Industry John Puskar, Prescient Technical Services LLC Steel facilities operate with high energy density, complex fuel systems and narrow operating margins. While reliability and cost often drive decisions, history shows that misunderstandings of fuel and energy system behavior — especially during abnormal or nonroutine conditions — have led to fires, explosions and serious injuries. This session uses real-world steel and heavy industrial incidents to show how assumptions, knowledge gaps or misunderstood safeguards allow events to escalate. The focus is practical: how systems actually behave when valves leak, interlocks are bypassed, purges are inadequate or conditions drift from normal. Topics include common fuel and energy hazards in steel operations, practical application of relevant codes and standards, and recurring human and organizational factors seen in investigations. The session closes with key warning signs and questions that operators, engineers and safety professionals should recognize before an incident occurs — because what you don’t understand can be fatal. |
| 4:45 p.m. | Day 1 Wrap-Up |
| 5–6 p.m. | Reception |
Wednesday, 7 October 2026 | |
| 7 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. | Understanding Electric Motor Standards, Ratings and Maintenance; What’s New in Motors |
| 8:45 a.m. | Getting the Most Out of Your Motor: Repairing and Rewinding |
| 9:15 a.m. | Achievable Pump System Optimization — Winning the Trifecta of Efficiency, Reliability and Sustainability Bob Jennings, Hydro Inc. This presentation goes beyond C-Suite buzzwords and talks about the practical and achievable steps for implementing pump system optimization. |
| 10 a.m. | Break |
| 10:15 a.m. | Case Studies From Variable Frequency Drive Installations Sheldon Bode, Energy Drive Systems This session examines the cost drivers behind industrial energy use and why optimizing flow systems delivers outsized savings. It contrasts affinity‑law‑based control with throttling and bypass methods, emphasizing accurate interpretation of process requirements. Case studies illustrate how right‑sizing control strategies reduces energy consumption, improves system stability and avoids common design misconceptions. |
| 11 a.m. | Variable Frequency Drives as a Component of Energy Efficiency and Sustainability James Sharp, Energy Drive Systems Variable‑frequency‑drive projects often hinge on clear internal justification and robust financial modeling. This presentation reviews return on investment and internal rate of return calculations, ensuring all relevant operational and maintenance inputs are captured. The role of grants and incentives in strengthening business cases is examined, along with repeatable procurement frameworks. A detailed analysis of a representative large-MV installation illustrates the full evaluation process. |
| 11:45 a.m. | Day 2 Wrap-Up and Briefing on Plant Tour |
| Noon | Lunch |
| 1 p.m. | Rockwell Automation Introduction and Plant Tour *Tour size may be limited and attendance subject to final plant approval |
| 4:45 p.m. | Return From Plant Tour and Post-Tour Discussion |
| 5 p.m. | Adjourn |
Thursday, 8 October 2026 | |
| 7 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. | Boiler Basics and Technology Innovations Jeff Coale, RMB Engineered Products Industrial boiler systems are a major source of energy use and loss in steel mill operations. This presentation examines common inefficiencies and practical strategies for improvement, including combustion optimization, excess air control, and heat recovery opportunities such as economizers and air preheaters. It also addresses steam system integration and monitoring approaches to sustain long‑term energy savings. |
| 8:45 a.m. | Pressure to Perform: Unlocking Energy Savings in Steelmaking With Efficient and Reliable Air Systems Wendy DiMino, Universal Compressed Air Understand a few simple ways to immediately optimize a compressed air system’s efficiency and reliability, while recognizing cost savings. |
| 9:15 a.m. | Best Practices for Industrial LED Lighting Javier Pina, Dialight |
| 9:45 a.m. | Break |
| 10 a.m. | Process Heating — State of the Art and Where the Industry Is Going Anup Sane, Air Products Effective industrial lighting design requires a holistic approach focused on reliability, performance and user experience. This presentation explores integrated design practices that address durability, power and mechanical considerations, and optical performance to deliver light where it is needed most. It also emphasizes ease of installation, safety and quality-driven manufacturing processes that ensure consistent, long‑term performance in demanding industrial environments. |
| 10:45 a.m. | Saving Energy Using Simulation and Visualization Chenn Zhou, Purdue University Northwest Advanced computer simulation and visualization technologies are increasingly playing a key role for saving energy in steel manufacturing. These technologies can provide coherent understandings of complex phenomena and processes, and enable faster and better decision-making for process design, optimization, troubleshooting, scale-up and training. The Steel Manufacturing Simulation and Visualization Consortium (SMSVC) was formed with the mission to develop and implement innovative technical solutions, through the integration of advanced computer simulation and visualization technologies, for the value chain of U.S. steel manufacturing. Energy saving is one of major focuses in SMSVC research. To-date research outcomes include improved energy efficiencies and energy reduction opportunities. This presentation will include an overview of the SMSVC, simulation and visualization technologies, and methodologies of integrating computer simulation, augmented reality/virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Examples of high-impact project examples in various ironmaking and steelmaking processes will be presented. |
| 11:30 a.m. | Energy Recovery and Improved Efficiency for Steelmaking Sandeep Alavandi, GTI Energy Improving energy efficiency is critical to reducing costs and emissions in industrial operations. This presentation examines the importance of efficiency and the potential for energy recovery across industrial systems. Through select use cases, it highlights technology advancements that enable energy recovery and performance gains, and discusses practical pathways for industry adoption of these solutions. |
| 12:15 p.m. | Day 3 Wrap-Up and Prize Drawing |
| 12:30 p.m. | Conference Adjourn |