Pioneering Process Improvement in Iron & Steel

In 2006, world crude steel production reached1.24 billion metric tons, which was an 8.8 per cent increase from 2005. Over the past ten years the most remarkable growth has been in the China and Asia region, where demand for the material has also been at its strongest. In 2006, the top three steel producing countries were China, Japan and the U.S.

Transforming Processes

Clyde Materials Handling is an established customer-driven solutions provider, which utilises its knowledge, expertise and technologies to transform the production processes of its customers who operate within the iron & steel industry.Clyde Materials Handling has helped their global iron & steelcustomer base transform the way in which they operate their processes, which has enabled them to generate sustainable economic benefits and maintain their positions as leaders in their market.Clyde Materials Handling’s pneumatic conveying solutionshave been able to transport various materials in an unrestricted, controlled and continuous manner at low velocity, consuming low volumes of compressed air.Clyde’s pneumatic injection solutions have been used to injectan array of materials such as iron ore, granular coal, pulverised coal, carbon, dust, charcoal, lime, plastics and recycled scraps into a range of ironmaking production processes. It is vitally important to the performance of a process that a consistent, stable and smooth feed of material is accomplished so that processes can be stabilised allowing superior levels of production returns to be attained. Steel producers are striving to accomplish higher returns fromincumbent equipment and to utilise the process to its highest level of production. To do this, many have found that exemplary injection accuracy and a stable, pulseless feed allows much higher material injection rates. Clyde is unique in Steel is created by essentially combining iron ore, coking coal,limestone and hot air in a process vessel, known as a blast industrial furnace, to produce molten iron. This molten iron is periodically tapped to produce pig iron or can be directed to abasic oxygen furnace, which treats and converts the molten iron into molten steel. Molten steel is then transported to either slab or bloom continuous casting machines where a variety of finished products are created, which include bars, billets, plates and coils.Clyde Materials Handling has, over the past three decades,developed a range of pneumatic conveying and injection solutions that have been deployed on various iron and steel making processes, such as a blast furnace, mini blast furnace, FINEX
® ,COREX
® and HIsmelt
® .These pneumatic conveyingand injection technologies have been utilised to help producers reliably, accurately and efficiently handle the raw materials required to produce steel.In 2002, the world steel industry established a policy onsustainable development. In order to provide the industry with asystematic way of measuring their progress in fulfilling their sustainable development commitment, 11 sustainability indicators were developed which would measure the industry’s economic, environmental and social performance, which included reducing energy intensity, greenhouse gas emissions and generating material efficiency. We, at Clyde Materials Handling, understand the importanceof reducing energy per tonne of production, reducing carbon emissions, reducing non-renewable material consumption and re-using waste materials into process and are committed, as an organisation, to helping our customers in the iron & steel market create solutions that tackle these objectives.