For more than a century, producing steel involved high heat, coal, and took a long time. Researchers in China claim that the technology called flash ironmaking takes just seconds to produce steel using no coal and near-zero emissions.
The modern warehouse relies on steel for equipment such as packing tables, picking trolleys, and storage racks. Normally, steel used in this equipment is manufactured using iron ore and coke in a blast furnace, a process that requires a heat of about 1,600 °C. The downside of steel making is that each tonne of steel produced generates around 1.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Steel is responsible for 6-7% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
There are several ways to make steel production greener, including using electric arc furnaces, renewable energy sources, and recycling more steel. Professor Zhang Wenhai of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a team from the same institution have developed flash ironmaking, a process that injects finely ground iron ore powder through a vortex lance to create steel. It is said that this method takes between three and six seconds, 3,600 times faster than conventional steel making.
Professor Zhang claims that flash ironmaking reduces the energy costs of steelmaking by a third whilst creating almost zero carbon emissions. Flash ironmaking also has the benefit of being able to use cheaper, lower-grade iron ore produced in China rather than relying on higher-grade imported ore. China produces 56% of the world’s steel. Flash ironmaking changes how steel is made and it is possible it could revolutionise the steel industry.
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