Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 12
Recent Resource and Environmental Issues
in the Steel Industry
Eiki Kasai
Abstract
The theme of efficient use of resources is developed by looking at the
resource and environmental issues raised by the extraction and refining of iron and
steel. Recent resource and environmental trends in the steel industry are reviewed
from the perspective of the mineral sources available, future population and eco-
nomic trends and their impact on resources, and the potential for meeting demands
for steel in an environmentally-friendly way. Approaches such as utilization of
hydrogen-bearing fuels and/or biomass wastes instead of coke as reducing agents of
iron ores to reduce carbon dioxide emission are described, and a vision of sustain-
able iron and steel making is proposed.
Keywords
Iron and steel industry
·
Environmental impacts of steel production
·
Iron ore resources
·
Recycling of iron
·
Steel
12.1
Background to Iron and Steel
If we go back to its original source, iron is the final element produced through the
nuclear fusion ongoing within stars. This has led to it being more widespread in
space compared with other elements with atomic numbers close to iron, as shown in
Fig.
12.1
. Elements having larger atomic numbers than iron have mostly originated
from supernova explosions in bigger stars and are thus found in lower amounts. The
distribution of elements in the earth is thus the consequence of several generational
changes of stars after the Big Bang and the existing ratio of iron within the earth's
crust is relatively high at approx. 5.6 % (mass). Iron also is the main component of
the earth's core.
This abundance, combined with its ease of extraction and working have made
iron a cheap and most popular metal in human society. While iron was first pro-
duced in the Iron Age many millennia ago, after the industrial revolution it has
become a core material which underpins industry to the extent that the amount of
