Steel worldwide production

Other DR Processes. The other DR processes, eg, the CODIR, DRC, ACCAR, and Dav Steel processes, make up 4.4% of worldwide production and mosdy consist of coal-based, rotary-kiln processes. Ah of these are similar to the SL/RN process. In addition, one small coal-based, shaft-furnace plant based on the Kinglor-Metor process is operating. 

Historical. Pyridines were first isolated by destructive distillation of animal bones in the mid-nineteenth century (2). A more plentifiil source was found in coal tar, the condensate from coking ovens, which served the steel industry. Coal tar contains roughly 0.01% pyridine bases by weight. Although present in minute quantities, any basic organics can be easily extracted as an acid-soluble fraction in water and separated from the acid-insoluble tar. The acidic, aqueous phase can then be neutrali2ed with base to Hberate the pyridines, and distilled into separate compounds. Only a small percentage of worldwide production of pyridine bases can be accounted for by isolation from coal tar. Almost all pyridine bases are made by synthesis. 

Normally, zircon sand is readily available as a by-product of mtile and ilmenite mining at ca 150 per metric ton. However, zircon and baddeleyite are obtained as by-products of their operations, and therefore, the supply is limited by the demand for other minerals. In 1974, when a use for zircon in tundish nozzles developed in the Japanese steel industry, a resulting surge in demand and stockpiling raised zircon prices to 500/t. Worldwide production by country is given in Reference 80. 

Iron has been the dominant structural material of modem times, and despite the growth in importance of aluminum and plastics, iron still ranks first in total use. Worldwide production of steel (iron strengthened by additives) is on the order of 700 million tons per year. The most important iron ores are two oxides, hematite (Fc2 O3) and magnetite (Fc3 O4). The production of iron from its ores involves several chemical processes that take place in a blast furnace. As shown in Figure 20-22. this is an enormous chemical reactor where heating, reduction, and purification all occur together. 

The corrosion resistance of iron-chromium alloys was known in England and France in the early 1800s, but passivity was not clearly recognized and reasonably understood until 1910 as the result of studies by Borchers and Monnartz in Germany. Commercial stainless steels were introduced shortly thereafter in Germany, France, England, and a bit later in the United Slates. Worldwide production of stainless steels now is measured in terms of millions of ions annually... 

The transition metals iron and copper have been known since antiquity and have played an important role in the development of civilization. Iron, the main constituent of steel, is still important as a structural material. Worldwide production of steel amounts to some 800 million tons per year. In newer technologies, other transition elements are useful. For example, the strong, lightweight metal titanium is a major component in modern jet aircraft. Transition metals are also used as heterogeneous catalysts in automobile catalytic converters and in the industrial synthesis of essential chemicals such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and ammonia. 

The basic oxygen furnace can convert up to 300 tonnes of pig iron to steel per hour. Worldwide production by this process is 430 million tonnes. 

Polymer blends offer improved performance/cost ratio and flexibility to tailor-made products. Compatible, incompatible, miscible, and immiscible blends are distinguished from each other. Polymer alloys are a commercial blends with improved property balance by use of a compatibilizer. By 1992, the worldwide production of plastics was twice that of steel. The manufacture of polymers would grow by a factor of 10 prior to market saturation. Table 1.1 provided a chronology of events in technology development in the field of polymer blends since the nitrile rubber/gutta percha was blended in 1846 first through the development of PPS/PBT in 1990. 

The worldwide production of steel is slowly increasing, but the production of electric-arc furnace steel is increasing at a more rapid rate. This rate reached 28% of total production in 1990 as shown in Fig. 5.11. The major producers by area are Europe, North America, and Japan. 

The transition elements iron, cobalt, and nickel comprise the iron triad. Iron, with an annual worldwide production of more than 1.1 billion metric tons, is the most important metal in modern civilization. It is widely distributed in Earth s crust at an abundance of 4.7%. The major commercial use of iron is to make steel (see Section 23-3). 

Production and Shipment. Estimated adiponitrile production capacities in the U.S. in 1992 were about 625 thousand metric tons and worldwide capacity was in excess of lO metric tons. The DOT/IMO classification for adiponitrile is class 6.1 hazard, UN No. 2205. It requires a POISON label on all containers and is in packing group III. Approved materials of constmction for shipping, storage, and associated transportation equipment are carbon steel and type 316 stainless steel. Either centrifugal or positive displacement pumps may be used. Carbon dioxide or chemical-foam fire extinguishers should be used. There are no specifications for commercial adiponitrile. The typical composition is 99.5 wt % adiponitrile. Impurities that may be present depend on the method of manufacture, and thus, vary depending on the source. 

In 1990, U.S. coke plants consumed 3.61 x 10 t of coal, or 4.4% of the total U.S. consumption of 8.12 x ICf t (6). Worldwide, roughly 400 coke oven batteries were in operation in 1988, consuming about 4.5 x 10 t of coal and producing 3.5 x 10 t metallurgical coke. Coke production is in a period of decline because of reduced demand for steel and increa sing use of technology for direct injection of coal into blast furnaces (7). The decline in coke production and trend away from recovery of coproducts is reflected in a 70—80% decline in volume of coal-tar chemicals since the 1970s. 

Worldwide, approximately 85% of acetone is produced as a coproduct with phenol. The remaining 17% is produced by on-purpose acetone processes such as the hydration of propylene to 2-propanol and the dehydrogenation of 2-propanol to acetone. The cost of production of 2-propanol sets the floor price of acetone as long as the acetone demand exceeds the coproduct acetone supply. However, there is a disparity in the growth rates of phenol and acetone, with phenol demand projected at 3.0%/yr and acetone demand at 2.0%/yr. If this continues, the coproduct supply of acetone will exceed the total acetone demand and on-purpose production of acetone will be forced to shut down the price of acetone is expected to fall below the floor price set by the on-purpose cost production. Projections indicate that such a situation might occur in the world market by 2010. To forestall such a situation, companies such as Mitsui Petrochemical and Shinnippon (Nippon Steel) have built plants without the coproduction of acetone. 

Larger volume cycloaUphatic amines and diamines, their worldwide major manufacturers and approximate January 1990 prices are shown in Table 4. Shipment of these Hquid products is by nitrogen-blanketed tank tmck or tank car. Dmm shipments are usually in carbon steel, DOT-17E. 

Since the 1930s, the TP pipe industry continues to expand its use worldwide. It now represents over 30% of the dollar share compared to other materials (iron/steel at 45%, copper at 12%, concrete at 8%, aluminum at 4%, etc.). Although RP TS pipe represents a small portion of the market, it is a product of choice for many special high performance applications. Corrosion resistance, toughness, and strength contribute to its growing acceptance. 

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