Sunday, March 05, 2017

There is plenty to talk about when it comes to manufacturing steel the industry faces criticism by others that actually want clear air and water.

The American Iron and Steel Institute Board Meeting (click here)

ArcelorMittal (click here)
As the world’s leading steel and mining company, our business operations extend from the mining of iron ore and coal to the production of the full range of steel products and services.
In 2015, we produced 73.7 million tonnes of iron ore and 6.29 million tonnes of coking coal, a form of carbonised coal burned in blast furnaces to melt iron.

In the week ending February 25, 2017, (click here) domestic raw steel production was 1,770,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 74.7 percent. Production was 1,709,000 net tons in the week ending February 25, 2016 while the capability utilization then was 73.1 percent. The current week production represents a 3.6 percent increase from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending February 25, 2017 is up 0.2 percent from the previous week ending February 18, 2017 when production was 1,766,000 net tons and the rate of capability utilization was 74.6 percent.

The industry is doing just fine. I am confident in the digital age there is significant efficiency added to these processes. There is no reason to FEEL SORRY for the industry as Republicans CHRONICALLY do to win votes. It is nonsense. These industries have been around for decades. I am confident they have no need for people to feel sorry for them or practice pandering politics.

Accounting for a Sustainable Future, Research Brief, June 2014 (click here)

8 The environmental impact of steel production

Steel production has a number of impacts on the environment, including air emissions (CO, SOx, NOx, PM2), wastewater contaminants, hazardous wastes, and solid wastes. The major environmental impacts from integrated steel mills are from coking and iron-making.

Climate change

Virtually all of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with steel production are from the carbon dioxide emissions related to energy consumption.

Emissions to air

Coke production is one of the major pollution sources from steel production. Air emissions such as coke oven gas, naphthalene, ammonium compounds, crude light oil, sulfur and coke dust are released from coke ovens. 

Emissions to water

Water emissions come from the water used to cool coke after it has finished baking. Quenching water becomes contaminated with coke breezes and other compounds. While the volume of contaminated water can be great, quenching water is fairly easy to reuse. Most pollutants can be removed by filtration.

Waste

Slag, the limestone and iron ore impurities collected at the top of the molten iron, make up the largest portion of iron-making by-products. Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are volatized and captured in air emissions control equipment and the residual slag is sold to the construction industry. While this is not a pollution prevention technique, the solid waste does not reach landfills.
Gaseous emissions and metal dust are the most prominent sources of waste from electric arc furnaces.
The last thing any political leader should do is feel sorry for an industry. It inhibits innovation and invention.

"Green Steel" - New Steelmaking Process Lowers Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Cuts Cost and Improves Quality

May 13th of 2013
By James Ayre

But now, (click here) a new process developed by researchers at MIT looks like it may be able to address this, greatly reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with steel production, while also lowering costs and improving the purity/quality of the steel. A “win, win, win” proposition, as the researchers put it....

There is absolutely no reason for political foot dragging in regard to pollution control and control of greenhouse gases. There are answers by some of the finest scientists in this country and the world.

There is no reason to put off protections of Earth's climate OR cutting costs of steel production. There is no reason to separate the fact modern technology can do it all, improve quality, cut costs and lower emissions.

Miscellaneous.

The three top steel producers in the world are China, the United States, and Japan, in that order. The United States and Japan each produce around 100 million tons (90 million metric tons) of steel per year, and China had an output in 2000 of about 140 million tons (127 million metric tons). Iron and steel make up approximately 90 percent of all the metal produced in the world. The largest steel company in the United States is United States Steel, which produces about 20 percent of the country's steel.

Types of Steel:
Carbon Steel. This is the most widely used kind of steel. Its carbon content is under 2 percent and is usually less than 1 percent. It often also contains a little manganese.
Stainless Steel. This is the most corrosion-resistant kind of steel. It normally contains at least 12 percent (and sometimes up to 30 percent) chromium, and it usually also contains nickel. A very popular stainless steel formulation is 18-8, 18 percent chromium and 8 percent nickel.
Alloy Steels. These contain a little carbon, and sometimes silicon, but they mainly contain added metals, such as manganese (hardness), nickel (strength), molybdenum (improved wear), tungsten (high temperature strength), chromium (corrosion resistance), and vanadium (toughness).
Galvanized Steel. This steel is coated with zinc to protect against corrosion. The coating is usually done by a hot dip process.
Electroplated Steel. This steel has a coating of another metal, usually tin, applied by the use of an electric current. Tin-plated steel is widely used for making cans and other containers.
Tool SteelThis is very hard steel made by tempering (heating to a very high temperature and then quickly cooling).
Damascus Steel. This was a very high quality ancient steel with a beautiful wavy surface pattern used in making sword blades. It seems to have come mainly from India.
Wootz SteelThis was actually a European mispronunciation of ukku, the very fine steel made in ancient India that they called "wook." (It is probably the same material as Damascus steel.)
This is just one article regarding the pollution of iron and steel plants.
Jamal Mohamed Ben Sasi, International Journal of Mining, Metallurgy & Mechanical Engineering (IJMMME) Volume 1, Issue 3 (2013); pp. 219-222. ISSN 2320-4052; EISSN 2320-4060
Abstract—The aim of this paper (click here) is to access the results allow to understand and rectify the various risks caused by industrial pollutants in general, and pollutants iron and steel plants in particular, and work on how to reduce these risks, and the possibility of finding optimal solutions and to ensure treatment immediate and follow-up and in a coordinated and periodically. Risks caused by iron and steel industry set in the waste of various solid, liquid and gaseous. The additional is the side effects of noise resulting from the industry, as it has been proven scientifically through studies and researches that have been made by some international organizations related to the environmental studies and health .There are emissions resulting from iron and steel plants have a direct impact on the environment , safety , human health, and also have direct cause of what is happening in the world of climate change, occurrence of the phenomenon of global warming, melting ocean ice and increasing the proportion of exposure to chronic diseases. From background ,we can figure out that if we find satisfactory solutions , perfect, and access to low impact of this industry. It must work to develop modern methods and alternative efficient even be reduced the dust iron, emissions, pollutant gases, and making optimal designs for iron and steel plants, so that the environmental impact becomes minimal. 

Air quality in emerging economies is a huge issue and China is moving forward with better air quality.

Air Pollution (click here) is all at all time high on the Asian Continent. China has reached record-breaking levels of air pollution that the monitoring equipment can no longer keep track. In worse news, Greenpeace reports that India has levels are 5x worse than China. It appears while China’s pollution problem is slowly improving, India’s is getting worse.

March 5, 2017

China will cut steel capacity by 50 million tonnes (click here) and coal output by more than 150 million tonnes this year, its top economic planner said on Sunday as the world's No. 2 economy deepens efforts to tackle pollution and curb excess supply.

In a work report at the opening of the annual meeting of parliament, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said it would shut or stop construction of coal-fired power plants with capacity of more than 50 million kilowatts.

The pledges are part of Beijing's years-long push to reduce the share of coal in its energy mix to cut pollution that has choked northern cities and to meet climate-change goals while streamlining unwieldy and over-supplied smoke-stack industries such as steel.

25 March 2015

Air pollution (click here) is linked to a higher risk of stroke, new global research has found.

A study published in the British Medical Journal looked at the effects of air pollution in 28 countries and found a link between exposure to high levels of pollution and increased hospital admissions - or deaths - due to stroke.

Lead author Dr Anoop Shah, from the centre for cardiovascular science at Edinburgh University, said: "Long-term exposure to pollution has already been linked to lung, heart and circulatory disease. This study now demonstrates that even short-term exposure to air pollution can trigger disabling strokes or death from stroke."

The report suggested that public and environmental health policies that aim to reduce air pollution levels "might reduce the burden of stroke."

It is the chemical interaction with the limestone that helps remove unnecessary impurities.

Chemical grade limestone is important to the process as it is the primary raw material which helps remove impurities from the iron ore and produces a slag with low melting point and a high fluidity. Consistency of the chemical grade limestone for chemistry and sizing is critical for efficient blast furnace operations and cost control.
Limestone will react with the temperature in the blast furnace as it continues down the furnace to react with sulfur from the iron and produce a slag with the silica formed from the iron ore. The first reaction involved is as follows:  CaCO3  =  CaO  + CO2  The CaO is used to remove the sulfur and react with the silica to produce a fluid slag at the bottom of the furnace.'
Carmeuse’s chemical grade limestone (click here) has high, specific levels of Calcium Oxide (Cao), Magnesium Oxide (MgO), or both.
Additionally, chemical grade limestone has a high level of purity in that it contains very low levels of residuals typically found in limestone composites such as, silica, clay, organic matter, iron oxide, and siliceous skeletal fragments.
The optimum chemistry and purity of chemical grade limestone makes it ideal for flue gas desulphurization  and steel making, both of which require exacting specifications.

Ever wonder why death, dying and extreme thoughts are such a part of the American vernacular?

Of course, the American people remember "The Trail of Tears." It ended in Oklahoma. It is a national park.

Remember and commemorate (click here) the survival of the Cherokee people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian, Territory, now Oklahoma. They traveled by foot, horsewagon, or steamboat in 1838-1839.

The State of Oklahoma has some strange names for their parks. 

Lake Tenkiller to the left (click here)


Robbers Cave to the right (click here)

What happened to "Ole Smokey" or "Green Acres" or "Wildflower Meadow?"

The ultimate goal in producing steel is purity. Heart valves, I-beams and airliner manufacture.

Three primary installations (click here) in an integrated steel plant are the blast furnace, the steel furnaces, and the rolling mills. The blast furnace converts iron ore to pig iron; the steel furnaces convert the pig iron to steel; and the rolling mills shape the steel into sheets, slabs, or bars.

Blast furnace. A blast furnace is a chimney-like structure in which iron ores (mainly FeO, Fe , and Fe ) are converted into iron metal. Iron ore, coke, and limestone are loaded into the top of the furnace, while air is blown in from below. The coke is converted to carbon monoxide (CO), which then acts as the reducing agent:
2 C + O → 2 CO
3 CO + Fe → 2 Fe + 3 CO 2
The molten iron falls to the bottom of the furnace, and the limestone reacts with silicate impurities to form a molten slag, which floats on top of the iron. The two layers are drawn off separately, and the iron is poured into molds. Because the molten iron yields ingots that resemble little pigs, the product is referred to as "pig iron."...

Europe is far ahead of the USA in producing energy from alternative sources.

March 2, 2017
By Peter Walker

The wind turbines outside Stirling Castle. Scotland just produced enough wind energy to power the country for an entire day.

Denmark's wind turbines (click here) produced enough electricity to power the entire last month.

The Scandinavian nation generated 97 gigawatt-hours (GWh) on 22 February, thanks to particularly windy weather, which is enough to power 10 million average EU households for the day.

Wind Europe spokesman Oliver Joy said the “impressive” feat was another boon for wind energy....

I don't want to hear a word about how unsightly wind turbines are. That is a magnificent sight. It is a moral conviction to return Earth's climate to it's benevolent state. There is nothing more magnificent than a country determined to protect it's people.

Below is a graph illustrating the primary power sources in the USA. The facts used for the graph came from the US Energy Information Administration.

January 18, 2017

Renewable energy and Wyoming jobs (click here) received a boost Wednesday as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the first 500 wind turbines for the Chokecherry Sierra Madre (CCSM) Wind Energy Project.

The BLM action followed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Record of Decision (ROD) indicating that it would issue an Eagle Take Permit for Power Company of Wyoming’s (PCW) Chokecherry and CCSM when final mitigation plans are provided.  The Fish and Wildlife Service decision came after a thorough analysis of the potential impacts to eagles from the wind energy project....










There is a difference between coke and petcoke. Petcoke is derived from oil wells.

There are three ingredients for the production of steel; iron ore, limestone and coke.

This the rock where coke is extracted. It is called Coking Coal. Coal is not involved with making steel.

Quality coking coal, (click here) also known as metallurgical coal, maximizes productivity in steel production.


Coke is produced by heating coking coals in a coke oven in a reducing atmosphere. As the temperature of the coal increases, it becomes plastic, fusing together before resolidifying into coke particles. This is known as the caking process. The quality of the resultant coke is determined by the qualities of the coking coals used, as well as the coke plant operating conditions.

Coke quality is largely influenced by coal rank, composition, mineral content and the ability to soften when heated, become plastic, and resolidify into a coherent mass. Bituminous class coals of high, medium, and low volatile rank that possess these properties are called “coking” coals.

High quality coking coals are in great demand by steel producers, who need these coals to make high quality coke to maximize the productivity of their blast furnace operations.
At one time "Glacier National Park" looked like this.

As the Crown of the Continent, Glacier is the headwaters for streams that flow to the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and to Hudson's Bay. What happens here affects waters in a huge section of North America.

These are all mountain divides that direct water across the continent into watersheds. Triple Divide Peak is where three of those divides begin, The Laurentain Divide and the North and South Great Divide. Triple Divide Peak is in Glacier National Park.







Date: November 10, 2016 
Contact: Lauren Alley, 406-888-5838

In response (click here) to the recent detection of invasive mussel populations in central Montana, Glacier National Park is issuing an interim boating closure within all park waters, in accordance with the park’s Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Action Plan. The closure includes both motorized and hand propelled watercraft. This closure does not impact boating on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, which is outside the park boundary, or the North Fork of the Flathead River which is partially outside the park boundary.

The 2014 plan calls for this immediate closure when invasive mussels are detected within a waterway in the State of Montana, as was announced on November 9 by Montana Fish Wildlife, and Parks....


This is the Triple Divide Peak at Glacier National Park today.

Not very much ice and snow to contribute to the watersheds. Such lack of snow and ice contributes to drought.


It is called smelting and there is a video presentation of the basic concept. (click here)

What? No Sierra Club at the signing? No Nature Conservancy? No Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC)?

March 2, 2017

...Outdoor recreation (click here) is about both our heritage and our economy. Between hunting, fishing, motorized recreation, camping and more, the industry generates thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity,” said Zinke. “Over the past eight years however, hunting, and recreation enthusiasts have seen trails closed and dramatic decreases in access to public lands across the board. It worries me to think about hunting and fishing becoming activities for the land-owning elite. This package of secretarial orders will expand access for outdoor enthusiasts and also make sure the community's voice is heard." 
The two secretarial orders include:

Secretarial Order No. 3346 overturns the recent ban of lead ammunition and fish tackle used on Fish and Wildlife Service lands, waters, and facilities. The order highlights the need for additional review and consultation with local stakeholders.

Secretarial Order No. 3347 advances conservation stewardship, improves game and habitat management, and increases outdoor recreation opportunities by directing bureaus and agencies to immediately identify areas where recreation and fishing can be expanded. The order also requests input from the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council and Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council to provide recommendations on enhancing and expanding access on public lands and improving habitat for fish and wildlife. 
Secretary Zinke was joined by representatives from the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Boone and Crockett Club, Wild Sheep Foundation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, National Rifle Association, Safari Club International, National Wild Turkey Federation, Archery Trade Association, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, American Recreation Council, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, Mule Deer Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, Wildlife Management Institute, American Sportfishing Association, and National Marine Manufacturers Association....

I am sure everyone remembers the "Safari Club International." They have a famed member, Walter J. Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, who paid $50,000 for a lion's carcass resulting from his bullets. He was awarded the best hunt of all a precious black maned lion named Cecil.

I think we know who we are dealing with now. I doubt Teddy Roosevelt would approve.

January 14, 2016
By Raynard Loki

...Beyond these specific achievements, (click here) a silver lining to emerge from Cecil’s tragic killing has been the dramatic increase in the global awareness of the obscenity of trophy hunting. “Dr. Walter Palmer has done something worthwhile after all,” wrote Capt. Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and former star of Animal Planet's “Whale Wars,” in a Facebook post. “His special combination of vanity, smugness, greed, arrogance and stupidity has taken something which happens all the time, usually out of sight and out of mind, and has elevated it to international recognition.”

But while the slaughter of African wildlife has been elevated to the global stage as never before, there is a larger story behind Cecil’s death that has largely been overlooked by the media. That story is the role played by Safari Club International (SCI), a stealthy and powerful pro-hunting group that masquerades as an organization dedicated to “promoting wildlife conservation,” according to its mission statement....

He has all the right friends for the Republican Party.


Montana state Senator Ryan Zinke (click here) addresses a pro-gun activist rally at the state Capitol in Salt Lake City, in 2013.

March 2, 2017
By Jon Sharman

...Mr Zinke's portfolio (click here) will include overseeing the US' national parks and natural resources like gas, oil and timber, as well as managing land and services for Native American tribes.

He praised his new boss as a “great president and a commander in chief I will fight with.”...

...The 55-year-old former Montana congressman resigned as a delegate to the Republican National Convention last year to protest the GOP's position in favour of land transfers to state or private groups. 

Still, his stance on public lands has come into question in recent weeks after he voted in favour of a House rule that would allow federal land transfers to be considered cost-free and budget-neutral, making it easier for drilling and development....

LAND TRANSFERS of federal land. The people own this land and in the past leases were issued to private interests which was a return to the USA Treasury. NOW, the Republicans are going to hand over public land to private industry. "...cost free and budget-neutral..." There is no public land that is cost free and budget neutral. Land is a PREIMIUM and because it is not producing oil or gas or some other mess drawn out of the ground does not mean IT IS WORTHLESS.

The USA Congress is treasoning the USA. They are transferring public land to people that will exploit it and use it for it's own purposes. That is treason in any method of destroying the country I know of. Land is required for sovereign purposes and local economies are dependent on the use of land for recreation. This is outrageous!

There has to be land to be a sovereign. Where does this greed and exploitation stop? This is a precedent and it needs to end!

February 2, 2017
By Abigail Abrams

A Republican lawmaker (click here) has reversed a plan to sell off millions of acres of federally owned land after outcry from conservative and sports groups.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah announced Wednesday evening in a post on Instagram that he would withdraw a bill that ordered the Secretary of the Interior to sell 3.3 million acres in 10 Western states.

“I'm a proud gun owner, hunter and love our public lands,” Chaffetz wrote next to a picture of him wearing camouflage and holding a dog. “The bill would have disposed of small parcels of lands Pres. Clinton identified as serving no public purpose but groups I support and care about fear it sends the wrong message.”

The legislation was based on a 1997 report conducted during the Clinton administration, which aimed to identify land the government could use to offset efforts to revive the Florida Everglades.

Chaffetz introduced the bill Jan. 24, and said at the time the land had “no purpose for taxpayers.” However, conservation and hunting groups did not agree. The Wilderness Society condemned the bill and urged its supporters to call lawmakers to urge them to vote against the bill. Backcountry Hunters and Anglers also asked its members to complain about the legislation, according to The Hill.

Corruption. Plain and simple. In order for President Clinton to introduce measures to revive the Florida Everglades there to be an OFFSET. An offset is corruption. An offset is a bribe. WHY WAS AN OFFSET EVER NEEDED to bring on board corrupt western state congressmen? The withhold their vote in order to have bribes of land. That is corruption.

There will be no bargaining for land and the USA will retain it's sovereign authority over federal lands!
May 5, 2016
By C.R.

...The collapse in the price of steel (click here) is mainly the result of falling demand and, until recently, rising production in China, says Edwin Basson of the World Steel Association, an industry group. Between 2000 and 2014, global production doubled from around 800m tonnes to around 1.6 billion tonnes a year, mainly driven by rising output in China. Until 2014, Chinese demand rose at approximately the same rate as its steel mills could produce, meaning that the impact on the rest of the world was limited. But as its construction boom came to an end, demand sagged, prompting the country’s state-owned steelmakers to sell their growing surpluses on foreign markets. Exports of steel from China increased from 45m tonnes in 2014 to 97m tonnes last year—marking a bigger rise than Germany’s entire output of the past year: 43m tonnes. This has triggered demands from rival firms for protection, from what they see as dumping....
It's Sunday Night 

The lost and insincere
They think I need to hear
What's in their empty eyes, eyes, eyes
We're few and far between
We've hardly been serene
But stand up to their lies, lies, lies

We are steel
We don't feel
Anything at all

He took me in his arms
But then he squeezed too hard
He wouldn't let me breathe, breathe, breathe
It's been too many years
I've hurt too many times
To give up everything, thing, thing

I am steel
I don't feel
Anything at all

The way I've been confused
The way that I've been used
And spit out on your dime
And still you lead me on
And still you tear me down
And say it's in my mind
Well I've seen hell and back
I've hidden in the dark
With no one there at all, all, all
I've scraped us back to life
I've laced up both my boots
So try and twist the knife, knife, knife

I am steel
I don't feel
We are steel
We don't feel
Anything at all, anything at all
Anything at all, anything at all
Anything at all, anything at all
Anything at all