Capital-intensive industries in newly industrializing countries : the case of the Brazilian automobile and steel industries.

Kraftfahrzeugindustrie; Stahlindustrie; Internationaler Wettbewerb; Brasilien;

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Road and Multimodal Transportation Options - A Case Study of Copperwood Project

Freight transportation of goods and commodities is a necessity and often accounts for a significant portion of the overall investment in the industrial development, especially in the natural resource industry. The economic costs of developing an infrastructure have long been factored into the project costs, but environmental and/or social impacts have received less attention. In addition, alternative transportation modes are rarely compared from both economic and environmental perspectives. This project uses a case study to assess the environmental impacts (emissions) of different transportation options for transporting ore between a planned mine and a processing plant, and concentrate from the processing plant to an intermediate location (Escanaba, MI). The ore transportation options include truck only option and two multimodal (truck-rail) options, while the concentrate transportation options include truck only, rail only and one multimodal (truck-rail) option. Environmental impact assessment is done by a process called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using SimaPro Version 8 software and includes all aspects related to the construction, operation, and maintenance (stages) of transportation infrastructure and equipment required for the project. The end of life stage was excluded from the analysis. The different processes that occur during the three stages are identified and data for each process is either collected from local sources or from datasets available in SimaPro. The analysis is conducted for four alternative mine lives, ranging from ten to thirty years. The output of the LCA is provided in the overall Global Warming Potential (GWP) in terms of kilogram equivalents of CO2 (kg CO2eq) and the emissions generated by each transportation option are compared on the basis of one ton (US ton) of ore/concentrate transported. Overall, the results suggest that multimodal options generate the lowest emissions among all alternatives, for both ore and concentrate transportation. Operations stage accounts for the majority of the emissions for all six options, regardless of the life of the mine, but there are large differences in the operational emission quantities from truck only vs. multimodal options. It is also revealed that the construction emissions can be significant, especially for short mine lives, but emissions from maintenance activities remain fairly low for all options and all mine lives. In addition to quantifying the emissions from each alternative, the integration of results into economic analysis is investigated. An overview of Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) for freight transportation options is discussed and the emission results from LCA are converted to dollar value for transporting one ton of ore/concentrate using costs of carbon from literature

A scheduling model for production in a hot strip mill

M.Ing.This research dissertation highlights the important role of scheduling in a production environment. The functioning of an integrated iron and steel works is discussed. The importance of production scheduling in this environment is shown, followed by a literature survey of strip mill production scheduling models. Thereafter a model is introduced that aids in the production scheduling of plate via coil in a hot strip mill. Finally the benefits of the scheduling model are shown

Energy saving technologies and optimisation of energy use for decarbonised iron and steel industry

The iron and steel industry relies significantly on fossil energy use and is one of the largest energy consumers and carbon emitters in the manufacturing sector. Simultaneously, a huge amount of waste heat is directly discharged into the environment during steel production processes. Conservation of energy and energy-efficient improvement should be a holistic target for iron and steel industry. There is a need to investigate and analyse potential effects of application i.e., a number of primary and secondary energy saving and decarbonisation technologies to the basic energy performance and CO2 emissions profile of iron and steel industry. A 4.7Mt annual steel capacity iron and steel plant in the UK is selected as a case study. By carrying out a comprehensive literature review of current primary and secondary energy saving and decarbonisation technologies, suitable technologies are categorised based on their purpose of utilisation and installation positions. It is found that fuel substitution technologies and waste heat recovery technologies have wide application prospects in iron and steel industry. To further investigate effects of these technologies on the UK integrated steelwork, a comprehensive model of iron and steel production processes is built by using the software Aspen Plus. The model is fully validated and is used to examine the specific energy consumption and direct CO2 emissions. Energy consumption and CO2 emissions of whole production chain to produce a ton of crude steel are 17.5 GJ and 1.06 t. Waste heat from hot coke and gas cooling could cover 40% of electricity consumed in the plant if coking process has the maximum coke capacity. To implement primary energy saving and decarbonisation technologies, the performance of blast furnace is optimised first by substituting coke with bio-reducers based on the proposed model. Three biomass substitutions are considered to reduce coke rate and CO2 emissions of ironmaking process. Results show that coke demand of per ton of hot metal and CO2 emissions of the ironmaking process are improved by replacing partial coke with biomass. An optimal coke replacement is operated with 200 kg bio-oil and 222 kg coke when producing one ton of product. The reaction involving bio-syngas has the most potential to reduce CO2 emissions. To find a sustainable way to capture CO2 and recover waste heat onsite, a model of adopting organic Rankine cycle with amine-based CO2 capture in ironmaking process is introduced. In comparison with different reducing agents injected into BF, bio-oil has the most advantage to improve energy consumption of CO2 capture system. CO2 emissions from total sites can be maximumly reduced by 69% through the method of CO2 capture with waste heat recovery technologies. The combination of various decarbonised technologies creates great opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions. A mass-thermal network of iron and steel industry is finally built up, where primary and secondary energy saving technologies are implemented to optimise energy use and reduce CO2 emissions. The general guideline i.e., 5-step method is summarised to optimise the mass-thermal network. Exergy analysis is used to evaluate overall network after applications of energy saving and decarbonisation technologies. Injection of biomass-based syngas can maximumly increase the exergy efficiency of ironmaking process. Sinter and BOF steelmaking processes are related with mass ratio of hot metal. Optimisation insights of energy use and decarbonisation for steelwork are revealed based on exergy efficiency and destruction results

Computer-aided analysis and design of the shape rolling process for producing turbine engine airfoils

Mild steel (AISI 1018) was selected as model cold rolling material and Ti-6A1-4V and Inconel 718 were selected as typical hot rolling and cold rolling alloys, respectively. The flow stress and workability of these alloys were characterized and friction factor at the roll/workpiece interface was determined at their respective working conditions by conducting ring tests. Computer-aided mathematical models for predicting metal flow and stresses, and for simulating the shape rolling process were developed. These models utilized the upper bound and the slab methods of analysis, and were capable of predicting the lateral spread, roll separating force, roll torque, and local stresses, strains and strain rates. This computer-aided design system was also capable of simulating the actual rolling process, and thereby designing the roll pass schedule in rolling of an airfoil or a similar shape

Strategy and operational improvement in an aluminum rolling plant

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1994, and Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-100).by Mark Grossman.M.S

Challenges and Prospects of Steelmaking Towards the Year 2050

The world steel industry is strongly based on coal/coke in ironmaking, resulting in huge carbon dioxide emissions corresponding to approximately 7% of the total anthropogenic CO2 emissions. As the world is experiencing a period of imminent threat owing to climate change, the steel industry is also facing a tremendous challenge in next decades. This themed issue makes a survey on the current situation of steel production, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions, as well as cross-sections of the potential methods to decrease CO2 emissions in current processes via improved energy and materials efficiency, increasing recycling, utilizing alternative energy sources, and adopting CO2 capture and storage. The current state, problems and plans in the two biggest steel producing countries, China and India are introduced. Generally contemplating, incremental improvements in current processes play a key role in rapid mitigation of specific emissions, but finally they are insufficient when striving for carbon neutral production in the long run. Then hydrogen and electrification are the apparent solutions also to iron and steel production. The book gives a holistic overview of the current situation and challenges, and an inclusive compilation of the potential technologies and solutions for the global CO2 emissions problem

Dubious Value of International Acquisitions by Emerging Economy Firms: The Case of Indian Firms

This article addresses the question whether companies from emerging economies create shareholder value through foreign acquisitions. The popular business press usually views these foreign acquisitions very positively. The stock markets have often reacted negatively to the acquisitions. The management always claims that the acquisition is in the long term strategic interests of the firm. This article attempts to shed light on these conflicting positions: short term versus long term, and financial versus strategic logic. Using a mix of stock market reaction for a small sample and three in-depth case studies, I conclude that large foreign acquisitions from India have not created shareholder value. The causes of this under-performance are: too little integration, agency problems, and easy capital. Finally, I use a case study to illustrate a successful approach to foreign acquisitions: significant synergies, reasonable price, and deep integration.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66465/1/1140_karnani.pd