The following paper contains importance of LCA in the iron and steel industry. The metallurgy sector is highly energy intensive and the production of crude steel is associated with significant CO2 emissions. ULCOS (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking) is the world’s initiative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 % by 2 050 compared with today’s best routes from steel production by developing new breakthrough technologies. A new environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method has been undertaken in ULCOS as the most holistic approach of assessing environmental impact and selecting new technologies. Usage of LCA enables to compare alternative metallurgical technologies.Ovaj rad prikazuje važnost metode procjene životnog ciklusa (PŽS) u proizvodnji željeza i čelika. Metalurgija zahtijeva velike količine energije i proizvodnja čelika je povezana sa značajnom emisijom CO2. Vrlo niska emisija CO2 u proizvodnji čelika (VNECO2PČ) je svjetska inicijativa da se razvijanjem novih tehnologija do 2 050 smanji sadržaj CO2 na 50% u odnosu na današnje najpogodnije postupke. Nova ekološka metoda procjene životnog ciklusa je sastavni dio projekta vrlo niske emisije CO2 u proizvodnji čelika omogućuje holistički pristup procjene utjecaja na okoliš i odabira novih tehnologija. Korištenje procjene životnog ciklusa omogućuje usporedbu alternativnih metalurških tehnologija

D. Burchart-Korol

English

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D. BURCHART-KOROLSIGNIFICANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT(LCA) METHOD IN THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRYReceived – Prispjelo: 2010-06-21Accepted – Prihva}eno: 2010-10-25Review Paper – Pregledni radINTRODUCTIONFrom a few years steel plants introduce cleaner tech-nologies, BAT (Best Available Techniques) and envi-ronmental methods: LCA (Life Cycle Assessment),Cleaner Production and Ecodesign.LCA is an environmental assessment method forevaluation of impacts that a product, process or technol-ogy has on the environment over the entire period of itslife – from the extraction of the raw material through themanufacturing, packaging and marketing processes, theuse, re-use and maintenance of the product or technology,to its eventual recycling or disposal as waste at the end ofits useful life. LCA can assist steel plants in the environ-mental management 1,2. LCA is a method of the evalu-ation of environmental aspects and potential impacts as-sociated with all stages of the life of product, process andtechnology. The LCA method consists of four phases 3:1. Goal and scope definition2. Inventory analysis LCI (Life Cycle Inventory)3. Impact assessment LCIA (Life Cycle Impact As-sessment)4. InterpretationWorld Steel Association leads perform of LCA analy-ses in the metallurgical sector 1. Life Cycle Assessment(LCA) is undertaken as the most holistic approach forevaluation environmental impact and selecting new tech-nologies to reduce emissions for iron and steel industry.APPLICATION LCA IN STEEL INDUSTRYThe researches in the world steel industry underlineimportance of LCA for environmental assessment. Lifecycle of steel is presented in Figure 1.Iosif et al. 2 proposed methodological frameworkbased on the interconnection between the environmentalLCA and the process simulation software AspenPlusTM (Advanced System for Process Engineering).Aspen PlusTM is a process engineering software pack-age that is used to simulate processes based on the ther-modynamic models, properties of materials and severalready-made unit operation models. This research couldbe used for modelling new steelmaking breakthroughtechnologies for environmentally friendly production ofsteel. Summary of the European integrated steel plantLCI calculated by the Iosif’s model 2 is presented inTable 1. Functional Unit (FU) is quantified performanceof a product system for use as a reference unit 3.METALURGIJA 50 (2011) 3, 205-208 205The following paper contains importance of LCA in the iron and steel industry. The metallurgy sector is highlyenergy intensive and the production of crude steel is associated with significant CO2 emissions. ULCOS (UltraLow CO2 Steelmaking) is the world’s initiative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 % by 2 050 comparedwith today’s best routes from steel production by developing new breakthrough technologies. A new environ-mental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method has been undertaken in ULCOS as the most holistic approach of as-sessing environmental impact and selecting new technologies. Usage of LCA enables to compare alternativemetallurgical technologies.Key words: Life Cycle Assessment, ULCOS, iron and steel industryZna~aj ekolo{ke metode procjene `ivotnog ciklusa (P@C) pri proizvodnji `eljeza i ~elika. Ovaj rad pri-kazuje va`nost metode procjene `ivotnog ciklusa (P@S) u proizvodnji `eljeza i ~elika. Metalurgija zahtijeva velikekoli~ine energije i proizvodnja ~elika je povezana sa zna~ajnom emisijom CO2. Vrlo niska emisija CO2 u proizvod-nji ~elika (VNECO2P^) je svjetska inicijativa da se razvijanjem novih tehnologija do 2 050 smanji sadr`aj CO2 na50 % u odnosu na dana{nje najpogodnije postupke. Nova ekolo{ka metoda procjene `ivotnog ciklusa je sastav-ni dio projekta vrlo niske emisije CO2 u proizvodnji ~elika omogu}uje holisti~ki pristup procjene utjecaja na oko-li{ i odabira novih tehnologija. Kori{tenje procjene `ivotnog ciklusa omogu}uje usporedbu alternativnihmetalur{kih tehnologija.Klju~ne rije~i: Procjene `ivotnog ciklusa (P@C), vrlo niska emisija CO2 u proizvodnji ~elika (VNECO2P^), `eljezna i~eli~na industrijaISSN 0543-5846METABK 50(3) 205-208 (2011)UDC – UDK 502.72:669.12:669:18=111D. Burchart-Korol, Central Mining Institute, Department of EnergySaving and Air Protection, Katowice, PolandLCA in analysis of metallurgical processes is actingas part of International World Steel Association(Worldsteel). The World Steel Association has releasedits 2 010 global steel Life Cycle Inventory (LCI). Thedatasets provide the most accurate and comprehensivedata on the environmental profile of 16 key products,representative of the spectrum of steel production. TheLCI datasets are used for material selection and productdesign. The data enables a full life cycle approach to beutilised when determining the environmental impact ofsteel-containing products, including their carbon foot-prints. It is used in LCA studies that guide the develop-ment of environmental standards and regulations, andhelps manufacturers in compliance and voluntary im-provement initiatives 4. LCA can be used for environ-mental assessing of processes, to compare products car-rying out the same function and to provide informationfor their choice between different products.Zhang et al. 5 compared LCA on steel and con-crete-construction office building and it was found thatthe life-cycle energy consumption of building materialsper area in the steel-framed building was 24,9 % as thatin the concrete-framed building, whereas, on use phase,the energy consumption and emissions of steel-framedbuilding are both larger than those of concrete-framedbuilding. As a result, lower energy consumption and en-vironmental emissions were achieved by the con-crete-framed building compared with the steel-framedbuilding on the whole life-cycle of building.LCA IN ULCOSThe European Steel Industry has created a consor-tium of industries and of research organizations that hastaken up the mission of developing the breakthroughtechnologies – the ULCOS (Ultra-Low CO2 Steel-making). The consortium develops a breakthroughsteelmaking process that has the potential of meeting thetarget of reducing GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions.The ULCOS project is today the largest endeavourwithin the steel industry worldwide, proactively lookingfor solutions to the threat of global warming 6. LCAanalyses are performed in the frame of ULCOS projectin the purpose of assessing of the influence of metallur-gical processes on the environment and choice of newtechnologies 7,8,9. According to ULCOS interconnec-tion between LCA and Aspen Plus is a powerful tool inthe selection of new technologies for environmentalfriendly steel production 2.LCA OF STEEL IN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRYLife Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been adopted bythe steel industry as a means to comprehensively evalu-ate material choices, and their effect on life cycle GHGemissions. Major automakers use LCA as a tool for de-sign and material selection decisions.WorldAutoSteel performs LCA to demonstrate thatAdvanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS) and optimizedvehicle design can reduce total life cycle GHG emis-206 METALURGIJA 50 (2011) 3, 205-208D. BURCHART-KOROL: SIGNIFICANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) METHOD...Figure 1 Life cycle of steel 4Table 1 Summary of the integrated steel plant LifeCycle Inventory (LCI) calculated by the model2.Materials inputsIdentification Unit QuantityIron ore kg / FU 1 321Coal for coke-making kg / FU 430BF injection coal kg / FU 154Scraps kg / FU 127Pellets kg / FU 139Lime kg / FU 40Internal electricity MJe / FU 884Intermediates productsSinter kg / FU 1 403Coke kg / FU 336Hot metal kg / FU 1 020Liquid steel kg / FU 1 077Slabs/blooms kg / FU 1 027Coke oven gas Nm3 / FU 1 32Blast furnace gas Nm3 / FU 1 478Converter gas Nm3 / FU 82Material outputs (by-products)Slag kg / FU 423Tar kg / FU 10Ammonium sulphate kg / FU 4Hot-rolled coil kg / FU 1 000CO2 kg / FU 1 587Sintering dust kg / FU 1FU: one ton of hot rolled coilsions while maintaining safety and affordability. Lifecycle of vehicle is presented on Figure 2.The steel industry has made significant reductions inits energy use and is committed to take positive action toachieve further reductions in CO2 emissions. Materialchoice becomes more significant for vehicles using ad-vanced powertrains and fuel sources.Material constitutes an important role in a vehicle’stotal life cycle emissions. Steel produces five to twentytimes less GHG emissions in the material productionphase than other materials. Though some weight sav-ings may be achieved using alternative materials whichcould lower use phase tailpipe emissions, the impact tothe environment over the vehicle’s total life cycle couldbe compromised. LCA helps auto-makers in evaluationand reducing the total energy consumed end the lifetimeGHG emission of their products 4.DEVELOPMENT OF LCAIN STEEL INDUSTRYIn 1 996 International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI)carried out a “cradle to gate” Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)study 10. LCI is one of the phases of a Life Cycle As-sessment. The Worldsteel launched its innovativeworldwide Life Lycle Inventory study for steel prod-ucts. This was the first time that an international LCIstudy of a specific material had been carried out. Thestudy was updated in 2000 and the current dataset wasreleased in February 2 010. The American Iron and SteelInstitute (AISI) initiated a LCA program in 1 994. Theprogram centers on training and education, conductingstudies of steel products, participating in LCA projectswhich include steel, and promoting the development ofLCA 11.LCA is an internationally accepted methods for mea-suring the environmental impacts over the life cycle of adefined system. LCA perspective is used to analyzeGHG emission in steel making process to take measuresto reduce GHG and build sustainable steelmaking 12.LCA can be used for a range of steelmaking routes, in-cluding conventional and emerging technologies 13.Environmental aspects of future development metal-lurgy technology can be determine in dynamic LCA14,15. Dynamic LCA considers changes of technolo-gies, which take place in future.LCA FOR NATIONAL STEEL MILLLCA for Polish steel mill was conducted in CentralMining Institute. Iron ore sintering process is the domi-nant emission source in steel mill. Burchart-Korol [16]performed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the iron oresinter process. The calculations were made with theSimaPro 7.1 programme (Ecoindicator 99). Environ-mental impact assessment was made in the most impor-tant categories: „human health”, „ecosystem quality”and „resources”. Conducted analyses and the LCA ap-plication for the technology of sintering process showedthat the most influence of this process is damage to “hu-man health” caused by respiratory effects. Inorganicpollutants and dust from iron ore sintering process arerelated to respiratory effects.CONCLUSIONAmong the methods available to evaluate the envi-ronmental, economic and social performance of materi-als, technologies and products, Life Cycle Assessment(LCA) provides a holistic approach that considers thepotential impacts from all stages of manufacture, prod-uct use and end-of-life.LCA is used in iron and steel industry as a means tocomprehensively evaluate processes, material choicesand their effects on life cycle GHG emissions.LCA of a steel product looks at resources, energyand emissions, from the steel production stage to itsend-of-life stage, including recycling.It is important to integrated environmental assess-ment and results of LCA into product design at an earlystage to improve the environmental and economic per-formance of the product/technology.Environmental Life Cycle Assessment study in ironand steel industry is widely developing in the world.This method can be used for selecting new optimal tech-nologies or products. LCA is important methods usingfor environmental impacts assessment of current, alter-native and future technologies in the iron and steel in-dustry.REFERENCES1 D. Burchart-Korol, Hutnik-Wiadomoœci Hutnicze, 3(2010), 106 –110METALURGIJA 50 (2011) 3, 205-208 207D. BURCHART-KOROL: SIGNIFICANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) METHOD...Figure 2 Life cycle of vehicle2 A.M. Iosif, F. Hanrot, J.P. Birat, D. Ablitzer, InternationalJournal of Life Cycle Assessment, 15 (2010), 304 –3103 EN ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management. Lifecycle assessment. Principles and framework4 www.worldsteel.org (29.04.2010)5 X. Zhang, X.Su, Z. Huang, Comparison of LCA on steel-and concrete-construction office buildings: a case studywww.inive.org (29.04.2010)6 D. Burchart-Korol, Hutnik-Wiadomoœci Hutnicze, 2(2009), 708 - 7127 A.M. Iosif, F. Hanrot, D. Ablitzer, Environmental ImpactAssessment Review, 28 (2008), 429 – 4388 C. Rynikiewicz, Journal of Cleaner Production, 16 (2008),781 – 7899 D.Burchart-Korol, Problemy ekologii, 6 (2009), 300 –30510 IISI. Worldwide LCI database for steel industry products.International Iron and Steel Institute, 199811 S.T. Chubbs, B. A. Steiner, Environmental Progress, 2(1998), 92 – 9512 H. Xu, C. Zhang: Research of LCA Application in Steelma-king, China Metallurgy, 10 (2007), 33 – 3613 P.Scaife, J. Nunn, A.Cottrell, L.Wibberley, ISIJ Internatio-nal, 42 (2002), 5 – 914 R. Frischknecht, S Büsser, W. Krewitt, International Jour-nal of Life Cycle Assessment, 14 (2009), 584 –58815 M, Pehnt, Renewable Energy, 31 (2006) 55–7116 D. Burchart-Korol, Hutnik-Wiadomoœci Hutnicze, 9(2010), 448 – 450Note: The responsible translator for English language is Niuans Transla-tion Agency, Gliwice, Poland208 METALURGIJA 50 (2011) 3, 205-208D. BURCHART-KOROL: SIGNIFICANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) METHOD...

Značaj ekološke metode procjene životnog ciklusa (PŽC) pri proizvodnji željeza i čelika

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