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4 ⢠An As s e s sment o f the Indus trial Energy Cons ervation Program , Vo lume 1: Summ ary (Sep tember 1981 ; Pub l icat ion NMAB 395-1) ⢠An As s e s sment of the Indus trial Energy Cons ervation Pro gram , Vo lume 2: Final Report (May 1982 ; Pub l ication NMAB 395-2) ⢠C r i t ique o f Depar tment of Energy--office o f Indus trial Programs Fiscal Year 1982 Re search and Deve lopment Pro grams (Sep tember 1982 ; Pub l icat ion NMAB 407-1) ⢠An As s e s sment of the Indus trial Energy Cons ervation Program for the Pulp and Paper and Gene ral Manufac tur ing Indus tr i e s (June 1983 ; Pub l ication NMAB 40 7-2) ⢠As s e s sment o f the Indus trial Energy Cons ervat ion Program : FY 1985 and Planned 1986 (Augus t 1985 ; Pub l i cation NMAB 429-1) Following i t s asses sment of the FY 1985 and planned FY 1986 Indus tr ial Energy Cons ervation Programs, the comm i ttee directed i ts at tent ion to an evaluat ion o f energy cons ervation opportun i t i e s in the s teel and pe trochem ical indus tries. Both o f the s e indus tries are large energy consumers , and the pos s ib i l i ty of increased energy efficiency through was te reduc tion and was te recyc l ing was selected as a focal po int for the as s e s sment . In additi on, the s te e l indus try was cho s en because of i t s importance t o the nat ional economy and the s trong pres sures i t i s under from fore i gn comp e t i t i on. The comm i t tee sought to de termine i f there were techno logical needs that could be addre s s ed by OIP that would lead to more efficient energy use by the s teel indus try and , if adop ted , would improve i ts compe t i t ive pos i t ion. Throughout its h i s tory, O I P has funded only a few proje c ts relat ing to the pe trochemical indus try. I t s e emed prop i t ious to review thi s indus try' s technology needs with respec t to was te reduc t ion and recycl ing to de termine if energy cons ervation opportun i t i e s ex i s ted. In Chap ter 2 of th i s report the comm i ttee ' s review of energy cons ervat ion opportun i t i e s through was te reduc t ion and recyc l ing in s tee lmaking is summ a r ized. Chap ter 3 contains the comm i ttee ' s as s e s sment of the petrochem ical indus try.
Chap ter 2 THE STEEL INDUSTRY S teelmaking i s currently the nat ion ' s four th large s t indus try , based on annual revenue s. I t i s an indus try in trans i t ion in the Uni ted S tate s , w i th s truc tural change s through plant shutdowns and corporate mergers , plant modernizations that incorporate advanced technologies , and adjus tment in pric ing and produc ts to mee t the challenge s of internal and external compe t i t ion . Even though s teelmaking capac i ty has dropped from a record 160 mill i on tons in 1977 to about 130 mi l l ion tons in 1986 , and dome s t ic produc t i on in 1985 was only 88 m i l l ion tons , s tee lmaking i s s t ill one o f the nat ion ' s major consumers o f energy. In 1985 the s teel indus try in the Uni ted S tates consumed 1.7 quads of energy ( 1) . Thi s repre s ents over 6 pe rcent of the indus trial consump t ion of energy in the country . Reduc t ion of energy consumpt ion by more than 0.3 quad i s pos s ible , based on the technological improvements ident ified in th i s report. Yield improvements could s ave 0.1 to 0.15 quad , increas ed and be tter ut il izat ion of s crap could lead to the s aving of an addit ional 0.20 to 0.22 quad , and improved po llution-abatement technique s could s ave on the order of 0.02 quad. I f energy prices be gin to c l imb , the s e addi t ional s avings can be important to the vital i ty of the s teel indus try. Among the trends in the s te e l indus try are the efforts to convert from inte grated s teelmaking , wh ich begins with raw iron ore and produce s a wide var i e ty of produc ts us ing a batch produc t ion proce s s , to a c ont inuous produc t ion proc e s s that i s more s treamlined and versat ile. Direct reduc t ion me thods using coal rather than coke to produce molten me tal are be ing inve s t igated. Th i s use o f coal ins tead o f coke will no doub t reduce energy consump t ion , although no t signi ficantly. Produc t i on in the Uni ted S tates is s teadily increas ing in minimi l l s , which use s crap s teel as the ir raw mater ial and make a l imi ted l ine of fairly s imple produc ts such as wire rods and re inforc ing bars . New types of furnace s and me tal-cas t ing me thods can fur ther increase the effic iency of minimi l l s and expand the ir produc t l ine s. Spe c i a l ty s te e l plants , which make alloys and s tainle s s s te e l s with such proper t i e s as corros ion 5
