LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Life-cycle assessment is a tool for systematically analyzing environmental
performance of products or processes over their entire life cycle, including raw material
extraction, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life (EOL) disposal and recycling (Cabeza et.al.
2013). Hence, LCA is often considered a “cradle to grave” approach to the evaluation of
environmental impact.
The concept of life cycle studies has been developed over the years, mainly in the
70’s and 80’s. Moreover, life cycle studies had focused on the quantification of energy and
materials used and wastes released into the environment throughout the life cycle. With the
current push toward sustainable construction, LCA has gained importance as an
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STEEL
Steel is manufactured by the chemical reduction of iron ore, using an integrated steel
manufacturing process or a direct reduction process. In the conventional integrated steel
manufacturing process, the iron from the blast furnace is converted to steel in a basic oxygen
furnace (BOF). Steel can also be made in an electric arc furnace (EAF) from scrap steel and,
in some cases, from direct reduced iron. Pig iron is manufactured from sintered, pelletized, or
lump iron ores using coke and limestone in a blast furnace. It is then fed to a BOF in molten
form along with scrap metal, fluxes, alloys, and high-purity oxygen to manufacture steel
(www.environmentalexpert.com).
Broadly there are two steps in the manufacturing of steel: Pig iron making and Steel
making. Potential pollutants from steel industries briefly are as follows:
Air pollution
Sintering operations can emit significant dust levels of about 20 kilograms per
metric ton (kg/t) of steel. Pelletizing operations can emit dust levels of about 15 kg/t of steel.
Air emissions from pig iron manufacturing in a blast furnace include particulate
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Additionally, it also
includes Sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons carbon monoxide and
hydrogen fluoride.
Life cycle costing is a technique that is used to assess environmental impacts that are linked with the product life stages from manufacturing to consumption that is from raw material acquisition to processing or manufacture, distribution, consumption, maintenance and repair (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014). It shows and some of the environmental concerns associated with the product life (Koroluk, 2012).
It has an excellent strength to weight ratio obtained from heat-treatment used in its formation. The heat treatment used for this steel does not use quenching rather uses air cooling or air
Every year there is 1.3 billion tons of steel produced around the world. Steel is made in different sizes and categorized by how good the steel is, these is called grades and standards. Steel today is used in many things you wouldn’t even think of such as the armored vests policemen wear or jewelry. Stainless steel was invented in 1913 by Harry Brearley when he put 12.8% chromium and .24% carbon when the standard for steel was .12 - 2% carbon and 16 - 26% chromium. Stainless steel is used in almost all new home appliances and in Great Britain it was used for cars. Some buildings made with steel are the Chrysler building, the Empire State Building, and the Sears Tower. Another building made with tons of steel is the Burj Khalifa. It used 55,000 tons of steel to be made and at 2,717 feet it is the tallest building in the
Steel is an alloy of iron mixed with primarily carbon and a small amount of other tiny elements. It dates back to have been created almost 4000 years ago
Bessemer Steel Process- an improved way of making the mass production of steel (page 506)
Old iron smelting places used something called bloomeries. These odd furnaces looked like beehives with an opening in the side and top. They filled these bloomeries with charcoal and iron ore. They would then pump air into the bloomeries using bellows. They'd then take the blooms of iron and strike them on an anvil over and over.They would continue to do it until the impurities were gone. This finished product was called wrought Iron. (Blacksmithing History 1. (n.d.).)
Die forging is similar, but uses a thicker piece of metal that is heated in a furnace to the point of pliability and stamped with a heavy tool die. This process was geared towards heavier badges with 3D designs. The reverse image is unique and will typically appear flaw or slightly hollow. Die casting is when molten metal is inserted into a closed die. After cooling, it is removed and finished by hand. Die cast medals usually contain a hook or hinge that connects to a
The smelting process used is different from the modern process of making steel. A clay vessel about 1 m tall, 3.7 m long, and 1.2 m wide is constructed. This is known as a tatara. After the clay tub has set, it is heated until dry. A charcoal fire is started. The fire will need to reach the correct temperature. At this point you would add iron sand(satetsu). This will be layered in with more charcoal and more iron sand over the next 72
Iron began being widely used across Central Europe during the 8th century, and across Northern Europe during the 6th century, and the Near Eastern Iron Age took place in two phases during the 12th and 13th century. Asia began using iron at the same time as Europe, and China used iron long before the Common Era. In North and South America, the development of iron began right after the rock age, skipping the Bronze Age. During the early Iron Age, iron was used to make tools when combined with 0.3% to 1.2% by weight of carbon to form the alloy steel. Iron was used to make houses, tools such as swords, daggers, chisels, and knives, and jewellery, among others.
The process of smelting iron was extremely monotonous and repetitive. It took days and days of non stop hard work in order to procure a small nugget of iron. The Iron had to be melted in a clay oven, then it was cooled down and collected, then, it was heated up again, and forged into an abject such as
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used as a tool or technique to assess the environmental impacts of a product, process or activity throughout its life cycle from the cradle-to-grave analyses (extraction of raw materials through to processing, transport, use and disposal).
Steel products were defined by several attributes which determined the product application and defined quality. Grade described the metallic (chemical) composition of the steel, or the elements added to the basic recipe of iron and carbon to create the desired properties. Product described the shape of the product, including semi-finished shapes (blooms, billets and bars) and finished shapes (wires and coils). Surface finish described the smoothness and polish that could be applied to the material’s surface to enhance presentation. Size described the latitudinal and longitudinal dimensions of the product. Structural quality described the absence of breaks in the inner metallic structure. Surface quality described the absence of cracks or seams on the surface. Because specific applications called for specific attributes, many products were customized along one or more attributes for the customer. However, of all attributes, customers valued most the grade, which determined product performance.
The mainly different of these two steel sheets is in the heating even they were both made from hot-dip coating process. For the galvanized coating, there is only zinc on a galvanized coating with roughly 0.20 to 0.30% aluminum in the coating. The adding aluminum purpose is to increase the adhesion between the coating and the steel substrate during forming operations. On the other hand, the coating surface of final product on galvannealed steel sheet is an alloy composed of 90% zinc and 10% iron. Its process is started by heating up to approximately 538 to 565°C by passing through a furnace directly above the coating bath and holding strip at this temperature for a specific period of time. The diffusion of molten zinc and iron from the steel strip. The total amount of diffusion depends on time and heating cycle which affects to the final iron concentration.
A very important component of recycling structural steel is mill production. The cradle-to-cradle nature of steel has caused an increase in efficiency and waste utilization of steel mills. The recycling process has improved so much over the years that we are even able to capture the dust that is produced in the process and in turn use it to our advantage. Mill production has become very efficient and will only improve as our electric grid improves. As the electric grids across the United States become more renewable, we will in turn be able to decrease the carbon footprint left behind by steel production. Since 1980, we have been able to produce the same amount of steel at almost twelve hours faster. Today we are able to produce
Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a process of evaluating the costs that can be identified and quantified, to include all factors like acquisition, sustaining, maintaining and final disposition of the item, that can have an impact on the whole system cost during its life span. (Blanchard, 2004). All costs associated are required for an accurate analysis. These areas include research, design and development, production, energy costs, maintenance and support, system retirement and material recycling or disposal activities