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Have you ever seen a blast furnace? The picture below — molten iron pouring out from the blast furnace — might be familiar to you, and it could be the first thing on your mind when it comes to blast furnaces. However, seeing the blast furnace in real life isn’t a daily event.

The POSCO worker in the photo is clearing the area around the tap hole (an exit where the molten iron is discharged) so that the molten iron can smoothly flow out of the blast furnace. That is not easy since the discharged molten iron reaches over 1,500 ℃. However, POSCO employees can do this job owing to the pride and passion they possess for the blast furnace.

Iron ores become molten iron on entering the blast furnace. Then the molten iron is taken to the converter to filter all impurities. Next, the molten iron is shaped into large cuboids, which are then sent to different plants to be various steel products. This entire mechanism is called an integrated steelmaking process. The name says it all. It’s a process that flows continuously from the molten iron stage to the final steel product stage. So the entire blast furnace and steelworks are under operation 24/7 all through the year!

So, what if the blast furnace is idled? The blast furnace itself will be hardened into a huge mass of solid iron, so to restore the process and operate normally, it should be dismantled and replaced with a new one. The cost reaches 500 billion to 1 trillion KRW, and the reconstructing takes several months. Another problem is that it doesn’t end with just the blast furnace. As mentioned earlier, the steelworks is a continuous process, so if the blast furnace stops operation, all the plants that use the molten iron from the blast furnace need to cease their operation as well, meaning that the whole steelworks would have to be shut down.

That is why for the workers at POSCO, the blast furnace is like the subject of “sacred worship.” Did you know that torch lit with the sun was used to ignite the blast furnace No. 1 of Pohang Works in 1973? The records of POSCO history describes the moment very movingly, saying that “each torch relayers in turns took over the ‘flame of the sky.’”

▲ A sacred ceremony of the Olympic torch lighting in honor of Prometheus, who gave fire to humans. Inside the circle shows Tae-Joon Park lighting the torch with the sun to ignite POSCO’s first blast furnace (June 7, 1973).

As a result of this ceremony, the blast furnace has become a sublime object that must be protected for the POSCO workers. The commitment is as deep and heavy as the ancient Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, which cherished the fire used for rituals, and the people of the Stone Age desperate to preserve the flame which was obtained with much difficulty. The reason for this is because steel created with the ‘flame of the sky,’ laid the foundation for the development of the Korean manufacturing industry, and is everywhere in the advancement of the Korean economy.

There are some steelworks around the world where blast furnaces have been idled. As a result, other plants attached to it stopped operation as well, which led to the whole steelworks having to be shut down. As the steelworks were closed, the local economy collapsed as well, deteriorating the entire economy of a country eventually.

So idling the blast furnace is a big problem we need to pay attention because there is no simple solution when we look at the effects caused by it. If it’s shut down, the whole steelworks is closed subsequently. POSCO operates four blast furnaces at Pohang Works and five blast furnaces at Gwangyang Works, respectively. It is necessary to understand that if the furnaces stop operation, local economies might collapse as well. The consequence is enormous.

Although we’re not aware, our heart pumps and circulates blood throughout our body to keep us alive. POSCO blast furnaces are just like our ‘heart.’ They pour out molten iron 24/7 and help the economy of Korea ‘thrive.’

▲ A POSCO worker dealing with molten iron

POSCO’s furnaces are under operation based on cutting-edge technologies such as Big Data and AI. Due to this outstanding feature, POSCO was designated as a ‘Lighthouse Factory’ by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for the first time in Korea. When it comes to blast furnaces, the spirit of POSCO workers is still alive even in the high-tech world of today.

The answer to today’s question became a little serious, but we can’t help it. Because POSCO Newsroom — being a part of POSCO — also shares the pride and passion of the workers at the steelworks. POSCO Newsroom will be back with more interesting stories! See you next time!

* This article was written with help from Jun-Seok Park of POSCO Pohang Works Technology Development Section.

The U-Shaped Relationship

However, the argument is not so black and white according to Spyridon Stavropoulos, Ronald Wall and Yuanze Xu’s Environmental regulations and industrial competitiveness: evidence from China. The study suggests that the relationship between stringent economic regulations and industrial (or economic) competitiveness is U-shaped. Meaning, initially, stringent regulations will increase the cost of production and make companies less profitable, but after a certain turning point, companies will be forced to adapt and innovate, thus becoming more competitive in the long run.

Many activists sit on both sides of the debate. (Source: Ethical Shopper)

When regulation policies are consistent over a long period of time, companies are forced to tackle the root of the problem, instead of focusing on meeting certain numbers. In today’s global economy, many governments have already begun to implement stringent economic regulations that only look to get tighter in the future. In such a context, companies that choose to innovate and come up with solutions to global pollution problems will come out more competitive in the end.

Sustainability Equals Competitiveness

Looking at major economic players around the world, it’s safe to say that environmental sustainability is a common topic on each of their respective national agendas. Pressing national challenges are tied to the environment in one way or another. For example, many countries are shifting their policies to ensure energy security. Countries that import most of their energy from external regions are subject to volatile prices and thus unstable economies. Thus, governments are actively supporting companies that can cultivate domestic, renewable energy sources. Another, more obvious, example is the direct link between pollution and health risks.

China is the fastest developing country in the world, and by 2035, it will be responsible for 28 percent of the total global energy demand. China also happens to be almost completely dependent on energy imports. Subsequently, the government has started a variety of government programs to boost sustainability as part of President Xi Jinping’s pledge to build a “Beautiful China”. These policies also come in the wake of shocking statistics: in 2015, pollution led to 1.8 million premature deaths in China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping laid out a 2-step plan to achieve a “Beautiful China.” (Source: News Gru)

Sustainable Steelmaker

Even with strong government commitment and plenty of programs to support sustainable business, most developing countries lack affordable renewable energy sources and the technology to apply those sources to existing production processes. Nevertheless, the world is changing and only those that adapt and innovate survive and thrive. That’s exactly what POSCO did starting back in 2007.

FINEX: A Game Changer

POSCO came up with a new molten iron production technology called FINEX. The technology allows molten iron and non-coking coal to be produced directly in a blast furnace during the iron-making process. It is different from the conventional blast furnace process, as it combines the coking plant, sinter plant and blast furnace into a single iron-making unit. This lowers production costs and reduces harmful emissions.

FINEX is a sustainable game-changer for steel production.

Ultimately, FINEX is one of the most cost-effective and eco-friendly ways to make steel. The technology mitigates the use of C02, has the lowest process-related emission rates and preserves resources through the use of a wide range of iron ores and non-coking coals. FINEX reduces SOx and NOx emissions by 40 and 15 percent respectively, and fine dust particles can be reduced by 34 percent compared to traditional blast furnaces. Furthermore, the by-products from the process generate highly valuable export gas that can be used for various purposes like electric power generation or natural gas substitution.

On December 7, 2017, POSCO reached 20 million cumulative tons of molten iron production using the FINEX technology. POSCO is not the only company enjoying the benefits of sustainable competitiveness – POSCO’s manufacturing partners can see lower emissions levels when evaluating the entire life cycle of their products.

SEE ALSO: POSCO Reaches 20 Million Tons of Production Using FINEX Technology

Sustainability is no longer just jargon. As environmental issues are intricately tied to the economy and even national security, governments around the world will be actively supporting sustainable companies in the years to come. Companies can expect sustainability and competitiveness to become interchangeable terms in the near future.

On December 7, employees celebrated reaching 20 million tons and took a commemorative photo.

FINEX is an innovative, paradigm-shifting technology where molten iron is produced directly in a blast furnace. The process eliminates preliminary processing and uses cheaper powder-type iron ore and bituminous coal as raw materials. Subsequently, investment and production costs can be reduced by 85 percent compared to those of general blast furnaces of the same size. In addition, the technology reduces SOx and NOx emissions by 40 and 15 percent respectively, and fine dust particles can be reduced by 34 percent compared to general blast furnaces.

The beginnings of the technology date back to the 1990s when the Korean government chose POSCO’s smelting reduction steelmaking for a national project and contributed KRW 22.2 billion for research and development.

As a result, POSCO started operating the FINEX 2 plant with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons in 2007, and the FINEX 3 plant with an annual production capacity of 2 million tons in 2014, which now produces 10,000 tons of molten iron every day. Surprisingly, the Korean steel industry, which was heavily reliant on foreign technologies in 1968, now leads the world’s steel industry in terms of technology.

However, the path to success was filled with challenges.

In 1998, objections were raised against additional investment for the FINEX technology because there were no clear, tangible results even after KRW 60 billion was invested. Even so, POSCO management made a decision to construct a demo-plant with an additional investment of KRW 100 billion for technology development in order to secure long-term competitiveness rather than seeking immediate profit.   

In addition, POSCO convinced steelmaker Voestalpine, who was in possession of the world’s leading technology for molten iron production, to participate in the project as a partner. POSCO was able to do this by offering to cover the full cost of dispatched researchers and engineers should the technology become successful.

In 2003, there was a slight setback when the newly-opened core FINEX processing facility failed to operate successfully. However, after dozens of tests with 80 in-house professionals over 3 months, the facility was up and running.

Molten iron is produced directly in a furnace in the FINEX plant.

Sang-ho Lee, Director in Charge of Commercialization at POIST, said, “With less than 50 years of steelmaking experience, POSCO has managed to achieve a next-generation, innovative steel-producing technology. It feels great because even though POSCO started as a fast follower of foreign technologies, we are now a leading company in the world’s steel industry with our FINEX technology.”

POSCO currently has over 200 patents for its FINEX technology and HCI technology in Korea and 50 patents in more than 20 countries worldwide. Many overseas companies have expressed an interest in FINEX, and POSCO is in talks with world-renowned steelmakers in China to export its FINEX technology.

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Here’s a look at how steel is produced in a steel mill or factory, and what the “smartization” of steel factories will look like.

So, how is steel made?

Iron Making

To make steel, manufacturers first need molten iron. Molten iron comes from two raw materials; iron ore and coal. Iron ore is converted into sinter ore in a sintering plant and coal is converted into raw coke using a coke oven. The processed materials are poured into a blast furnace where hot air reaching 1200℃ is blown in from the bottom through tuyeres, causing a chemical reaction. This process oxidizes the coke and reduces the sintered ore, creating molten iron.   

Steelmaking

In the steelmaking stage, the molten iron is transported to the steel making plant via a torpedo car, where the liquid is poured into a converter. Then, oxygen is blown into the converter to burn off all the impurities. All that is left is pure molten steel.

Continuous Casting

This is where steel finally becomes solidified into different shapes such as slab, bloom and billet. Liquid steel is poured into molds and cooled as it passes through a continuous casting machine until it solidifies into the desired shape.

Hot steel passes through rolling machines to be rolled into specific sizes and thicknesses. (Source: Global Sourcing Blog)

Rolling Process

During the rolling process, steel is heated once more to achieve various sizes and thicknesses. Steel slabs are heated to over 1100℃, then pass through rolling machines. This results in hot-rolled coils that can be shaped for different uses such as thick plates. They can also be processed into long, wire-shaped rods for billets. Often, the hot-rolled coils are rolled at room temperature for cold-rolled coils. Cold-rolled coils can be fabricated to produce galvanized and electrical steel products.

“Smartizating” these processes will involve converging IoT, Big Data, and AI to connect the different facilities, IT systems and workers in order to collect and analyze data for optimization.

POSCO is “smartizing” the steel-production process

POSCO is a steel company looking to lead the industry in adopting smart factories. CEO Kwon Ohjoon made “smartization” one of the 4 key priorities for POSCO starting back in 2014, and Kwon will continue to increase those investments.

POSCO smart factory incorporates artificial intelligence to enhance safety and efficiency.

SEE ALSO: How Smart Factories are Changing the Manufacturing Industry

In 2016, POSCO established its Smart Solution Council in order to research AI, big data and IoT applications. In the same year, POSCO ICT’s smart factory platform, PosFrame, was completed and installed in POSCO’s Gwangyang Steel Mill. PosFrame allows engineers to collect and monitor big data. So far, the company has saved over USD 14 million by incorporating the new technology in its production practices.

Here are some other features of POSCO’s Smart Factory.

POSCO’s Smart Blast Furnace

The Pohang Blast Furnace No.3 became a smart furnace in 2017, following a 102-day repair period. The furnace is now equipped with automated sensors that monitor and control its internal conditions using AI technology. Smart sensors monitor the blast furnace for factors like raw material quality and ventilator status, preventing breakdowns and ensuring a much longer lifecycle.

SEE ALSO: Will Artificial Intelligence Lead to Breakthroughs in the Steel Industry?

Worker Safety

Smart sensors can be used for more than just process monitoring. The company is working toward a full implementation of smart sensors for safety purposes, using IoT to create a better working environment.

Steel manufacturing involves high temperatures and high pressure levels, which is dangerous for workers who come in close contact with the equipment. With smart sensors monitoring all of the factory information, workers will instead be monitoring operation from a safe distance.

Workers in POSCO’s smart factory wear smart sensors for safety.

Wearable sensors, in conjunction with factory smart sensors, will be able to detect if and when workers are approaching potentially dangerous areas, and will alert them. These sensors will also detect and alert with regards to any impending accidents, or life-threatening situations like gas leaks, explosions, or fires.

Also, dust, sulfur, and nitrogen compounds will be removed via a high-plasma method, creating an eco-friendly steel plant and a healthier environment for workers.

POSCO will continue to add more smart features to its steel mills to increase efficiency, safety and sustainability. In efforts to learn and implement new technologies, POSCO CEO Kwon Ohjoon visited GE’s smart factories to learn about their technology earlier this year. POSCO also held the 2017 Smart POSCO Forum to share its insights with clients and affiliates, all as part of its expanding smartization efforts.

The Steelmaking Process

So, what does a blast furnace do in the steelmaking process? There are 4 main parts to the process of making steel, and in each process, the accompanying production equipment is as vital as the materials that make steel. Each batch of steel starts off with iron, molten iron to be exact, and the blast furnace is what transforms raw materials into molten iron.

Molten iron leaves through the bottom of a blast furnace

Molten iron comes from two raw materials; iron ore and coal. First, iron ore is converted into sinter ore in a sintering plant and coal is converted into raw coke using a coke oven. The processed materials are then poured into a blast furnace through the top opening. Hot air reaching 1200℃ is blown in from the bottom through tuyeres and chemically reacts with the materials as they fall to the bottom of the blast furnace. This process oxidizes the coke and reduces the sintered ore, creating molten iron. The molten iron is then further processed to make steel.

The Importance of the Blast Furnace

The Blast furnace is one of the oldest and most significant equipment in the steelmaking process. The average lifespan of a blast furnace is about 15 years before it needs to be replaced or refurbished.

The Pohang No.1 blast furnace

POSCO is a few months shy of its 50th anniversary, and the Pohang No.1 blast furnace has been in operation for 45 of those years. Interestingly, the blast furnace has never broken down or gone out of service. With an annual capacity of 1.3 million tons, it helped establish Korea as the top-5 steelmaker in the world and was even named Korea’s Economic National Treasure No.1.

A New Technology from an Old Furnace        

In the beginning of 2017, POSCO decided to shut down the Pohang No.1 blast furnace for good in response to the slowing steel market and put the national treasure in a museum instead. It seemed the oldest operating blast furnace in Korea would finally retire.

However, just before pulling the plug, engineers used the Pohang No.1 blast furnace in a pilot operation program using low-grade raw materials such as soft coke and low-cost iron ore to produce molten iron. To everyone’s astonishment, it succeeded, and with lower charter costs than the larger blast furnaces that have 3 times the production capacity.

As it turns out, because of its smaller size, the blast furnace can operate with low-grade raw materials such as soft coke and low-cost iron ore, and can flexibly adapt to fluctuations in operations. Employees further developed the technology and as a result, Pohang No.1 blast furnace recorded the lowest charter costs of all POSCO blast furnaces in April this year.

Thanks to the new-found technology, the legacy of the Pohang No.1 blast furnace will continue.

What’s the Secret to Longevity?

Usually, a blast furnace needs to be sprayed down every 6 months so that it does not get damaged from temperatures that can reach up to 2000℃. The bottom of the blast furnace is where the heat is concentrated, thus most susceptible to damage. Furthermore, fluctuations of the internal gas composition can lead to explosions. To solve this problem, POSCO’s technicians developed a technique to lower the coke to below the tuyere and repair the bottom of the blast furnace. This technology was applied to other furnaces and maintenance systems and is still in use today.

The Pohang No.1 blast furnace’s TFT during maintenance

To add, the Pohang No.1 blast furnace even has its own voluntary task force team (TFT) to care for and maintain the blast furnace called “Love for the blast furnace, love for POSCO.” The team of 15 not only makes sure the blast furnace is operating smoothly, they also continually research new technologies to prevent malfunctions and enhance the blast furnace.          

In a matter of months, the furnace went from almost becoming an artifact to a central part of POSCO’s competitiveness. This blast furnace’s long history in itself is impressive, but with its recent transformation, there is no telling what greater innovations and technology POSCO will achieve.

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Pictured here: Scene from one of POSCO’s steel plants

Steel is one of the most common and useful metals. But do you know how it is actually made? Let’s go behind the scenes of one of the world’s leading steelmakers, POSCO, to discover the process of how steel is made.

Pictured here: Gwangyang Works is a world leading works with optimal layout to specialize in the production of automotive steel

The 3 Step Steelmaking Processes

For easier understanding, steel is made through 3 different stages which are ironmaking, steelmaking and rolling (continuous casting processes).

1)      Ironmaking: a process of smelting iron ores into hot metal.

Iron ore and coal are gathered from all around the world and unloaded onto the raw materials dock.

Pictured here: Dock where iron ore and coal are gathered

For proper heat transfusion in the blast furnace, iron and coal must be solidified from their powder form. The process of solidifying iron and coal is called sintering and coking, respectively. The pretreated iron and coal are stacked into layers in a 100m tall blast furnace. Then hot air at 1,200 degrees Celsius is blown into the furnace, causing the coal to burn which melts iron ore into molten iron.

Pictured here: 100m tall blast furnace where iron ore melts into molten iron

 2)      Steelmaking: a process of removing impurities from hot metal to create crude steel.

The molten iron created in the blast furnace contains various impurities that diminish its strength and durability once it is hardened into steel. The molten iron from the blast furnace is transported into a torpedo car and poured into a converter furnace.

Pictured here: The molten iron from the blast furnace is transported into a torpedo car to be taken to a converter furnace

In the converter furnace, pure oxygen is added to burn off substances such as carbon, phosphorous and sulfur to create purified molten steel. At this point, the temperature and substance composition is precisely adjusted to customer’s various demands.

Pictured here: Molten iron being poured into a converter furnace to be purified

Pouring the molten steel into molds and cooling into solid creates a semi-finished material called slabs which are used to make finished steel products.

Pictured here: Molten steel being created into slabs

Solid steel is categorized based on shape. Slabs are wide and flat. Blooms are rectangular bars and billets are thinner, square bars.

3)      Rolling: a process of pressure forming crude steel into various finished products.

The final stage of the steelmaking process involves continuous casting where steel is forged into various steel products. Through the process of rolling, steel can be treated differently to be put to a variety of uses.

Pictured here: Slabs being passed between rollers to turn crude steel into finished products

What is steel used for?

POSCO steel products are used in every part of our daily lives ranging from buildings to smartphones to satellites in space.

The different types of products that can be created include:

1)      Hot-rolled products

2)      Cold-rolled products

3)      Coated Steel

4)      Electrical Steel Plates

5)      Steel Plates

6)      Wire Goods

7)      Stainless Steel

Read on to find out more about the steel products around us.

Hot-rolled products are made from slabs passed through rollers above 1,100 degrees Celsius. These are used for construction materials and pipes in various industries.

Cold-rolled products which are created by making hot rolled products thinner at room temperature are used in general appliances, barrels and automobile frames.

Coated steel which is created by coating cold rolled products with zinc are used in high end appliances, office equipment and automobile exteriors. 

Electrical steel plates are created by adding electrical properties are used in transformers and motors. 

Steel plates which are thick and rectangular in shape are used in large structures such as buildings, vessels and oil pipelines. 

Wired goods are created when billets are passed through a roll with a round hole and is used for automobile tire cords, wires for bridges, piano strings, underwater cables and more. 

When nickel and chrome are added to steel it produces stainless steel which are used in kitchen appliances, medical equipment, exterior walls and roofs of buildings. 

POSCO Ushers in Era of New, Eco-friendly Technologies 

Pictured here: Pohang Works, the root and heart of the Korean steel industry.

POSCO was the first in the world to use a more economical and eco-friendly method of steelmaking compared to a blast furnace. The FINEX method uses iron ore and coal in its original form, skipping the coking and sintering processes. 

Pohang Works is driving innovations in steel technology and leading in production of high quality products. It operates a state of the arts R&D center and production monitoring center that monitors production 24/7. 

In addition, there is an Environmental Center that monitors emissions of pollutants in real time. 

Click on the videos below to see the full steelmaking process at POSCO’s Gwangyang Works and Pohang Works, the root and heart of the Korean steel industry.