Application of the life cycle inventory in the steel industry

The steel industry is a major emitter of greenhouse gases. Today, the traditional steel production process generates approximately two tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of steel produced. Economic constraints and growing environmental demands are driving the steel industry to consider innovative policies to reduce these emissions, develop recycling and recovery techniques, and adapt and optimize steelmaking processes. It is now clear that current steel production methods will have to be radically overhauled, and that new technologies will have to be studied and validated before they can be implemented on a large scale in the medium term.

The environmental assessment of conventional steelmaking processes, using a global "life cycle" approach, can significantly improve their environmental efficiency and productivity. This assessment is recommended prior to the implementation of research programs and, above all, prior to plant development. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is recognized as the most holistic approach to environmental assessment of industrial systems. Despite the international standardization of this methodology (ISO 14040 ) , there are still cases where the results of an LCA study give rise to contradictory comments calling into question its credibility. It is generally recognized that ensuring the quality of life cycle inventory data is a prerequisite for guaranteeing the quality of LCA results.

In this dossier, we propose a new approach to life cycle inventory analysis, with a view to improving the quality of the data used to carry out the LCA study. The proposed approach is based on a methodological coupling between the classic LCA method and flowsheeting-type process engineering software. This coupling is then applied to the conventional steel industry.