Steel plants — Presentation

This section, comprising the following six articles, is devoted to :

• on the one hand, a description of the three main types of steelworks, i.e. :

  • Classic integrated plants [M 7,090],

  • mini-factories [M 7 130],

  • integrated mini-mills [M 7 110], in a way, between the two previous ones;

• on the other hand, the most important general considerations applying to all types of steelworks, i.e. those concerning :

  • Energy management [M 7 140],

  • and Environmental Protection [M 7 150 and M 7 151].

Consideration of the general steel production diagram (figure 1 ) leads to three main observations:

• firstly, the importance of the market for the various steel products, which seems obvious but has not always, far from it, been well understood and implemented in the design and development of steel companies;

• then, the possibilities of short routes, illustrated by the various arrows on figure 1 , which show the main variants that can be envisaged;

• lastly, by emphasizing these possibilities, the opportunities for cuts in the steelmaking chain that are becoming increasingly apparent in the design or expansion of steelmaking plants.

These three points will form the three parts of this article.