Caspian Report - Issue: 07 - Spring 2014

Kyoto Protocol
meeting on
December
10, 2009 in
Copenhagen.
In the current plant configuration, a
huge amount of coal is held in stockyards
and used in order to produce
coke, the chemical agent used in the
blast furnace to make hot metal. In
the blast furnace, iron oxides in the
shape of ores, sinter and pellets are
transformed into hot metal by reduction
process of steel that involves
the use of natural gas, instead of coal.
This change falls within the measures
laid down by the AIA designed
to increase productivity and improve
environmental and human protections
through the use of innovative
technologies. The use of these technologies
is in fact one of the points
contained in the “Proposta di piano
delle misure e delle attività di tutela
ambientale e sanitaria” which was
recently prepared for the Company
by an expert committee appointed
by the Minister of Environment.
In the past, a number of measures
have been taken to reduce the environmental
impact of the plant, but
the majority have been related to
post-treatment technologies. The
success of these measures in limiting
the diffusion of fugitive dust
emissions has been disputed. Since
September, experts have been working
on preliminary experiments,
checking whether the plants are
compatible with the new technology
and the new production process,
i.e. producing steel with natural gas.
This solution would replace the classical
configuration, in place since the
late nineteenth century: the coke
oven-blast furnace-converter. So far,
tests results seem positive, and further
developments will likely be announced
in the coming months.
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CASPIAN REPORT, SPRING 2014