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Process Data set: [CicloData] (2)|steel production, converter, low-alloyed | steel, low-alloyed | Cutoff, U (en) en

Key Data Set Information
Location CL
Geographical representativeness description Data collected from one integrated steel plant in India that manufacturers 38,33,379 tonnes of low alloyed steel via BOF route.
Reference year 2010
Name
[CicloData] (2)|steel production, converter, low-alloyed | steel, low-alloyed | Cutoff, U
Classification
Class name : Hierarchy level
  • ILCD: #ECOED / #CICLODATA / Acero / 2.Producción de acero
General comment on data set ecoQuery: https://ecoquery.ecoinvent.org/3.10/cutoff/dataset/21769/documentation This process produces primary steel via Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) route. Basic oxygen steelmaking is a method of primary steelmaking in which carbon-rich molten pig iron is made into steel. Blowing oxygen through molten pig iron lowers the carbon content of the alloy and changes it into low-carbon steel. The process is known as basic because fluxes of burnt lime or dolomite, which are chemical bases, are added to promote the removal of impurities and protect the lining of the converter. This activity starts when raw materials like pig iron are sent to Basic Oxygen Furnace. This activity ends at the exit of BOF
Copyright Yes
Quantitative reference
Reference flow(s)
Time representativeness
Data set valid until 2023
Time representativeness description The data is valid for 2010-17.
Technological representativeness
Technology description including background system Basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS, BOP, BOF, and OSM), also known as Linz–Donawitz-steelmaking or the oxygen converter process was developed in 1948 by Robert Durrer and commercialized in 1952–1953 by Austrian VOEST and ÖAMG. The LD converter, named after the Austrian towns Linz and Donawitz (a district of Leoben) is a refined version of the Bessemer converter where blowing of air is replaced with blowing oxygen. It reduced capital cost of the plants, time of smelting, and increased labor productivity. Between 1920 and 2000, labor requirements in the industry decreased by a factor of 1,000, from more than 3 man-hours per metric ton to just 0.003. The vast majority of steel manufactured in the world is produced using the basic oxygen furnace; in 2000, it accounted for 60% of global steel output. Modern furnaces will take a charge of iron of up to 400 tons and convert it into steel in less than 40 minutes, compared to 10–12 hours in an open hearth furnace. The basic oxygen steel-making process is as follows:;;Molten pig iron (sometimes referred to as "hot metal") from a blast furnace is poured into a large refractory-lined container called a ladle;;The metal in the ladle is sent directly for basic oxygen steelmaking or to a pretreatment stage. High purity oxygen at a pressure of 700–1,000 kilopascals (100–150 psi) is introduced at supersonic speed onto the surface of the iron bath through a water-cooled lance, which is suspended in the vessel and kept a few feet above the bath. Pretreatment of the blast furnace hot metal is done externally to reduce sulphur, silicon, and phosphorus before charging the hot metal into the converter. In external desulphurising pretreatment, a lance is lowered into the molten iron in the ladle and several hundred kilograms of powdered magnesium are added and the sulphur impurities are reduced to magnesium sulphide in a violent exothermic reaction. The sulfide is then raked off. Similar pretreatments are possible for external desiliconisation and external dephosphorisation using mill scale (iron oxide) and lime as fluxes. The decision to pretreat depends on the quality of the hot metal and the required final quality of the steel.;Filling the furnace with the ingredients is called charging. The BOS process is autogenous, i.e. the required thermal energy is produced during the oxidation process. Maintaining the proper charge balance, the ratio of hot metal, from melt, to cold scrap, is therefore very important. The BOS vessel can be tilted up to 360° and is tilted towards the deslagging side for charging scrap and hot metal. The BOS vessel is charged with steel or iron scrap (25%-30%) if required. Molten iron from the ladle is added as required for the charge balance. A typical chemistry of hotmetal charged into the BOS vessel is: 4% C, 0.2–0.8% Si, 0.08%–0.18% P, and 0.01–0.04% S, all of which can be oxidised by the supplied oxygen except sulphur (which requires reducing conditions).;The vessel is then set upright and a water-cooled, copper tipped lance with 3-7 nozzles is lowered down into it and high purity oxygen is delivered at supersonic speeds. The lance "blows" 99% pure oxygen over the hot metal, igniting the carbon dissolved in the steel, to form carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and causing the temperature to rise to about 1700 °C. This melts the scrap, lowers the carbon content of the molten iron and helps remove unwanted chemical elements. It is this use of pure oxygen instead of air that improves upon the Bessemer process, as the nitrogen (a particularly undesirable element) and other gases in air do not react with the charge.[11];Fluxes (burnt lime or dolomite) are fed into the vessel to form slag, to maintain basicity above 3 and absorb impurities during the steelmaking process. During "blowing", churning of metal and fluxes in the vessel forms an emulsion, that facilitates the refining process. Near the end of the blowing cycle, which takes about 20 minutes, the temperature is measured and samples are taken. A typical chemistry of the blown metal is 0.3–0.9% C, 0.05–0.1% Mn, 0.001–0.003% Si, 0.01–0.03% S and 0.005–0.03% P.;The BOF vessel is tilted towards the slagging side and the steel is poured through a tap hole into a steel ladle with basic refractory lining. This process is called tapping the steel. The steel is further refined in the ladle furnace, by adding alloying materials to give it special properties required by the customer. Sometimes argon or nitrogen is bubbled into the ladle to make the alloys mix correctly.;After the steel is poured off from the BOS vessel, the slag is poured into the slag pots through the BOS vessel mouth and dumped.;Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_oxygen_steelmaking
LCI method and allocation
Type of data set Unit process, black box
LCI Method Principle Other
Data sources, treatment and representativeness
Data treatment and extrapolations principles Some emissions to air have been extrapolated from the dataset "steel production, convter, unalloyed"
Data source(s) used for this data set
Sampling procedure Based on data received from one integrated steel plant in India
Completeness
Completeness of product model No statement
Data generator
Data set generator / modeller
Data entry by
Time stamp (last saved) 2024-10-18T12:53:31.241000-03:00
Data set format(s)
Data entry by
Publication and ownership
UUID 5153fdbb-ed23-4809-bd85-04aa4a640518
Date of last revision 2024-10-18T12:45:37.169000-03:00
Data set version 00.00.017
Unchanged re-publication of
Copyright Yes

Inputs

Type of flow Classification Flow Location Mean amount Resulting amount Minimum amount Maximum amount
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 24:Manufacture of basic metals / 242:Manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals / 2420:Manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals GLO 0.00242 kg0.00242 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 20:Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products / 201:Manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, plastics / 2011:Manufacture of basic chemicals RoW 0.003222 kg0.003222 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
Recycled content cut-off GLO -0.8375 MJ-0.8375 MJ
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 28:Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. / 281:Manufacture of general-purpose machinery / 2815:Manufacture of ovens, furnaces and furnace burners GLO 1.3333E-11 Item(s)1.3333E-11 Item(s)
General comment EcoSpold01Location=RER Based on ecoinvent dataset for steel production, converter, unalloyed, GLO
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 20:Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products / 201:Manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, plastics / 2011:Manufacture of basic chemicals RoW 0.005253 kg0.005253 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 19:Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products / 191:Manufacture of coke oven products / 1910:Manufacture of coke oven products RoW 8.1E-4 MJ8.1E-4 MJ
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India EcoSpold01Location=RER
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 24:Manufacture of basic metals / 242:Manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals / 2420:Manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals GLO 2.2E-5 kg2.2E-5 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
B:Mining and quarrying / 08:Other mining and quarrying / 089:Mining and quarrying n.e.c. / 0891:Mining of chemical and fertilizer minerals RoW 0.04186 kg0.04186 kg
General comment EcoSpold01Location=RER Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
D:Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply / 35:Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply / 351:Electric power generation, transmission and distribution / 3510:Electric power generation, transmission and distribution CL 0.25254000000000004 MJ0.25254000000000004 MJ
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India EcoSpold01Location=UCTE
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 27:Manufacture of electrical equipment / 272:Manufacture of batteries and accumulators / 2720:Manufacture of batteries and accumulators GLO 1.43E-4 kg1.43E-4 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 24:Manufacture of basic metals / 241:Manufacture of basic iron and steel / 2410:Manufacture of basic iron and steel GLO 0.005584 kg0.005584 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 24:Manufacture of basic metals / 241:Manufacture of basic iron and steel / 2410:Manufacture of basic iron and steel GLO 2.098E-4 kg2.098E-4 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 17:Manufacture of paper and paper products / 170:Manufacture of paper and paper products / 1701:Manufacture of pulp, paper and paperboard RoW 0.1537831 MJ0.1537831 MJ
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
Recycled content cut-off RoW 0.15598 kg0.15598 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
B:Mining and quarrying / 08:Other mining and quarrying / 081:Quarrying of stone, sand and clay / 0810:Quarrying of stone, sand and clay RoW 0.0634 kg0.0634 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 19:Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products / 192:Manufacture of refined petroleum products / 1920:Manufacture of refined petroleum products CL 2.921E-4 kg2.921E-4 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 24:Manufacture of basic metals / 242:Manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals / 2420:Manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals GLO 5.6E-4 kg5.6E-4 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 24:Manufacture of basic metals / 242:Manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals / 2420:Manufacture of basic precious and other non-ferrous metals GLO 1.608E-5 kg1.608E-5 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 20:Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products / 201:Manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, plastics / 2011:Manufacture of basic chemicals RoW 0.04479 kg0.04479 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 20:Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products / 201:Manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, plastics / 2011:Manufacture of basic chemicals RoW 0.09962 kg0.09962 kg
General comment EcoSpold01Location=RER Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 24:Manufacture of basic metals / 241:Manufacture of basic iron and steel / 2410:Manufacture of basic iron and steel CL 1.011 kg1.011 kg
General comment EcoSpold01Location=GLO Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 20:Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products / 201:Manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, plastics / 2011:Manufacture of basic chemicals GLO 3.45E-4 kg3.45E-4 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 19:Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products / 191:Manufacture of coke oven products / 1910:Manufacture of coke oven products RoW 0.0101 kg0.0101 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Elementary flow Resources / Resources from water / Renewable material resources from water CL 6.9E-4 m36.9E-4 m3
Product flow C:Manufacturing / 19:Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products / 192:Manufacture of refined petroleum products / 1920:Manufacture of refined petroleum products CL 8.0E-5 kg8.0E-5 kg

Outputs

Type of flow Classification Flow Location Mean amount Resulting amount Minimum amount Maximum amount
Product flow
C:Manufacturing / 24:Manufacture of basic metals / 241:Manufacture of basic iron and steel / 2410:Manufacture of basic iron and steel CL 1.0 kg1.0 kg
General comment Steel low-alloyed manufactured via BOF route
Waste flow
E:Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities / 38:Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery / 382:Waste treatment and disposal / 3821:Treatment and disposal of non-hazardous waste RoW 0.0010625 kg0.0010625 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO
Waste flow
E:Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities / 38:Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery / 382:Waste treatment and disposal / 3822:Treatment and disposal of hazardous waste RoW 0.2318 kg0.2318 kg
General comment Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Waste flow
E:Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities / 38:Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery / 382:Waste treatment and disposal / 3821:Treatment and disposal of non-hazardous waste RoW 0.0923 kg0.0923 kg
General comment EcoSpold01Location=CH Based on data received from integrated steel plants in India
Waste flow
E:Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities / 37:Sewerage / 370:Sewerage / 3700:Sewerage RoW 5.52E-4 m35.52E-4 m3
General comment It is assumed that 80% of water consumed as input to the process is sent out as wastewater for treatment. The wastewater after treatment is recycled and reused again in the process.
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 0.0756 kg0.0756 kg
General comment Based on GLO dataset for steel production, converter, low alloyed, 2017 accessed through ecoeditor on March 31, 2018
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 0.00473 kg0.00473 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 1.85E-7 kg1.85E-7 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 2.5E-8 kg2.5E-8 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 3.05E-14 kg3.05E-14 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 5.15E-7 kg5.15E-7 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 6.05E-7 kg6.05E-7 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 1.25E-5 kg1.25E-5 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 1.2E-10 kg1.2E-10 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to air, unspecified CL 4.75E-5 kg4.75E-5 kg
General comment Based on ecoinvent dataset for "steel production, converter, lowalloyed, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815
Elementary flow
Emissions / Emissions to air / Emissions to non-urban air or from high stacks CL 1.38E-4 m31.38E-4 m3
General comment Based on the formula given in ecoinvent dataset " pig iron production, GLO" accessed through ecoeditor on 20170815