Technological development of iron and steel in European countries

摘要

The Steel Industry in Europe has managed in recent years to remain one of the most competitive in the world, due, in particular, to its strong commitment to process technology and innovation in the area. In the scope of this paper illustrating progress concerning processes from the raw materials to the rolled product, innovative technology developments are rather concentrated: in EAF for long products mills, with a large number of emerging solutions for low energy consumption and low polluting gas emission, in Near- Net Shape Casting for thin flat products. However, many essential new investments concern less visible progress on measurements and process control equipment. We would like to stress that the particular cooperative schemes for non- competitive R& D that have been explored in Europe have probably played a strong role in achieving this level of excellence. The ECSC research program has been making this possible for the last 40 years and created a culture of co-operation that is unique in the world. Steel companies have also engaged in multilateral development, based on private contracts, such as the Myosotis or the Eurostrip projects, which associate USINOR, TKS and VAI for the latter. Taking a further step, the European Steel Industry is operating a Virtual Research Center, mainly focused on process R& D, which brings together part of the teams of IRSID, CORUS and CRM. At a global level, European Steel is providing leadership to many of the technical working group, which are run within IISI. Last, European Steel Mills have joined into Japanese National Projects, such as the Shinseiko Forum or the EMC project.