The recent meeting “ARAB STEEL SUMMIT 2007” organized byThe Arab Iron and Steel Union at Muscat (Oman Sultanate) March12-14, 2007 afforded the opportunity to analyze:
The development of the Iron and Steel Industry in the Arab States,The main actors behind such developments,The characteristics, both technical and metallurgical of theseenterprises.

Energy efficiency in BOF process is related to hot metal and scrapratio and thus to production capacity potential and specific CO2emissions. A thermal balance in the fume system, using a selectedmetrology, can be calculated dynamically and provides a valuabletool for investigating the process parameters that are relevant foroptimizing and controlling energy efficiency. The method and firstresults are presented.

Steel slag is a steel-making industry by-product, currently used forseveral applications in substitution of non-renewable natural resources(e.g., crushed stone and sand). The major reason for conductingthis study at CST ArcelorMittal Brasil was to verify if any of the currentuses of LD and NP slag presented significant risks to the environmentand/or human health.

The Clean Development Mechanism Project elaboration is reviewed,considering every step from the project design document conception,through validation, the approval by the national authorities andthe verification process.The whole development is pioneered by CST ArcelorMittal Brasil,aiming at carbon credits generation and GHG emission reduction.An associated objective is the promotion of sustainable development.The potential of carbon credits generation is estimated to be440,263 tons of CO2 over a CDM project period of 10 years.

Almost 40% of the 180 conventional hot strip mills in the world werebuilt before 1970. Flexible concepts developed by SMS Demagallow older hot strip mills to be modernized such that they meettoday's market requirements in the same way as latest-generationmills. The article presents the principles of the concept phase as wellas some examples for successful modernization projects which featuredvery different requirements.

This paper deals with the influence of thermal strains/stresses causedby braking on the fatigue life of cast nodular iron disc brakes forrailway vehicles. The thermal stresses have been experimentallyderived and the durability has been assessed for a breaking loadspectrum comprising 6000 stop brakings from 200 km/h, 3000 stopbrakings from 160 km/h, 1500 stop brakings from 120 km/h and30000 usual brakings periods slowing down from 90 km/h.The fatigue critical areas have been identified and a redesign of thediscs made it possible to afford the requested service life of3×106 km.

The new approaches that have been recently introduced to accountfor the potential effects of the PWR water environment on the highcycle thermal fatigue of austenitic stainless steel components havebeen experimentally assessed under conditions matching the actualin service loadings.