Emission limits of the sinter waste gas have been continually andstrictly tightened in the EU for the last years. To cope with these environmentalchallenges, a survey about the sinter plant flue gas cleaningtechnologies was carried out within the VDEh sub-committee“Burden preparation”. This paper summarizes the main results of thissurvey and describes briefly principles of different processes andtechnologies including some of the latest development in the field ofsinter waste gas cleaning.

VAI has developed the MEROS® process (Maximized EmissionReduction Of Sintering) in which dust and harmful metallic and organiccomponents present in sinter offgas are removed in a series oftreatment steps to levels previously unattained with conventionalgas-treatment techniques. In a number of test campaigns, the technicaland economical advantages of this innovative sinter offgascleaningprocess were verified. voestalpine Stahl subsequentlyplaced an order with VAI for the installation of an industrial MEROSfacility to be started-up in August 2007.

The growing demand for energy, the significant increases in prices offossil fuels and the environmental commitments have led ACESITA toreview its current energy sources and to aim at self-sufficiency in renewableenergy. ACESITA operates two blast furnaces with coke or charcoalas reductant. With the recent investments in the ironmaking areaand in Acesita Energética, and with the combined mastering of blastfurnace operation and charcoal production, ACESITA will be prepared,as of 2009, to operate its blast furnaces with 100% renewable fuel(charcoal). Forest based charcoal production through a modern, environmentally,socially and economically sustainable way is demonstrated.

Steel rolling technology has achieved such fantastic progress in the 20th century that it might be considered to have come to maturity.Actually, it remains nowadays the object of intense development thataffords further impressive improvements. The progress of rollingtechnology is fostered by a drastic global growth of the number ofrolling equipments on the order of 40% over the last 15 years. Itbenefits from a dedicated R&D effort based upon a large scope ofscientific knowledge. The 9th Steel Rolling Conference illustrates thispotent innovative approach and it offers a unique opportunity forfruitful exchanges between steel producers, equipment suppliersand steel users.

In 2003, the blast furnaces in Sollac Lorraine faced the challenge ofensuring self sufficiency in coke while maintaining a constant productionlevel. This challenge has been taken up successfully byreducing the coke ratio and by increasing PCI. This was achieved bychanging the tuyeres conditions, by optimizing burden quality andburden charging and improving the wall heat control.

The Arcelor plant in Dunkerque depends on external coke for onethird of its total coke consumption. A global approach has been carriedout:
To assess the effect of coke properties on the blast furnaceperformance.To specify the requested coke properties.
Appropriate coke characteristics have been defined, aiming at highblast furnace productivity (63t/m2/d), at high PCI rate (210kg/thm forall three blast furnaces) and at low consumption of large coke(230kg/thm).

A methodology is proposed for taking recycling, an essential activityof the developed economies, into account within LCA tools. Thereasoning for choosing the methodology is exposed step by step.The final proposal is centered on the multiple-recycling model, whichbest describes the practical way that materials are actually recycledin the economy.
From a practical standpoint, the results obtained are attributed tosteel on the basis of a specific value (e.g. t of CO2 per t of steel),which amounts to averaging the impact over the various steps of therecycling process on a weighted average basis, depending on theamount of material recycled at each step.