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This paper will discuss the dynamics of steel production in Poland in light of the forecasts of tendencies under conditions of decarbonization. The research presented will be an attempt, using data from 2006 to 2023, to create econometric models and forecast production volumes until 2028, along with influencing factors. The obtained models were compared by calculating their error metrics. Based on the conducted econometric models, the critical determinants of the decarbonization of the industry have been established. Forecasts of the volume of steel production in Poland are downward in the face of the increasingly clear emphasis on strategic investments in low-emission technologies. This paper consists of two research parts. The first concerns the forecasting of steel production volume, and the second concerns the modeling of the steel production process, taking into account the key determinants of technological processes (EAF and BOF). Forecasts were calculated for each econometric model. This analysis is a contribution to a broader discussion on industrial adaptation and sustainable development in the steel sector. The developed models and forecasts can provide decision-makers and industry stakeholders with important information at the stage of the decision-making process concerned with developing a strategy for the decarbonization of steelmaking processes. In Poland, two technologies of steel production are used: BOF and EAF. In accordance with the assumptions of deep decarbonization, BF-BOF technology must be replaced by DRI-EAF technology.

The type of steel furnace slag (SFS), including electric arc furnace (EAF) slag, basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag, ladle metallurgy furnace (LMF) slag, and argon oxygen decarburization (AOD) slag, can significantly affect the composite properties when used as an aggregate or as a supplementary cementitious material in bound applications, such as concretes, mortars, alkali-activated materials, and stabilized soils. This review seeks to collate the findings from the literature to express the variability in material properties and to attempt to explain the source(s) of the variability. It was found that SFS composition and properties can be highly variable, including different compositions on the exterior and interior of a given SFS particle, which can affect bonding conditions and be one source of variability on composite properties. A suite of tests is proposed to better assess a given SFS stock for potential use in bound applications; at a minimum, the SFS should be evaluated for free CaO content, expansion potential, mineralogical composition, cementitious composite mechanical properties, and chemical composition with secondary tests, including cementitious composite durability properties, microstructural characterization, and free MgO content.

The publication presents heat and electricity management in the Polish steel industry. The paper is based on actual data on heat and electricity consumption and intensity by processes in the steel industry in Poland in Industry 4.0 conditions. Two steel production processes are used in Poland: EAF Electric Arc Furnace and BOF Basic Oxygen Furnace. The analysis is an analysis of actual data is used to characterise the electricity and heat consumption by processes in the Polish steel industry. The analysis shows that the EAF technology is always more electricity intensive and the BOF technology more heat intensive. On the basis of conducted analysis, it can be concluded that pro-environmental innovations in the steel industry should first aim to reduce the electricity consumption of EAF technology and the heat consumption of BOF. An analysis of data for Poland for the period 2004–2020 shows that both cases occurred. The study shows that the heat consumption of BOF technologies has been steadily decreasing since 2010, and the electricity consumption of EAF technologies has been decreasing throughout the period under review. It can be concluded from this that the Polish steel industry is adapting to pro-environmental requirements and, through the introduction of technological innovations, is moving towards the concept of sustainable steel production according to green steel principles. The decrease in energy intensity (means electricity) of steel produced according to EAF technology is an important issue, as the high energy intensity of EAF processes affects the overall energy intensity of the steel production in Poland. In the future, the use of new innovative technological solutions, including solutions based on Industry 4.0 principles, should help the Polish steel industry to further reduce the level of electricity and heat consumption. The driving force behind the investment is the boom in the steel market. The authors made a short-term forecasts of steel production (2022–2025). The annual forecasts determined and analyses made were used to determine the heat and energy consumption of the Polish steel industry up to 2025.

The current dependency on steel within modern society causes major environmental pollution, a result of the product’s life cycle phases. Unfortunately, very little data regarding single steel production processes have been found in literature. Therefore, a detailed analysis of impacts categorized in terms of relevance cannot be conducted. In this study, a complete life cycle assessment of steel production in an integrated German steel plant of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, including an assessment of emissions from the blast furnace, the basic oxygen furnace, and casting rolling, is carried out. The functional unit is set to 1 kg hot-rolled coil, and the system boundaries are defined as cradle-to-gate. This study models the individual process steps and the resulting emitters using the software GaBi. Total emissions could be distributed into direct, upstream, and by-product emissions, where the biggest impacts in terms of direct emissions from single processes are from the power plant (48% global warming potential (GWP)), the blast furnace (22% GWP), and the sinter plant (79% photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP)). The summarized upstream processes have the largest share in the impact categories acidification potential (AP; 69%) and abiotic depletion potential fossil (ADPf; 110%). The results, including data verification, furthermore show the future significance of the supply chain in the necessary reduction that could be achieved.

This study proposed a mechanochemical activation strategy using ethanol-diisopropanolamine (EDIPA) to improve the grindability and hydration reactivity of basic oxygen furnace slag (BOFS), aiming for its large-scale industrial utilization. The incorporation of EDIPA significantly refined the particle size distribution and reduced the repose angle. As a result, the compressive strength of BOFS paste increased by 25.4 MPa at 28 d with only 0.08 wt.% EDIPA. Conductivity tests demonstrated that EDIPA strongly complexes with Ca2+, Al3+, and Fe3+, facilitating the dissolution of active mineral phases, such as C12A7 and C2F, and accelerating hydration reactions. XRD and TG analyses confirmed that the incorporation of EDIPA facilitated the formation of Mc (C4(A,F)ČH11) and increased the content of C-S-H, both of which contributed to microstructural densification. Microstructural observations further revealed that EDIPA refined Ca(OH)2 crystals, increasing their specific surface area from 4.7 m2/g to 35.2 m2/g. The combined effect of crystal refinement and enhanced hydration product formation resulted in reduced porosity and improved mechanical properties. Overall, the results demonstrated that EDIPA provided an economical, effective, and scalable means of activating BOFS, thereby promoting its high-value utilization in low-carbon construction materials.

Basic oxygen furnaces (BOFs) are widely used to produce steel from hot metal. The process typically has limited automation which leads to sub-optimal operation. Economically optimal operation can be potentially achieved by using a dynamic optimization framework to provide operators the best combination of input trajectories. In this paper, a first-principles based dynamic model for the BOF that can be used within the dynamic optimization routine is described. The model extends a previous work by incorporating a model for slag formation and energy balances. In this new version of the mathematical model, the submodel for the decarburization in the emulsion zone is also modified to account for recent findings, and an algebraic equation for the calculation of the calcium oxide saturation in slag is developed. The dynamic model is then used to simulate the operation of two distinct furnaces. It was found that the prediction accuracy of the developed model is significantly superior to its predecessor and the number of process variables that it is able to predict is also higher.

Railway ballast, for which natural crushed stone aggregates have been generally used, is an essential track component for the distribution of train loads along the rails and sleepers to the roadbed. However, the use of natural crushed stone aggregate causes environmental destruction as well as dust production in train service. This paper evaluates the feasibility of using the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steel slag as railway ballast material. A series of physical and chemical quality tests are performed to investigate the characteristics of the materials associated with the effect of aging period due to the remaining free CaO and MgO in the BOF steel slag. Three different aging periods (i.e., 0, 3, and 6 months) are used to compare with various standards and the properties of the crushed stone aggregates. It is demonstrated that the physical and chemical properties of the BOF steel slag with different aging periods satisfy all requirements of standards sufficiently. Especially, the BOF steel slag without aging (i.e., 0 month) provides the similar physical and chemical properties, when compared to the BOF steel slag with aging (i.e., 3 and 6 months). Thus, it is possible to apply the BOF steel slag regardless of aging periods to the railway ballast materials instead of natural crushed stone aggregates.

Basic oxygen furnace slag (BOFS) is one of the major by-products of the steelmaking industry. Its limited utilization as a construction material is primarily attributed to its chemical properties, which hinder its stability and hydraulic activity due to its high free lime (f-CaO) content. This paper explores the performance of supplementary cementitious material (SCM) synthesized with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), freshly produced BOFS (f-BOFS), and stockpiled BOFS (s-BOFS). A total of 10 mixtures with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) replacement percentages were assessed, maintaining a total replacement of 50% OPC, incorporating 15%, 25%, and 35% of each material by weight. The laboratory experimental program encompassed material characterization, fresh and hardened properties, pozzolanic activity, and durability assessment, with comparative studies conducted for each evaluation item. Test results indicate that f- or s-BOFS, when used with GGBFS, can be a viable alternative SCM with the potential for hydraulic activities and pozzolanic reaction. The newly synthesized SCMs demonstrated improved strength development in mortar mixtures. The mixture containing [15% f-BOFS + 35% GGBFS] achieved a 28-day compressive strength of 20.6 MPa, while the [25% BOFS + 25% GGBFS] blend reached a compressive strength of 19.7 MPa. These mixtures meet Grade 80 criteria as per ASTM C989/C989M Standard Specification for Slag Cement for Use in Concrete and Mortars. A performance-based ranking system was developed by integrating results from flowability, air content, strength activity index, drying shrinkage, alkali–silica reaction, and sulfate attack. The novelty of this work lies in assessing BOFS–GGBFS blends as SCMs using this multi-criteria approach to identify the most sustainable and technically viable mixtures. Moreover, the study highlights the influence of storage-induced weathering by directly comparing the reactivity and performance of f- and s-BOFSs in ternary blends, providing new insights into optimizing the utilization of slag. Notably, regardless of f- and s-BOFSs, proportions of [15% BOFS + 35% GGBFS] demonstrated superior strength development and achieved an excellent overall ranking. These findings confirm the potential of such slag blends as suitable SCMs for mortar and concrete applications, thereby advancing the sustainability and efficiency of cementitious materials.

The steel industry is among the highest carbon-emitting industrial sectors. Since the steel production process is already exhaustively optimized, alternative routes are sought in order to increase carbon efficiency and reduce these emissions. During steel production, three main carbon-containing off-gases are generated: blast furnace gas, coke oven gas and basic oxygen furnace gas. In the present work, the addition of renewable hydrogen by electrolysis to those steelworks off-gases is studied for the production of methane and methanol. Different case scenarios are investigated using AspenPlusTM flowsheet simulations, which differ on the end-product, the feedstock flowrates and on the production of power. Each case study is evaluated in terms of hydrogen and electrolysis requirements, carbon conversion, hydrogen consumption, and product yields. The findings of this study showed that the electrolysis requirements surpass the energy content of the steelwork’s feedstock. However, for the methanol synthesis cases, substantial improvements can be achieved if recycling a significant amount of the residual hydrogen.

Oxygen is an important energy medium in the steelmaking process. The accurate dynamic prediction of oxygen demand is needed to guarantee molten steel quality, improve the production rhythm, and promote the collaborative optimization of production and energy. In this work, a analysis of the mechanism and of industrial big data was undertaken, and we found that the characteristic factors of Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) oxygen consumption were different in different modes, such as duplex dephosphorization, duplex decarbonization, and the traditional mode. Based on this, a dynamic-prediction modeling method for BOF oxygen demand considering mode classification is proposed. According to the characteristics of BOF production organization, a control module based on dynamic adaptions of the production plan was researched to realize the recalculation of the model predictions. A simulation test on industrial data revealed that the average relative error of the model in each BOF mode was less than 5% and the mean absolute error was about 450 m3. Moreover, an accurate 30-minute-in-advance prediction of dynamic oxygen demand was realized. This paper provides the method support and basis for the long-term demand planning of the static balance and the short-term real-time scheduling of the dynamic balance of oxygen.