DOI: 10.29130/dubited.1948758 ISSN: 2148-2446

Comparison of Two Steel Production Global Warming Potentials in Terms of Scrap Consumption by Using Life Cycle Assessment

Didem Inceoglu
Show PDF Cite
The European steel industry is striving to decrease both direct and indirect CO2 emissions. Achieving low CO2 emission levels requires cutting current emissions by 80-95% by 2050. Concurrently, governments are enacting stricter legal regulations to shift steel producers toward greener practices. Therefore, a managed transition and technical solutions are essential. Understanding global warming potential (GWP) mechanisms and emission ratios is crucial for sustainable steel production. This study aims to compare two integrated steel plants using the same methodology. Although these plants share the same process routes, their capacities and scrap usage ratios differ. Scrap usage in the Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) process directly affects the global warming potential results. Consequently, the primary focus of the present study is on scrap consumption. Currently, scrap consumption is 204.6 kg per ton of steel in Plant A, whereas it is 184.7 kg per ton of steel in Plant B. Furthermore, external scrap accounts for 78.0% of the total scrap in Plant B, compared to 37.2% in Plant A. As a result, the CO2 equivalent emissions related to external scrap usage in Plant B are 1.71 times higher than those in Plant A.

More from our Archive