Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 10

See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272334583

Life Cycle Assessment of Steel Production in


Poland: A Case Study
Article in Journal of Cleaner Production July 2013
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.04.031

CITATIONS

READS

38

279

1 author:
Dorota Burchart-Korol
Central Mining Institute (GIG)
43 PUBLICATIONS 130 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE

All in-text references underlined in blue are linked to publications on ResearchGate,


letting you access and read them immediately.

Available from: Dorota Burchart-Korol


Retrieved on: 28 August 2016

Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Life cycle assessment of steel production in Poland: a case study


Dorota Burchart-Korol*
Central Mining Institute, Department of Energy Saving and Air Protection, Plac Gwarkw 1, 40-166 Katowice, Poland

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 24 June 2012
Received in revised form
22 April 2013
Accepted 23 April 2013
Available online 10 May 2013

The goal of this study is to perform a life cycle assessment (LCA) of steel production through the integrated steel production and electric arc furnace routes in Poland. The study denes the major sources of
environmental impacts and proposes pollution prevention methods for the most pollutive steelmaking
processes. The LCA methodology based on the ISO 14044 standard is used with SimaPro 7.3.3 software
and the Ecoinvent database. The life cycle inventory shows data averaged from the existing steel plants in
Poland, and the impact assessment results indicate that the production of pig iron in blast furnaces has
the highest impact on greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption in the national integrated
steel production route, while the iron ore sintering process, which is the largest contributor to dust and
gas emissions in the national iron and steel industry, uses the most minerals and depletes the most
metal. Electricity consumption has the highest impact on greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel
consumption in the national electric arc furnace route. Therefore, this article presents the results of an
LCA of alternative fuel consumption in a national iron ore sinter plant. The study concludes that pollution
prevention methods related to raw material substitutions in iron-making processes should be used to
reduce environmental impacts in the iron and steel industry. The results of this study can be used as the
rst step in performing a full cradle-to-grave steel LCA that includes all phases of the steel life cycle.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Integrated steel plant
Electric arc furnace
LCA
Greenhouse gas emissions
Poland

1. Introduction
1.1. Life cycle assessment in the steel industry
The iron and steel industry is highly energy-intensive and the
production of steel is associated with signicant greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions. In Poland, crude steel is produced at a rate of 8.8
million tons per year, an increase of 9.8% from that of 2010. Fig. 1
presents data on the production of the Polish steel industrys
main products in 2007e2011 (PPS, 2012). In 2011, CO2 emissions
made up the largest share (98.5%) of the national steel industrys
total gas emissions. The emission of the other gases, including NO2,
SO2, and CO, represented approximately 1.5% of the total, while the
average dust emission factor was 0.52 kg/t crude steel (average for
EAF and BOF operations) (PPS, 2012).
The World Steel Association provides the most consistent and
accurate information for LCAs of the steel industry. It collects life
cycle inventory data on the steel life cycle, including raw material
extraction, manufacturing, use phase and end-of-life processes. The
researchers focusing on the world steel industry have stressed the

* Tel.: 48 32 259 26 97; fax: 48 32 259 22 67.


E-mail address: dburchart@gig.eu.
0959-6526/$ e see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.04.031

importance of LCA in environmental assessment. Iosif et al. (2008,


2010) have proposed a methodological framework based on the
interconnection between environmental LCA and the process
simulation software Aspen Plus that could be used to model new
steelmaking breakthrough technologies for the environmentally
friendly production of steel (Iosif et al., 2008, 2010). The European
Steel Industry has created a consortium of industries and research
organizations that have taken up the mission of developing
breakthrough technologies called ULCOS (Ultra-Low CO2 Steelmaking). The consortium has developed a breakthrough steelmaking process that has the potential to meet GHG emissions
reduction targets. LCA analyses have been performed within the
framework of ULCOS to assess the inuence of metallurgical processes on both the environment and the selection of new technologies (Rynikiewicz, 2008; Iosif et al., 2010).
A few life cycle assessments of steel production have been
conducted in countries such as Australia (Norgate et al., 2007) and
China (Huang et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2012). Zhang et al. (2012)
have presented the main sources of CO2 emissions, which include
the burning of fossil fuels, electricity consumed during steel production and non-energy-related emissions. Lee (2013) have
described different technological strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Koreas steel industries, the most important
of which are energy-saving methods, process innovation, energy

236

D. Burchart-Korol / Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

25
8.0
20

7.6
7.5
6.9

15
Mt

6.2
10.6
9.7

10

8.0

7.1
5

5.8

4.9

3.0

3.6

8.8

4.0

0
2007

2008
pig iron

2009
crude steel

2010

2011

hot rolled products

Fig. 1. Pig iron, crude steel and hot rolled product production from 2007 to 2011 (PPS,
2012).

source substitution, material substitution and GHG emission capture and storage. Raw material substitution has been presented by
Gielen et al. (2002) and Rynikiewicz (2008). Caneghem et al. (2010)
have demonstrated the evolution of the ArcelorMittal Gent production sites environmental impact and highlighted eco-efciency
improvement in the steel industry. Yellishetty et al. (2011) have
presented the importance of abiotic resource depletion in the steel
industry, showing that a more comprehensive understanding of the
current production trends in iron ore and steel, which also require
several vital metals such as copper, manganese, and nickel, can
provide useful insights into assessing potential future shortages
due to the depletion of abiotic mineral resources. Burchart-Korol
(2011a) has already stressed the importance and signicance of
LCA techniques to the iron and steel industry. The rst LCA of a
Polish integrated steel plant was conducted in G1wny Instytut
Grnictwa (Central Mining Institute) in 2010 (Burchart-Korol,
2010), and the results of that research have shown that the iron
ore sintering process is a dominant emission source in national
steel plants. LCA and eco-efciency analysis for the iron ore sintering process in Poland have also been carried out using laboratory
tests and industry data (Burchart-Korol, 2011c, 2012). A life cycle
inventory (LCI) (as of 2005) for the BOF and blast furnace at ArcelorMittal Poland (AMP) S.A. in Krakw has also recently been
published (Bieda, 2012a; 2012b). Life cycle assessments of the iron
and steel industry have been widely developed around the world,
and researchers have used many different tools for the environmental assessment of steel production. Spengler et al. (1998) have
used a multi-criteria decision (MCDA) support system for the
environmental evaluation of the steel industry, while Zhang et al.
(2009) have applied an eMergy analysis to the sustainability of
Chinese steel production. Giannetti (et al., 2013) have applied
eMergy to reverse logistics network evaluation in steel recycling,
while Huang et al. (2010) have used the Tornado Chart Tool to
calculate the variation in CO2 emissions caused by the change of
each LCI input variable for integrated steelworks in China. The results have indicated that the CO2 emissions factors with the
greatest inuence on the steelworks include blast furnace gas
(BFG), the liquid steel unit consumption of continuous casting, the
continuous casting slab unit consumption of hot rolling and the hot
metal ratio of steelmaking (Huang et al., 2010).
1.2. Pollution prevention methods
The Best Available Techniques for iron and steel production
(BAT, 2012) describe techniques considered to have potential for
achieving a high level of environmental protection. BAT covers
process-integrated techniques and end-of-pipe measures and also
describes techniques for reducing the consumption of raw

materials, water and energy. BAT considers techniques for sinter


plants, the blast furnace process, basic oxygen steelmaking and
alternative iron making techniques. Material management is a
recommended technique with which to optimize the management
and control of internal material ows and prevents pollution,
provide adequate input quality, enable reuse and recycling, and
improve the process efciency and optimization of the metal yield
in steel production. Material management can help minimize
airborne dust emissions (BAT, 2012). Feedstock recycling is of interest as an effective pollution prevention method. Sekine et al.
(2009) have found that the reduction potential of CO2 emissions
through the coke oven and blast furnace feedstock recycling of
municipal waste plastics can be estimated by summing the potential of each resin multiplied by the composition of each resin in
municipal waste plastics. It has also been claried that the feedstock recycling of waste plastic in steelworks is effective for
avoiding the increase in CO2 emissions caused by the incineration
of waste plastics, such as those from household mixtures of
different resins. A study by Ooi et al. (2011) has focused on the use
of supplementary fuels in the iron-ore sintering process.
This study is the rst to account for the entire national steel
production of the integrated steel plant and electric arc furnaces in
Poland. Such an approach allows for the creation of a cradle-tofactory gate steel production LCI (as of 2010) and a steel production life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). This paper presents the
results of the LCA created of national iron and steel production.
2. Methods
2.1. Goal and scope of analysis
The LCA was conducted following the requirements of the ISO
14040 (2006) International Standards. The four stages of the LCA
applied in this work included determination of the goal, scope and
system boundary; inventory analysis of inputs and outputs;
assessment of environmental impact; and interpretation of results
with proposals for improvement.
The objective of this study was to carry out a LCA of national
steel production that included the integrated steel plant and electric arc furnaces (EAF). In Poland steel is produced by two process
routes, the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route and the electric arc
furnace (EAF) route. There are 7 Polish companies equipped with
eight electric arc furnaces and only one company producing steel in
an integrated process. In 2011, BOF and EAF steel production
accounted for 4.42 million tons, 50.4% of which came from the BOF
route and 49.6% from the EAF route.
Electric arc furnaces use iron scrap as a major iron component in
the manufacturing of steel. EAF is a method of steelmaking used in
casting and rolling. The study included a detailed LCI via the EAF
route. Data (input and output) were converted to FU cast steel to
enable a comparison analysis of BOF steel and EAF steel.
The integrated steel plant system boundary included the
following processes in the steel plant under analysis: the iron ore
sinter plant, blast furnace, lime production plant, basic oxygen
furnace, continuous casting plant and hot rolling plant. Fig. 2 presents the system boundary with a process ow diagram of the steel
manufacturing process in Polands integrated steel plant and the
associated inputs and outputs during each step of the steel production process. A materials ow containing mainly inputs and
intermediate products for each process in the national integrated
steel plant is presented in Table 1.
The primary raw material in the EAF steelmaking process is
ferrous scrap, which is melted using electric energy. Additional
inputs include uxes and additions such as alloying elements, while
the desired product of the EAF process, including secondary

D. Burchart-Korol / Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

8
Sinter

Sinter
Plant
1

Pig
Iron

Blast
Furnace
1

Quick
Lime

7 8

2 3 4
Quick
Lime

5 6

Rolled
Steel

1
2
3
4

Raw materials
Fuels
Additives
Electricity

2 3 4
6

Hot Rolling
Plant
1

Crude
Steel

Lime Plant
1

Table 2
Materials ow of steel production in Poland e national electric arc furnaces (EAF).

7 8

Basic Oxygen
Furnace Plant
1

Cast
Steel

2 3 4

Continuous
Casting Plant
1

237

5
6
8

5 Dust and gas emissions


6 By-products
7 Co-products
8 Wastewater

Fig. 2. System boundary and process ow diagram in an integrated steel plant in


Poland.

Raw materials,
additives and fuels

Intermediate
products
(by-products)

Products and
co-products

Wastes

Iron scrap
Quicklime, milled
Refractory
Electricity
Natural gas

Iron scrap

EAF slag

Wastewater
Refractory waste
Dust

metallurgy processes, is crude steel. There are also two other outputs next to this main output: co-products such as EAF slag and
certain by-products. The EAF route system boundary included the
following processes: handling inputs and preparation of the
furnace, charging, melting and decarburization. A materials ow
containing mainly inputs and intermediate products in the national
electric arc furnaces are presented in Table 2.
The selected functional unit (FU) of this study was one ton of
cast steel produced in the national steel plants. Co-product allocation in parallel to mass allocation was used.
2.2. Data inventory
A data inventory was obtained from existing steel plants in
Poland (as of 2010/2011) and used to assess the inventory for ecoinnovation and pollution prevention in the Polish steel industry.

Table 1
Materials ow of steel production in Poland e national integrated steel plant.
Plants

Raw materials, additives


and fuels

Intermediate products (by-products)

Products and co-products

Wastes

Iron ore sinter plant

Iron ores
Dolomite
Limestone
Lubricant oil
Coke breeze
Anthracite
Coke oven gas
Electricity
Iron ores
Pellets
Tap water
Coke
Anthracite
Natural gas
Coke oven gas
Electricity
Limestone
Coke oven gas
Natural gas
Electricity
Iron scrap
Dolomite
Tap water
Coke oven gas
Natural gas
Electricity

Recycled materials (scale, sludges, dust)


Quicklime
BF gas
BOF gas
Circulating cooling water

Iron ore sinter

Wastewater

Iron ore sinter


BF gas
Circulating cooling water
Dust
Iron scrap
Sludges

Pig iron
BF slag

Wastewater
Refractory
Waste

BF gas
Dust

Quicklime

Wastewater

Pig iron
Quicklime
BF gas
Circulating cooling water
BOF gas
Iron scrap
Dust
Sludges
Crude steel
Circulating cooling water
Scale

Crude steel
BOF slag

Wastewater

Cast steel

Refractory waste

Rolled steel

Wastewater

Blast furnace

Lime production plant

Basic oxygen furnace

Continuous casting plant

Hot rolling plant

Tap water
Refractory
Lubricant oil
Natural gas
Electricity
Tap water
Lubricating oil
Natural gas
Coke oven gas
Electricity

Cast steel
BF gas
Circulating cooling water
Scale

238

D. Burchart-Korol / Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

Table 3
Life cycle inventory of national steel production e national integrated steel plant.
Inputs and outputs

Inputs
Materials
Iron ores
Limestone
Dolomite
Quicklime
Iron ore sinter
Pellets
Pig iron
Iron scrap
Crude steel
Cast steel
Lubricating oil
Refractory
Tap water
Circulating
cooling water
Sludges
Dust
Scale
Energy inputs
Electricity
Anthracite
Coke breeze
Coke
Coke oven gas
BF gas
BOF gas
Natural gas
Outputs
Products
Iron ore sinter
Pig iron
Quicklime
Crude steel
Cast steel
Rolled steel
Co-products
BF slag
BOF slag
Emissions
CO2
SO2
NO2
CO
Heavy metals
Pb
Cr
Cd
Cu
Zn
Ni
Fe
Dust
HF
HCl
H2S
HCN
Waste
Wastewater
Refractory waste
Recycled materials
BF gas
BOF gas
Sludges
Dust
Iron scrap
Scale

Unit

Iron ore
sinter plant

Blast
furnace

Lime
production
plant

Basic oxygen
furnace

Continuous
casting plant

Hot
rolling

External
ux

Internal ux e
intermediate
products

kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
m3/FU
m3/FU

1202.68
180.16
34.25
20.61
e
e
e
e
e
e
3.50
e
e
0.43

36.76
e
e
e
1307.71
250.00
e
e
e
e
2.19
e
0.35
23.08

e
123.13
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
0.03
e
e
e

e
e
5.34
62.46

e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
358.30
33.85
e
13.27
1.40

1239.44
303.29
39.59
e
e
250.00
e
209.32
e
e
42.03
63.33
104.76

e
e
e
83.07
1307.71

947.16
295.54
e
e
e
63.19
90.60
e

e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
1042.66
e
2.46
0.14
0.54
9.78

kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU

21.55
49.72
13.09

e
e
e

e
e
e

e
e
e

e
e
e

e
e
e

e
e
e

21.55
49.72
13.09

kWh/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
m3/FU
m3/FU
m3/FU
m3/FU

79.20
10.56
59.83
e
4.81
7.25
0.36
e

25.52
10.68
e
428.27
72.76
596.06
e
0.39

2.52
e
e
e
0.54
1.20
e
5.53

27.80
e
e
e
3.85
8.45
e
0.41

10.62
e
e
e
e
e
e
0.10

40.49
e
e
e
38.76
28.65
e
2.71

186.15
21.24
59.83
428.27
120.72
e
9.14

e
e
e
e
e
641.61
0.36
e

kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU

1307.71
e
e
e
e
e

e
947.16
e
e
e
e

e
e
83.07
e
e
e

e
e
e
1042.66
e
e

e
e
e
e
1000.00
e

e
e
e
e
e
358.30

e
e
e
e
641.70
358.30

1307.71
947.16
83.07
1042.66
358.30
e

kg/FU
kg/FU

e
e

303.22
e

e
e

e
141.11

e
e

e
e

303.22
141.11

e
e

g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU

377064
1014
773
25849
136.53
6.11
0.04
0.12
0.67
1.08
0.06
128.45
458.55
0.52
4.99
e
e

808452
10
18
963
62.61
0.05
0.02
e
0.49
0.90
0.07
61.08
87.91
e
e
0.11
0.88

50566
e
6
5
0.55
0.03
e
0.00
0.03
0.08
e
0.39
16.03
e
e
e
e

29500
6
4
4797
75.77
0.97
0.13
0.05
3.22
7.82
0.29
63.29
188.97
e
e
e
e

e
e
e
e

106791
4
21
19
0.05
e
e
e
0.00
0.00
e
0.05
0.09
e
e
e
e

1372375
1034
821
31633
275.51
7.16
0.19
0.17
4.41
9.88
0.42
253.26
751.55
0.52
4.99
0.11
0.88

e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e

m3/FU
kg/FU

0.39
e

0.20
0.57

0.39
e

1.12
5.77

0.75
1.92

1.42
e

4.27
8.26

e
e

m3/FU
m3/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU

e
e
1.79
32.79
e
e

641.61
e
0.90
13.08
10.87
e

e
e
e
2.20
e
e

e
0.36
18.86
1.65
19.19
e

e
e
e
e
25.75
2.34

e
e
e
e
30.42
10.76

e
e
e
e
e

641.61
0.36
21.55
49.72
86.23
13.10

947.16
86.22
1042.66
358.30
e
e
e
34.69

D. Burchart-Korol / Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

This study created a full ow sheet of the integrated steelmaking


plants in Poland, which consisted of the sinter plant, blast furnace,
lime plant, basic oxygen furnace, and continuous casting and rolling. The energy and raw materials required for the production of
one ton of cast steel were identied.
A life cycle inventory (LCI) of national steel production in the
integrated steel plant is shown in Table 3, while a LCI of national
steel production in the electric arc furnaces is shown in Table 4. The
heating values of the fuels used in national steel plants are presented in Table 5. These Tables display data averaged from the
existing steel plants in Poland.
All raw materials, fuel and additives, and electricity required to
operate the processes were considered in the system boundaries,
while intermediate products (internal ow) were excluded from
the analysis. In addition, the LCI included the auxiliary materials,
oils, lubricants and materials for maintenance used in each process
as along with the dust and gas emissions from each plant. The LCA
included all external data used in the steel production process and
the dust and gas emissions and wastewater. The wastewater from
each process unit is submitted to a sewage treatment plant, while
refractory wastes are recycled. Blast furnace (BF) gas and basic
oxygen furnace (BOF) gas are used to meet energy demands in the
integrated steel plant, while by-products including sludge, dust and
scale are returned to the iron ore sintering process. Iron scrap is
consumed in the basic oxygen furnace. In the EAF process, sludge,
dust and refractory waste are recycled and iron scrap is consumed
in the furnace. The construction stages of the steel plant, and the
use and end-of-life phases were excluded from the LCA, and the

Table 4
Life cycle inventory of national steel production e national electric arc furnaces.
Inputs and
outputs
Inputs
Materials
Iron scrap
Quicklime
Refractory
Electrode
Alloys
Electricity
Natural gas
Outputs
Products
Crude steel
Co-products
EAF slag
Emissions
CO2
SO2
NO2
CO
Heavy metals
Pb
Cr
Cd
Cu
Zn
Ni
Dust
HF
Waste
Wastewater
Refractory waste
Recycled materials
Iron scrap
Dust
Sludge

Unit

External
ux

Internal ux e
intermediate
products

kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU
kWh/FU
m3/FU

1201.21
44.70
59.44
2.21
2.23
416.89
4.71

e
e
e
e
e
e
e

kg/FU

1042.66

kg/FU

192.14

g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU

269007
7
1
2717

e
e
e
e

g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU
g/FU

0.53
0.09
0.09
0.13
10.97
0.04
67
0.04

e
e
e
e
e
e
e
e

m3/FU
kg/FU

0.54
7.43

kg/FU
kg/FU
kg/FU

e
3.50
8.86

239

Table 5
Lower heating values (LHV) of fuels used in national steel plants.
Fuel

Unit

Quantity

Anthracite
Coke breeze
Coke
Coke oven gas
BF gas
BOF gas
Natural gas

MJ/kg
MJ/kg
MJ/kg
MJ/m3
MJ/m3
MJ/m3
MJ/m3

30.46
29.57
30.52
16.8
3.55
7.70
36.00

quality of the environmental assessment results based on the LCA


was dependent on the quality of the data used to complete the LCI.
Obtaining quality data is important to assure the studys reliability
and properly interpret the outcomes. Therefore, the input and
output data obtained from the Polish steel plants were compared
with the LCI data on steel production in Europe taken from Best
Available Technique (BAT, 2012) and data in the literature (Iosif
et al., 2008 and Iosif et al., 2010).
2.3. Life cycle impact assessment methods
The life cycle assessment of steel production was carried out
using the LCA software package SimaPro v.7.3.3 (Pre Consultants
B.V) and the database within the program. The study performed an
environmental evaluation according to three life cycle impact
assessment methods: the IPCC (2007) GWP 100a (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007; global warming potential,
100 years), the cumulative energy demand (CED), and the ReCiPe
Midpoint H. The results of the LCIA methods were calculated and
the main sources of environmental burdens identied. In selecting
LCIA methods, the study covered the important categories of
environmental impacts present in Polish steel production. The
most important aspect of the steel industry is GHG emissions, so
the IPCC (2007) GWP 100a method was chosen for that purpose.
The IPCC method allows for a quantitative assessment of the impact
of GHGs on the greenhouse effect as a function of the CO2 released
during the assumed time horizon of 100 years (IPCC, 2007). The
second important aspect of steel production is energy consumption, so the CED method was selected and further expanded for the
energy resources available in the SimaPro database. The CED of a
product represents the direct and indirect energy used throughout
the products life cycle, including the energy consumed during the
extraction, manufacturing, and disposal of raw and auxiliary materials (Deutscher, 1997). This method covers ve resource categories: two nonrenewable (fossil and nuclear) and three renewable

Table 6
Results of the life cycle impact assessment of Polish steel production.
LCIA
method

Damage/impact
category

Result (according to
mass allocation)

Unit

IPCC

Carbon footprint

CED

Energy demand

e
e

IPCC

Carbon footprint

8.19
e
e

CED

Energy demand

Total BOF steel


Steel production
BF slag
BOF slag
Total BOF steel
Steel production
BF slag
BOF slag
Total EAF steel
Crude steel
EAF slag
Total EAF steel
Crude steel
EAF slag

kg CO2
kg CO2
kg CO2
kg CO2
MJ/FU
MJ/FU
MJ/FU
MJ/FU
kg CO2
kg CO2
kg CO2
MJ/FU
MJ/FU
MJ/FU

Result
eq/FU
eq/FU
eq/FU
eq/FU

eq/FU
eq/FU
eq/FU

2459
1703
516
240
35413
24520
7433
3460
913
766
147
8066
1291
6775

240

D. Burchart-Korol / Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

(biomass, water and wind, solar, geothermal), which are given for
the energy resources as characterization factors (Frischknecht and
Jungbluth, 2007). The iron and steel industry also negatively affects human health and resource consumption, so the ReCiPe
Midpoint H method was chosen to model these categories. The
primary objective of the ReCiPe method (Goedkoop et al., 2009) is
to transform the long list of life cycle inventory results present in a
study into a limited number of indicator scores, which express the
relative severity of an environmental impact category (ReciPe,
2012). In ReCiPe, the indicators are determined at two levels with
eighteen midpoint indicators and three endpoint indicators. This
method is considered a follow-up to the CML 2002 and EI 99

 ska and Czaplicka-Kolarz, 2012). The basic strucmethods (Sliwi
n
ture of the impact assessment methods in SimaPro is comprised of
characterization, damage assessment, normalization and weighting, the last three of which are optional according to the ISO
standards.
In this study, the LCIA (life cycle impact assessment) phase includes only mandatory elements such as classication and characterization, while optional elements such as normalization,
grouping and weighting are excluded.
3. Results and discussion
The results of the environmental impact assessment of steel
production in Poland are presented in Table 6. Detailed results on
the GHG emissions analysis are presented in Table 7. Based on the
LCA carried out using the IPCC method, it was concluded that the
carbon footprint of steel production in the national integrated steel
plant was 2459 kg CO2 eq/FU. The direct GHG emissions were
related to the emissions from combustion sources, while the indirect emissions (1086 kg CO2 eq/FU) were related mainly to coke and
coke oven gas consumption in the blast furnace and electricity
demand.
The following results were obtained according to the mass
allocation: 1703 kg CO2 eq/FU for steel production, 516 kg CO2 eq/
FU for BF slag and 240 kg CO2 eq/FU for BOF slag.
Using the CED method, it follows that the total energy demand
was 35413 MJ/FU (24520 MJ/FU for steel production, 7433 MJ/FU for
BF slag and 3460 MJ/FU for BOF slag). Detailed results for the total
energy demand analysis were calculated using the CED method
(expressed in MJ/FU) and are shown in Table 8. The largest energy
demand in the national integrated steel production system
occurred during the blast furnace system production. Coke
comprised 52% of the energy demand and coke oven gas comprised

Table 7
Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of Polish steel production (IPCC method).
Impact category

BOF steel

Unit

kg CO2 eq/FU

EAF steel
kg CO2 eq/FU

Greenhouse gases
include:
Direct GHG emissions
Indirect GHG
emissions from:
Coke
Coke oven gas
Electricity
Anthracite
Coke breeze
Natural gas
Refractory
Iron scrap
Quicklime
Other

2459

100.0

913

100.0

1372
1086

55.8
44.2

269
644

29.6
70.4

246
236
209
61
33
19
e
e
e
282

10.1
9.6
8.5
2.5
1.4
0.9
e
e
e
11.2

e
e
469
e
e
e
71
50
44
10

e
e
51.4
e
e
e
7.7
5.5
4.8
1.0

Table 8
Energy demand of the Polish steel production system (CED method).
Impact category

BOF steel

Unit

MJ/FU

EAF steel
MJ/FU

Total
Coke
Coke oven gas
Lubricating oil
Electricity
Coke breeze
Anthracite
Refractory
Iron scrap
Quicklime
Other

35413
18372
4421
3353
2465
2486
581
e
e
e
3735

100.0
51.9
12.5
9.5
7.0
7.0
1.6
e
e
e
10.5

8066
e
e
e
5521
e
e
1209
882
260
194

100.0
e
e
e
68.5
e
e
15.0
10.9
3.2
2.4

12.5%. The energy demands and fossil fuel consumption were


related mostly to the coke consumption for each LCIA method used,
while metal and mineral depletion were related to iron ore consumption in the sintering process (Table 9).
The carbon footprint of the steel production in the national EAFs
was 913 kg CO2 eq/FU, and the indirect emissions (644 kg CO2 eq/
FU) in the EAF steel production route were related mainly to the
electricity required for the process. The following results were
obtained from the mass allocation: 766 kg CO2 eq/FU for crude steel
and 147 kg CO2 eq/FU for EAF slag. The total energy demand was
8066 MJ/FU and the largest energy demand in the national EAF
production system was due to electricity consumption (68.5%).
The results of a comparison analysis including this studys
environmental analysis and others that account for the carbon
footprint and total energy demand, with references, are presented
in Table 10. The greenhouse gas emissions are higher in the Polish
steel plant compared to the others. This situation follows from the
fact that electricity, which is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, is based on the combustion of coal and lignite
in Poland.
The results obtained for the integrated steelmaking route show
that iron ore sinter and pig iron production processes have a major
impact on the total fossil energy use and GHG emissions in Poland.
Fossil fuel consumption is the main source of GHG emissions in
steel production. Depending on the coke consumption and blast
furnace process conditions, the greenhouse gas emissions and
environmental impact assessment can be widely divergent,
depending, interalia, on whether a substitute fuel has been used
(Burchart-Korol, 2011b).
Out of all the raw materials used in the national steel production, it is coke that has a considerable impact on environmental
resources, followed by iron, which has a comparatively lower
impact on the environment and mineral resources.
The sinter plant had signicant impacts on the environment due
to fuel consumption, raw materials and waste generations. This
study conducted an evaluation of the alternative solid fuels used in
the iron ore sintering process. One of the methods for increasing
the ecological efciency of this process can be the replacement of a
share of coke breeze with cleaner fuels, and research was conducted on the use of anthracite and charcoal as supplementary
fuels in the iron ore sintering process. An environmental assessment was performed for three process scenarios that were
dependent on the share of fuel:
Scenario 1. solid fuels: 100% coke breeze (basic scenario)
Scenario 2. solid fuels: 70% coke breeze 30% anthracite
Scenario 3. solid fuels: 80% coke breeze 20% charcoal
The rst step in this study was to determine the amount of
anthracite used in the process. According to laboratory tests

D. Burchart-Korol / Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

241

Table 9
Results of the environmental impact assessment of steel production based on the Recipe midpoint (H).
Impact category

Unit

BOF steel

BF slag

BOF slag

EAF crude steel

EAF slag

Climate change
Terrestrial acidication
Freshwater eutrophication
Marine eutrophication
Human toxicity
Photochemical oxidant formation
Particulate matter formation
Terrestrial ecotoxicity
Freshwater ecotoxicity
Marine ecotoxicity
Ionizing radiation
Agricultural land occupation
Urban land occupation
Natural land transformation
Water depletion
Metal depletion
Fossil depletion

kg CO2 eq
kg SO2 eq
kg P eq
kg N eq
kg 1.4-DB eq
kg NMVOC
kg PM10 eq
kg 1.4-DB eq
kg 1.4-DB eq
kg 1.4-DB eq
kg U235 eq
m2a
m2a
m2
m3
kg Fe eq
kg oil eq

1703
4.81
0.81
0.30
643
4.89
4.61
0.17
12.77
13.32
82.83
45.55
12.21
0.20
87.44
850
529

516
1.46
0.25
0.09
195
1.48
1.40
0.05
3.87
4.04
25.11
13.81
3.70
0.06
26.51
258
160

240
0.68
0.11
0.04
91
0.69
0.65
0.02
1.80
1.88
11.69
6.43
1.72
0.03
12.34
120
75

766
2.48
0.46
0.14
347
1.39
0.78
0.06
6.96
7.10
24.13
13.57
4.13
0.06
1.88
13
143

147
0.48
0.09
0.03
65
0.27
0.15
0.01
1.34
1.36
4.64
2.61
0.79
0.01
0.36
2
28

Table 10
Comparative analysis of steel productions energy requirements and carbon footprint.
Reference

Das and Kandpal, 1997


Hu et al., 2006
Sakamoto et al., 1999
Norgate 2004
This paper

BOF steel

EAF steel

Energy requirement,
MJ/kg steel

GHG emissions,
Mg CO2 eq/Mg steel

Energy requirement,
MJ/kg steel

GHG emissions,
Mg CO2 eq/Mg steel

29.20
25.50
25.00
22.00
35.41

2.12
1.97
2.15
2.30
2.46

14.40
11.20
9.4
e
8.07

1.18
0.59
0.56
e
0.91

conducted by Burchart-Korol et al. (2012), it has been concluded


that when the rates of coke breeze energy substitution with
anthracite are higher than 30%, the observed sinter performance is
lower. The next stage involved determining the amount of charcoal to be used in the iron ore sinter plant, and the results of the
laboratory tests conducted by Ooi et al. (2011) have suggested that

it is feasible to substitute 20% of the coke breeze with charcoal in


the iron ore sintering process. Experimental results have indicated
that fuel blends in which 20% of the heat input is provided by
charcoal may improve both the sinter yield and productivity by up
to 8% under normal sintering conditions. Moreover, the replacement of 20% of the coke energy with charcoal means that part of

Table 11
Comparative analysis of the environmental indicators for three iron ore sinter plant scenarios.
LCIA method

Damage/impact category

Unit

Scenario 1

Scenario 2

Scenario 3

IPCC
CED

Carbon footprint
Total energy demand
Nonrenewable, fossil
Nonrenewable, nuclear
Renewable, biomass
Renewable, wind, solar, geothermal
Renewable, water
Terrestrial acidication
Freshwater eutrophication
Marine eutrophication
Human toxicity
Photochemical oxidant formation
Particulate matter formation
Terrestrial ecotoxicity
Freshwater ecotoxicity
Marine ecotoxicity
Ionizing radiation
Agricultural land occupation
Urban land occupation
Natural land transformation
Water depletion
Metal depletion
Fossil depletion

kg CO2 eq
MJ
MJ
MJ
MJ
MJ
MJ
kg SO2 eq
kg P eq
kg N eq
kg 1.4-DB eq
kg NMVOC
kg PM10 eq
kg 1.4-DB eq
kg 1.4-DB eq
kg 1.4-DB eq
kg U235 eq
m2a
m2a
m2
m3
kg Fe eq
kg oil eq

568
3761
3527
171
26
3
34
2.69
0.16
0.09
202
1.87
2.99
0.03
2.55
2.68
16.90
6.77
2.21
0.03
2.12
706
80

559
3518
3294
163
25
3
33
2.62
0.16
0.08
196
1.90
2.96
0.03
2.42
2.55
16.11
6.28
2.05
0.03
2.06
706
75

543
3926
3098
166
625
3
34
2.51
0.15
0.08
191
1.89
2.94
0.03
2.32
2.46
16.44
44.36
2.27
0.03
2.06
706
70

Recipe midpoint (H)

242

D. Burchart-Korol / Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

Table 12
Comparative analysis of the environmental indicators of alternative solid fuels.
LCIA method

Damage/impact category

Unit

Coke breeze

Anthracite

Charcoal

IPCC
CED

Carbon footprint
Nonrenewable, fossil
Nonrenewable, nuclear
Renewable, biomass
Renewable, water
Terrestrial acidication
Freshwater eutrophication
Marine eutrophication
Human toxicity
Photochemical oxidant formation
Particulate matter formation
Terrestrial ecotoxicity
Freshwater ecotoxicity
Marine ecotoxicity
Ionizing radiation
Agricultural land occupation
Urban land occupation
Natural land transformation
Water depletion
Metal depletion
Fossil depletion

kg CO2 eq/MJ
MJ/MJ
MJ/MJ
MJ/MJ
MJ/MJ
kg SO2 eq/MJ
kg P eq/MJ
kg N eq/MJ
kg 1.4-DB eq/MJ
kg NMVOC/MJ
kg PM10 eq/MJ
kg 1.4-DB eq/MJ
kg 1.4-DB eq/MJ
kg 1.4-DB eq/MJ
kg U235 eq/MJ
m2a/MJ
m2a/MJ
m2/MJ
m3/MJ
kg Fe eq/MJ
kg oil eq/MJ

0.166
1.990
0.043
0.011
0.005
0.00085900
0.00006760
0.00002450
0.05850000
0.00065600
0.00026400
0.00000486
0.00107000
0.00106000
0.00424000
0.00437000
0.00145000
0.00001280
0.00027900
0.00085300
0.04520000

0.095
0.879
0.013
0.005
0.002
0.00042900
0.00002960
0.00000982
0.02640000
0.00050900
0.00011300
0.00000262
0.00045600
0.00045900
0.00128000
0.00196000
0.00067000
0.00000592
0.00007910
0.00032300
0.01990000

0.041
0.051
0.017
2.070
0.003
0.00002310
0.00000198
0.00000157
0.00259000
0.00057400
0.00003000
0.00001150
0.00003250
0.00003390
0.00165000
0.13300000
0.00132000
0.00000984
0.00003200
0.00032800
0.00113000

Recipe midpoint (H)

the carbon dioxide emitted from the process comes from a


renewable source and could be used to offset carbon dioxide
emissions from nonrenewable fossil fuels. At the optimum rate of
20% substitution of the coke breeze energy input with charcoal,
the emission of polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins (PCDDs) and
polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) have been similar to those
observed when coke breeze as the only fuel being used (Ooi et al.,
2011).
Table 11 presents the results of the environmental assessment of
three iron ore sintering process scenarios. The LCA analysis showed
that Scenario 1 had a greater environmental impact than the other
scenarios. It was found that the highest impact on the environment
occurred in the category of human health. It also appeared that
Scenario 3, which included charcoal, had a greater impact than the
other scenarios in two impact categories, total energy demand and
land use.
In 2011, Polish integrated steel plants produced 4.42 million Mg
of steel (PPS, 2012). According to Scenario 3, in which charcoal was
substituted for 20% of the coke breeze, 52,900 Mg of charcoal would
be needed for 4.42 million Mg of steel production. 10.6 Mg of
biomass is required to produce 1 Mg of charcoal (Norgate et al.,
2011), so 560,000 Mg of biomass would be required to produce
52,900 Mg of charcoal (for the 4.42 million Mg of steel production
in Poland in 2011). Average yields of 15 Mg/ha/y have been reported
for well-managed timber plantations to which fertilizer is applied
(Nonhebel, 2005). Therefore, 37,000 ha of plantation area would be
required for an annual production of 560,000 Mg of biomass. This
area corresponds to 0.12% of Polands total area. In the case of
charcoal substitution for coke breeze, charcoal would need to be
imported to Poland, which would lead to increased costs and
higher environment impact due to its transport. The use of charcoal
for steel production in Poland would require additional detailed
eco-efciency analyses.
An environmental assessment of coke breeze, anthracite and
charcoal production is presented in Table 12. The highest GHG
emissions impact during iron ore sinter production was related to
fuel consumption. Solid fuels constituted only 5% of the raw materials, but were responsible for 38.4% of the processs carbon
footprint. During sinter production using only coke breeze
(Scenario 1), the average indicator of GHG emissions was 568 kg
CO2 equivalent, while the lowest rate was for Scenario 3, at 543 kg

CO2 equivalent. The results of the analysis indicated that the use of
charcoal and anthracite could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It
was also found that the use of alternative fuels in the process could
be an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, yet in the
case of charcoal, an increase in the share of charcoal would increase
the rate of land use and total energy demand.

4. Conclusions
Steel production, and the iron-making process in particular, is a
very energy-intensive industry. The application of environmental
life cycle assessment (LCA) allows steel producers to improve the
manufacturing process by reducing environmental impacts.
This paper discussed the environmental impact of iron and steel
technologies and was the rst study covering the life cycle assessment of all the processes at an integrated steel plant in Poland. The
life cycle assessment of steel production in a national integrated steel
plant was performed based on inventory data obtained from 2010
production results. The environmental impacts of steel production in
Poland were estimated using a cradle-to-factory gate boundary.
It was found that the most signicant environmental impact
was damage to human health, which was related to coke consumption in the blast furnace and iron ore consumption in the
sinter plant. The largest energy demand in the entire steel production system occurred in the blast furnace system production,
and the major source of environmental impacts was the consumption of fossil fuels. Direct GHG emissions were related to the
emissions of combustion sources. Signicant sources of GHG
emissions included coke, coke breeze, coke oven gas and electricity,
and the biggest source of metal and mineral depletion was iron
consumption in the sintering process.
The results obtained for the EAF steel production route in Poland
showed that electricity consumption had a major impact on the
processs total fossil fuel depletion and greenhouse gas emissions.
The results of the analysis indicated that the use of alternative
fuels could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the use of charcoal increased other impact categories such as land use and total
energy demand. Pollution prevention methods related to raw material substitution in iron-making processes should be applied to
reduce the environmental impacts of the iron and steel industry.

D. Burchart-Korol / Journal of Cleaner Production 54 (2013) 235e243

This study showed that LCA can support eco-efciency because


it can help improve steel quality while also lowering its impact on
the environment. LCA is a creditable tool with which to compare
various alternative fuel scenarios for steel production with respect
to environmental sustainability.
5. Recommendations and perspectives
This work was the rst to account for the entire steel production
chain in Poland. The results of this study offered a comprehensive
environmental analysis of Polish steel production and could be
used as the rst step in performing a holistic LCA of steel from
cradle to grave that includes all the phases of the steel life cycle.
A subsequent study will expand the LCA to include alternative
steel production technologies such as DRI (direct reduction iron)
and SR (smelting reduction), and future work will extend the
environmental analysis based on LCA to incorporate thermodynamic analysis, including exergy analysis in conjunction with LCA
for integrated steel production in Poland.
The results obtained from this work can help practitioners and
decision makers in the steel production eld understand the nature
of the life cycle assessment technique and the importance of
pollution prevention in a steel plant.
References
BAT, 2012. Best Available Techniques e Reference Document for Iron and Steel
Production Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU. http://eippcb.jrc.es
(accessed 01.06.12.).
Bieda, B., 2012a. Life cycle inventory processes of the ArcelorMittal Poland (AMP)
S.A. in Krakow, Poland e basic oxygen furnace steel production. Int. J. LCA 17,
463e470.
Bieda, B., 2012b. Life cycle inventory processes of the Mittal Steel Poland (MSP) S.A.
in Krakow, Poland e blast furnace pig iron production e a case study. Int. J. LCA.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11367-012-0422-y.
Burchart-Korol, D., 2010. Application of LCA to environmental assessment of iron
ore sinter technology. Hutnik-Wiadomosci Hutnicze 9, 448e450 (in Polish).
Burchart-Korol, D., 2011a. Signicance of environmental LCA method in the iron
and steel industry. Metalurgija 50, 205e208.
Burchart-Korol, D., 2011b. Evaluation of Environmental Impacts in Iron-making
Based on Life Cycle Assessment. In: METAL 2011: 20th Anniversary International Conference on Metallurgy and Materials. TANGER, Ostrava, ISBN 978-8087294-24-6, pp. 1246e1252.
Burchart-Korol, D., 2011c. Broadening life cycle assessment for the eco-efciency
evaluating and improving. In: 2nd International Exergy Life Cycle Assessment
and Sustainability Workshop and Symposium. Nisyros 2011.
Burchart-Korol, D., Korol, J., Francik, P., 2012. Application of the new mixing and
granulation technology of raw materials for iron ore sintering process. Metalurgija 51, 187e190.
Caneghem, J.V., Block, C., Crammc, P., Mortier, R., Vandecasteele, C., 2010. Improving
eco-efciency in the steel industry: the ArcelorMittal Gent case. J. Clean. Prod.
18 (8), 807e814.
Das, A., Kandpal, T.C., 1997. Iron and steel manufacturing technologies in India:
estimation of CO2 emission. Int. J. Energ. Res. 21, 1187e1199.
Deutscher, V., 1997. VDI-richtlinie 4600. Cumulative Energy Demand, Terms, Denitions, Methods of Calculation. Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, Dseldorf.
EN ISO 14040, 2006. Environmental Management e Life Cycle Assessment e
Principles and Framework.

243

Frischknecht, R., Jungbluth, N., 2007. Implementation of Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methods: Data v2.0. Ecoinvent report No. 3. Swiss centre for Life Cycle
Inventories, Dbendorf, Switzerland.
Giannetti, B.F., Bonilla, S.H., Almeida, C.M., 2013. An emergy-based evaluation of a
reverse logistics network for steel recycling. J. Clean. Prod. 46, 48e57.
Gielen, D.J., Moriguchi, Y., Yagita, H., 2002. CO2 emission reduction for Japanese
petrochemicals. J. Clean. Prod. 10, 589e604.
Goedkoop, M., Heijungs, R., Huijbregts, M., De Schryver, A., Struijs, J., Van Zelm, R.,
2009. ReCiPe 2008-A Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method Which Comprises
Harmonised Category Indicators at the Midpoint and the Endpoint Level, rst
ed.. In: Report I: Characterisation, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and
Environment (VROM). The Netherlands. http://www.lcia-recipe.net (accessed
July 2012).
Hu, C., Chen, L., Zhang, C., Qi, Y., Yin, R., 2006. Emission mitigation of CO2 in steel
industry: current status and future scenarios. J. Iron Steel Res. Int. 13, 38e42.
Huang, Z., Ding, X., Sun, H., Liu, S., 2010. Identication of main inuencing factors of
life cycle CO2 emissions from the integrated steelworks using sensitivity analysis. J. Clean. Prod. 18 (10e11), 1052e1058.
Iosif, A.M., Hanrot, F., Ablitzer, D., 2008. Process integrated modelling for steelmaking
e life cycle inventory analysis. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 28, 429e438.
Iosif, A.M., Hanrot, F., Birat, J.P., Ablitzer, D., 2010. Physicochemical modelling of the
classical steelmaking route for life cycle inventory analysis. Int. J. LCA 15, 304e310.
IPCC, 2007. IPCC Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007.
http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/assessments-reports.htm (accessed 25.05.12.).
Lee, S.Y., 2013. Existing and anticipated technology strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Koreas petrochemical and steel industries. J. Clean.
Prod. 40, 83e92.
Nonhebel, S., 2005. Renewable energy and food supply: will there be enough land?
Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 9, 191e201.
Norgate, T.E., 2004. Metal Recycling: an Assessment Using Life Cycle Energy Consumption as a Sustainability Indicator. CSIRO Minerals.
Norgate, T.E., Haque, N., Somerville, M., Jahanshahi, S., 2011. The Greenhouse Gas
Footprint of Charcoal Production and of Some Applications in Steelmaking.
http://www.conference.alcas.asn.au/2011/norgateetalv2.pdf.
Norgate, T.E., Jahanshahi, S., Rankin, W.J., 2007. Assessing the environmental impact
of metal production processes. J. Clean. Prod. 15 (8e9), 838e848.
Ooi, T.C., Thompson, D., Anderson, D.R., Fisher, R., Fray, T., Zandi, M., 2011. The effect
of charcoal combustion on iron-ore sintering performance and emission of
persistent organic pollutants. Combust. Flame 158, 979e987.
PPS, 2012. Polish Steel Industry. Polish Steel Association. http://www.hiph.org/
(accessed 01.06.12.).
Rynikiewicz, C., 2008. The climate change challenge and transitions for radical
changes in the European steel industry. J. Clean. Prod. 16, 781e789.
Sakamoto, Y., Tonooka, Y., Yanagisawa, Y., 1999. Estimation of energy consumption
for each process in the Japanese steel industry: a process analysis. Energ.
Convers. Manage. 40, 1129e1140.
Sekine, Y., Fukuda, K., Kato, K., Adachi, Y., Matsuno, Y., 2009. CO2 reduction potentials by utilizing waste plastics in steel works. Int. J. LCA 14, 122e136.
SimaPro Analyst Version 7.3 LCA Software and Database, PR Consultants, The
Netherlands. Available at: www.pre.nl (accessed 25.05.12.).
Spengler, T., Geldermann, J., Htihre, S., Sieverdingbeck, A., Rentz, 0, 1998. Development of a multiple criteria based decision support system for environmental
assessment of recycling measures in the iron and steel making industry.
J. Clean. Prod. 6, 37e52.

 ska, A., Czaplicka-Kolarz, K., 2012. Reducing life-cycle environmental impacts
Sliwin
of coal-power by using coal-mine methane. Int. J. Energ. Res.. http://dx.doi.org/
10.1002/er.2908.
The ReCiPe Methodology. http://www.lcia-recipe.net/ (accessed 25.05.12.).
Yellishetty, M., Mudd, G.M., Ranjith, P.G., 2011. The steel industry, abiotic resource
depletion and life cycle assessment: a real or perceived issue? J. Clean. Prod. 19,
78e90.
Zhang, X., Jiang, W., Deng, S., Peng, K., 2009. Emergy evaluation of the sustainability
of Chinese steel production during 1998e2004. J. Clean. Prod. 17, 1030e1038.
Zhang, B., Wang, Z., Yin, J., Su, L., 2012. CO2 emission reduction within Chinese iron
and steel industry: practices, determinants and performance. J. Clean. Prod. 33,
167e178.

Вам также может понравиться