Tata Steel

How steel changed the world Steel comprises: over and 75% of all major appliances of the 63% average car Demand for steel is almost insatiable In 2012 and a million tons of rise in 1,548 crude steel were produced worldwide 1.2% production over the previous year How come steel is essential for modern living? Why is it so important? Steel through the ages Steel has always been valuable. Until recently it was difficult to produce, as it was hard to control the amount of carbon present in the iron. Steel has just enough carbon to make it strong, but not enough to make it brittle. Wrought iron Steel Cast iron Carbon Content 0.02 - 0.08% 0.2 - 1.5% 3 - 4.5% Properties Malleable but soft Hard but malleable Hard but brittle (non malleable) BC The Knife of Kaman-Kalehoyuk, Turkey The earliest known example of steel making. 700-400 BC Spartan Steel The Spartan's steel swords gave them an advantage over their bronze armoured opponents. 300 BC Damascus Steel Developed in India, swords made from this steel became legend, as Europeans could not understand how a blade could be both hard and flexible. A second industrial revolution 1856 The Bessemer process The development of the Bessemer process meant that large amounts of steel could be produced in bulk at low cost. Steel began to replace Iron as a major construction material. The second industrial revolution had begun. Rail and the End of the Wild West In the USA, cheap steel allowed rail pioneers to build over 30,000 miles of railroad and colonise the American west with 12 new western states added to the union between 1867 and 1912. 1867 1876 1889 1889 1889 1889 Nebraska Colorado North Dakota South Dakota Montana Washington Arizona New Mexico 0klahoma Utah Wyoming Idaho 1912 1912 1907 1896 1890 1890 Wrought iron rails 460,000 tons No longer made $83/ton Steel 2,550 tons rails $32/ton 1.5 million tons $170/ton The expansion of the railroads made vast areas of land available for agriculture, with 430 million acres coming under cultivation between 1860 and 1900. Skyscrapers and the Modern City Before steel, buildings had to be supported through their outside walls, meaning tall buildings required very thick walls on the lower floors. In 1889, George Fuller built the first skyscraper using steel cages that supported the weight of the building. This innovation made possible the modern city: Hi-rise living for a growing population Multi-storey hotels to accommodate visitors Financial districts which now form the hub of the world economy Steel today 1960 The Basic Oxygen Steelmaking Process 60% of the world's steel production runs on this process. It's a refinement of the Bessemer process using oxygen rather than air. Steel production has been on the rise for much of the past century: Worldwide Steel Production (in tonnes) since 1943 1,600,000,000 1,200,000,000 800,000,000 400,000,000 1943 1977 2009 Steel Consumption by Nation (million of tonnes) v Turkey - 26.9 Italy – 26.7 Brazil - 25 Iran - 19.2 - South Africa - 5.3 Argentina - 5.3 Belgium - 4.6 Sweden - 3.9 Austria - 3.9 China - 623.9 - Mexico - 18 Canada - 14.2 France - 13.6 Netherlands - 3.7 USA - 89.1 Romania - 3.3 Venezuela - 2.6 Spain - 13.1 Poland - 11 UK – 9.1 India - 67.8 Japan - 64.1 South Korea - 56.4 Egypt – 7.3 Australia/NZ - 7 Russia - 40.5 Ukraine - 6.5 Germany - 39.4 The future of steel The demand for steel is set to keep on growing: Steel Usage Forecast (millions/tons) 1520 1500 1480 1454 1440 1413 1400 1360 2012 2013 2014 Sustainability Despite being a child of the industrial era, steel is still suitable for an environmentally aware age. It is a sustainable material and the most widely recycled metal in the world. Worldwide, over 80% of steel products are recycled. That's around 530 tons of steel each year. million Recycled steel can cut CO, emissions by up to 80% Sources China to get new skyscraper every five days for three years - www.telegraph.co.uk World Steel recycling in Figures 2006 – 2010 - www.bir.org A Brief History of Iron and Steel Production - www.anselm.edu Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Economic Trends - www.westga.edu New steel: The Bessemer converter - www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk The Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) Process - www.steel.org Carbon nanotubes: Saladin's secret weapon - www.rsc.org 'Steel Secret of Spartans Well Kept' in The Spokesman-Review Oct 12, 1961 - www.news.google.com Ironware piece unearthed from Turkey found to be oldest steel - www.hindu.com Global Steel Consumption Forecast Up 3% in 2013 – www.industryweek.com Facts and figures - www.tatasteeleurope.com The recycled content of steel - www.tatasteeleurope.com The Chemistry of Life: The Plastic in Cars - www.livescience.com The History of Skyscrapers - www.inventors.about.com 50 Fun Facts About Steel - www.steel.org Iron and Steel Statistics, US Geological Survey (2010) – minerals.usgs.gov/ds/2005/140/ironsteel.pdf World Steel in Figures 2012 – www.worldsteel.org 4000 1867 1884