Sectoral Approachin the Steel Industry

The Japan Iron and Steel Federation

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Sectoral Approach in the Steel Industry

Outline of Steel Working Group of the Global Superior Energy Performance Partnership

January 2013
The Japan Iron and Steel Federation
Executive Summary With global crude steel production expected to continue expanding into the medium-to-long term
thanks to the growth in China, India and other countries. Since the steel industry consumes a great deal of energy, thetransfer of Japan’s world-leading technology in energy conservation and environmental protection will be indispensable
to the formation of a sustainable society from a global perspective.
The Japanese steel industry continues to press ahead with a cooperative, sectoral approach towards the greater diffusionof energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies. Especially, GSEP (Global Superior Energy Performance
Partnership) Steel WG (working group) conforming to its technology-based, bottom-up approach based on PPP (Publicand Private Partnership) is playing a core role in this initiative.
In this document, we would like to provide an introduction covering a step-by-step explanation of the cooperative,
sectoral approach that the steel industry is adopting, the significance of the PPP, the story of the transition from the APP(the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate) to the GSEP Steel WG, and an outline of the GSEP
Steel WG itself.
Introduction
Japan’s industrial sector continues to implement andstrengthen measures towards energy conservation, byconstantly exploiting and introducing cutting-edge
technology to the maximum extent possible, to raise
what is already the world’s highest degree of energy
efficiency yet further. And it continues to make apositive contribution to the energy conservation andenvironmental protection initiatives of society at large
by supplying outstandingly high-quality products.
Furthermore,theenergyconservation
andenvironmental protection measures undertakenworldwide thank to the transfer and diffusion ofJapanese technology can be said to be indispensable tothe development of a sustainable society by balance
between the economy and the environment on a global
scale.
Against this background, Japan’s steel industry, alongwith the cement and electric power generationindustries have outpaced other industrial sectors increating structures for international cooperation. Every
year since 2005, ‘Japan- China Steel Industries
Conference on Exchange of Advanced Technologies on
Environmental preservation and Energy saving’ forspecialists in the field has been held. And the APP Steel
Task Force started in 2006. The task force comprises
seven nations (Japan, Australia, China, India, South
Korea, the USA and Canada) and its activities include
the sharing of information about energy conservation
technologies and diagnostic surveys of steel production
mills in China, India and other countries. Furthermore– both leveraging the success of the APP Steel Task
Force and broadening its scope to encompass theworldwide steel industry – the decision was taken by
the World Steel Association (worldsteel) in October2007 to adopt ‘A Global Steel Sectoral Approach’.
Nowadays too, thanks to the GSEP (the Global
Superior Energy Performance Partnership which is the
successor organization to the APP Steel Task Force)
Steel WG (working group) and Japan-India bilateral
initiatives and other cooperative undertakings, the aim
remains to foster the transfer of effective energy-saving
and environmental conservation technologies.
What sort of structure is preferable for international
coordination efforts contributing to the transfer ofenergy-saving and environmental conservation
technologies?
In this document, we shall provide a step-by-step
explanation, based on the guidelines etc. adopted at theinaugural round of the GSEP Steel WG, of thecooperative, sectoral approach adopted by the Japanese
steel industry as well as an outline of the GSEP SteelWG that forms the nucleus of our current and future
activities.
We shall be extremely grateful if you take thisopportunity to become more familiar with the ideals
and activities of the Japanese steel manufacturingindustry as it strives, to meet the challenges of
spreading its energy conservation and environmental
protection technologies through its technology-based,bottom-up model.

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1.

1.1.

Global crude steel production and production
processes and the energy conservation andenvironmental protection technologies required
for the formation of a sustainable society
Global crude steel production

The volume of world crude steel production wasaround 700-800 million tons in the 90s but rose sharply
from 2000 onwards in response to rapid growth inChina. The global economic crisis sparked by the
Lehman Shock of autumn 2008 brought a temporary
decline but, from the second half of 2009 onwards,
growth was stimulated by the economies of theemerging nations and had reached nearly 1.5 billion
tons by 2011 (Fig. 1).
From a longer-term perspective, the growth in India
and other nations is expected to result in this figure
exceeding 2 billion tons in 2050 (Fig. 2).
1.2.

Japanese energy conservation andenvironmental technology necessary to theformation of a sustainable society

Japan’s steel industry achieved a rapid expansion in
production volumes in response to the fast growth in
the country’s economy in 1960s. The industry also took
steps so as to proactively deal with the challenges
raised by the problems of various types of pollution,
the suitable treatment of waste water drainage and gas

emissions, the effective usage of water resources, andthe greening of factory sites etc. which surfaced as aresult of this rapid industrial development. In responseto the two oil shocks of the 1970s, the introduction ofenergy-conservation technology was promoted as anational policy priority and the industry made great
efforts to proactively develop and install various typesof energy-saving technologies (including programs
implemented to reduce the environmental burden by
the treatment of waste gases and augmented measures
to control particulate pollution so as to control theimpact of a large increase in energy consumption).
Thanks to these measures, the dissemination rate of themain large-scale energy-conservation technologies
such as coke dry quenching (CDQ) and blast furnace
top gas pressure recovery power generation equipment(TRT) reached close to 100% which, in turn, resulted
in the achievement of the world’s highest level ofenergy efficiency being achieved in Japan. (Fig. 3, 4, 5,
6)Because the energy conservation and environmental
technology that enable the Japanese steel industry toachieve such results can be introduced into steel mills
worldwide, it is essential for the formation of asustainable global society that they contribute to theenergy conservation and environmental protection
strategies adopted worldwide.

Fig. 1 World crude steel production

Latin America

Scenario

Crude steel production (Million ton/yr)

Statistics

14

Africa and Middle East

2,000

Other developing Asia

1,500

India
Economies intransition

1,000

China

500

OECD Pacific
OECD North America

OECD Europe
0
1990

2000

2010

2020

2030

2040

2050

Fig. 2 Long-term outlook of world crude steel
production

Source: Diffusion of energy efficient technologies and CO 2 emission reductions in iron andsteel sector (ODA et al, Energy Economics, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp 868-888, 2007)

Fig. 3 Utilization rate of major energy-conserving technologies

Source: RITE
Fig. 4 Comparison of Unit Energy Consumption of Steel (2010)

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Heavy Oil
CMC(Coke Moisture Control)
CDQ(Coke Dry Quenching)
SCOPE21
Waste plastics

COG

Automation of combustion control
of individual coke

Coking Coal

Coke Oven Pressure Balance Gas

Iron Ore

Blower Capacity Optimization
Motor Speed Control
SPME waste heat recovery

Oxygen

Blast

Recovery of exhaust
Blowerheat from coolers
Leak Protection
Pressure Loss Minimization
Heat Insulation

FuelHigh efficiency power
generation【ＡＣＣ・ＵＳＣ】

BOF gas(LDG)

BOF gaslatent/sensible
heat recovery

PCI

Sintering

Leak Protection

OG Boiler

BFG

Blast
Furnace

RecoveryBlower optimization
Sectionalized Dust
Collector

Electric
power
plant

By-product gas

PCI
TRT
HS Heat Recovery
Dust recycle
Waste plastics○

BOF

Improvement of LDG recovery
VVVF for OG –IDF and blowers
Heat Insulation in Slab transfer Yard
Optimization of blowers and pumps
Hot Grinder
Coolant pump optimization(downsizing, low-lift pump)

Electricity

Continuous Caster

Torpedo Car

OxygenbloomsHot Charging
Replacement to High Efficiency
slabs
Direct Hot Charge
Plant
Rolling
Efficiency improvements in
Blowers and Compressors
Waste Heat Boiler Common Efforts
Lightning Optimization : Na lamp etc.
Slab yard heat insulation
Steam drain reduction
Efficiency increase in recuperate
Upgraded Cooling Water System
Remodeling Furnace Body
CDCM
Continuous Galvanizing Line(plunger pump, downsizing, low-lift
Auxiliaries Optimization
Optimization of heating pattern
pump)
Replacement to AC Motors
Low temp Slab extract
Coolant pump optimization
VVVF of Blowers and pumps(downsizing, low-lift pump)
Auxiliaries optimization

Reheating furnace
High-Efficiency Continuous Annealing Process

Hot rolling

Cold rolling

Regenerative Burner

Fig. 5 Environmental Protection & Energy-saving technologies in steel works technologies“Coke Dry Quenching(CDQ)”
Traditionally, hotcoke from cokeoven is cooled bywater.

Instead, CDQ lets
it cool by inert gas
and recovers
sensible heat assteam.
This steam may be
used on-site or to
generateelectricity.
CDQ’s benefits
1) Energy saving by waste energy recovery2) Decreasing dust, CO2 and Sox emissions
3) Massive saving of water
4) Producing better quality cokeFig. 6 The example of energy conservation technology in steel works

2.

Steps taken towards the cooperative, sectoral
approach adopted by the steel industry and thesignificance of the public-private joint initiative

2.1.

The cooperative, sectoral approach

To date, Japan’s steel industry, in aiming at the creationof a new international framework to really promote thetransfer of energy conservation and environmental
protection technologies, has taken a bottom-up based,
cooperative, structural approach towards the promotionof concrete, achievable projects resulting from a seriesof technical discussions with specialists and experts inthe field in forums such as the ‘Japan-China Steel
Industry Advanced Technology Exchange Meetings forEnvironmental Protection and Energy Conservation’,the ‘Asia Pacific Partnership for Clean Development
and Climate’ (APP) andvarious initiatives
undertaken by the World Steel Association(worldsteel).
Specifically, we have followed the 4 Steps outlined
below. (Fig. 7)

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Step4.
Set up and shareof, a common
long-term vision

Step3.

Step2.

Step1.
Information
sharing

Establishmentof challenging
numerical
targets on a
voluntary basis

Utilizecommunications,especiallyamong experts,
promoting morewidespread useof technologies
to achieve theset targets

Source: T Okazaki et. al., Accelerating the Transfer and Diffusion of Energy Saving Technologies. Steel Sector Experience - Lessons learned

Fig. 7 Cooperative sectoral approach of Steel Industry

Step 1.

Information Sharing

When transferring energy conservation andenvironmental protection technologies, the following
can be cited as examples of the sort of information thatshould be shared.
1.

Sharing lists of energy conservation andenvironmental protection technologies

By sharing the technical information/data compiled
into lists, it is possible to grasp what sort of energy
conservation and environmental protection measures
can successfully be deployed in what kind of processes
in steel mills.
Moreover, regardless of the efficiency of the steel millsin which they are introduced, because the effectivenessof each individual technology is constant, it becomes
possible to comprehend in quantitative terms theoperational results and energy efficiencies achieved in
the case of each individual installation project.
As part of its flagship project, the APP Steel Task
Force has compiled a comprehensive collection of thevery best energy conservation and environmental
protection technologies utilized in the steel industry
under the title of the ‘SOACT Handbook’ and has
made it available to everyone by publishing it on its
website.
SOACT Handbook:(http://asiapacificpa
rtnership.org/englis
h/soact2nd.aspx)
2.

Sharingbarrieranalyses of reduction potential surveys andtechnological dissemination

By investigating the diffusion rates of technologies, it
is possible to grasp their reduction potential.
Furthermore, the sharing of barrier analyses oftechnology diffusion is important in the transfer ofenergy conservation and environmental protection
technologies.
Thanks to the APP Steel Task Force and its
calculations of the reduction potential (as a theoreticalvalue) particularly in the case of the diffusion ofeffective energy conservation technologies, it has
become possible for the first time for steel specialists toachieve real, quantifiable results for themselves. (Table
1)
Moreover the barrier analyses conducted by APP
members on the basis of the expertise of steel
specialists were shared.
3.

Sharing the settings and results of calculation
analyses for the performance indices of steelmills

By establishing the methodologies for calculating theenergy performance indicator of the steel mill (bysharing common calculation formulae, boundaries,
emissions sources and factors) it is possible tounderstand in objective terms the energy performanceof the steel mill in question.
The APP Steel Task Force has compiled a database of
the energy performance indicators of steel mills.
On the basis of this method for determining the input
and expenditure of energy, worldsteel has compiled aUser Guide to its ‘CO2 Emissions Data Collection’,constructed a global database of steel mills and has
commissioned a follow-up project which is being
conducted by steel specialist from nations all over theworld.

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This technique has been carried forward throughJapanese leadership towards recognition under the ISO
14404 international standard. ISO 14404 is a
‘Calculation method of carbon dioxide emissions
intensity from Iron and Steel production’ but by using
the standard’s scope, emissions sources and boundaries
together with its emissions factors of worldsteel values,
an annex designation has been granted which is
identified as an ‘energy performance indicator of thesteel mill’ (ISO 14404 Annex A). This certainly meansthat the definition of the calculation formulae,boundaries, emissions sources and various factors etc.
for the energy performance indices established by the
APP Steel Task Force are now much more minutely
and accurately defined. (Fig. 8)
Step 2.

Establishment of challenging numericaltargets on a voluntary basis (no-legallybinding)

The second step requires that challenging, achievable,
independent (not legally binding) targets be set on thebasis of the technologies. In order that this outcome beproperly achieved, it is desirable that these should be
evaluated, tested and, if necessary, revise by specialists
in the field. The object of this, however, is absolutely
not that member nations or business persons be
restricted or bound in any way whatsoever.
Step 3.

Utilize communications, especially amongexperts, promoting more widespread useof technologies to achieve the set targets

The third step covers technology dissemination
activities undertaken for the sake of meeting thesetargets.
As part of this process, the APP Steel Task Force has
conducted diagnostic investigations concerning energy
conservation and environmental protection in China
and India and carried out detailed analysis of its

findings. (Table 2)
Step 4.

Set up and share of, a common long-term
visionThe fourth step is concerned with sharing programs forthe development of a long-term vision and innovative
new technologies. A radical CO2 reduction technology
development program called ‘CO2 BreakthroughProgramme’ was started by worldsteel in 2003 andJapan has also participated in the development of an
innovative steel production process (COURSE 50).
2.2.

The significance of PPP

It is important that energy conservation be promoted
not just for the sake of its economic benefits such as
lowering energy costs but also from the perspective of
establishing and improving (national) energy security
in a broad sense. Moreover, projects boosting the
production of highly profitable steel products are likely
to be prioritized in the investment decisions of private
steel manufacturing companies and so, it is essential
for governments to take suitable policy measures topromote energy conservation projects such as thegradual phasing in of regulations and closely targeted
investment incentives etc. Furthermore, it is necessarythat regional environments be taken into considerationin the suitable treatment of waste water drainage andexhaust gases so that the long-term development of thesteel industry as one of our key industries, but one
which also imposes a heavy burden on the environment,
can be fostered. From this perspective it is clear thatthe participation not just of the private sector but alsoof government is critically important.
The APP Steel Task Force has, by obtaining theparticipation of the public sector in addition to that ofthe private, promoted the dissemination ofenvironmental technology which boasts only limited
merit and, by sharing its experience of the introduction

Table 1 Theoretical reduction potential fromdiffusion survey

Table 2 Improvement potential based on diagnostic investigations
concerning energy conservation and environmental
protection in China and India

Source: APP Steel Task Force

Source: APP Steel Task Force18
of regulatory and legislative systems in developing, canbe regarded as having made a major contribution tobuilding up the capacity of the governmental
administration and bureaucracies of countries like
China and India. As a result, we believe that

The focus from the next chapter onwards is on the
GSEP Steel WG.

Boundary≒steel plant
Direct energy
consumption

Upstream energy
consumption

Coke Oven

SteelmakingCreditSintering

Energy consumption = Direct energy consumption+ Upstream energy consumption – Credit
Energy intensity = energy consumption / crude steel production

Fig. 8 Calculation method of energy consumption and energy intensity in the steel plant based on ISO 14404 Annex A
public-private initiatives are essential to the future ofJapan’s steel sector.
3.
3.1.

From the APP Steel Task Force to the GSEP
Steel WG
From APP to GSEPIn the summer of 2010, a communication was sent to
the relevant parties concerned with APP in thegovernments of various nations worldwide to the effectthat both the chairman of the APP PIC (Policy
Implementation Committee) and the US State
Department which was fulfilling the role ofsecretariat/executive office ‘wished to relinquish the
APP executive office since (because of politicalfactors) there was some difficulty in guaranteeing thebudget related to the APP’s executive office expenses’.
Having received this communication and as a result of
discussions between the governments of major nations
including Japan, the USA, Australia and Canada, there
was general agreement that, because theaccomplishments of the various APP task forces were
extremely highly regarded, their activities should beallowed to continue and so it was determined that
whereby at least the Japan-led steel, cement andelectric power task forces should be reconfigured as
International Partnership for Energy Efficiency
Cooperation (IPEEC) task groups and that a framework
should be established which it would be possible for
non-APP member nations to join. Following on fromthese developments, it was decided at the first Clean
Energy Ministerial (CEM) held in Washington DC in
July 2010 that, as part of a Japan-US initiative related
to energy conservation, the GSEP should beestablished under the auspices of the CEM,International Partnership for Energy Efficiency
Cooperation (IPEEC).(Fig.9) Between 12 and 13
September 2011, preparatory meetings for the firstkick-off sessions of each of the GSEP cement, electric
power and steel WG were held with workshops in
Washington and the GSEP Steel WG draft guidelines
were introduced on this occasion with the work of
finalizing the details of the clauses being undertaken
principally by Japan and the US. The section below
covers the background required to grasp the issues
surrounding the confirmation of the points at issue
concerning the ‘objective’ mentioned on the first pageof this draft and also the details of the metamorphosis
from APP Steel Task Force to GSEP Steel WG. (Fig.
10)
3.2.

The 1st GSEP Steel WG held in TokyoJapan, the USA, South Korea, China and Australia
were amongst the nations that participated in the 1st
Steel WG convened in Tokyo between 12 and 13
March 2012. On this occasion, the guidelines wereadopted and Mr. Kentaro Endo (director, Iron and SteelTechnology Office, Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry) was appointed as Chairman of the Steel WG.
Comments followed on the expectations for GSEP
from the U.S. Department of Energy, the China Iron &Steel Association, POSCO (Korea), the Japan Iron andSteel Federation (JISF), Alezz Dekheila Steel Co.
(Egyptian steel manufacturer), and worldsteel (theWorld Steel Association) and, in conclusion, fiveconcrete project proposals were put forward by theJapan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF).

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As for future steps, Japan, as chair country, is toprepare a communication paper in accordance with theproposal made by the USA and member country
registration is to be solicited.

In the next chapter we provide a general outline of the
GSEP Steel WG on the basis of a summary of thecommunication paper.

Source: Communication Paper of GSEP Steel WG

Fig. 9 Organogram of GSEP Steel WG① Energy management system (EMS) is newly referred since the United States played a leading rolefor EMS (ISO 50001).
② APP-STF focused on only existing technologies i.e. BAT/State-of-art clean technologies. GSEP also
considers long-term viewpoints and breakthrough technologies in addition to existing technologies.
③ GSEP focuses more on energy saving as it referrers to “reduction of energy consumption andconsequential reduction in CO2.” “Green House Gases (GHG).”is not mentioned on the guideline.
④ “Environmental burden” and “increasing recycling” are newly referred.
⑤ Sharing and exchange of information on financial mechanisms which eliminate main financial
barrier is newly referred. This financial mechanism includes not only international financial
mechanism for technology diffusion under the United Nations, but also the concepts of appropriate
financial supports from governments for domestic technology diffusion in each country.
Fig. 10 Objectives of the GSEP SWG

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4.

About the GSEP Steel WG

4.1.

Outline of the GSEP and 5 objectives

The GSEP Steel WG is defined in the guidelines as‘The GSEP Steel Working Group (SWG) members
account for significant portion of the world’s steel
production. SWG shall facilitate the uptake ofstate-of-the art technologies, good practices and energy
and environmental
management systems
inmembership countries together with increased
recycling. The SWG provides a unique forum for
public-private dialogue and cooperation, which willcontribute to the development of a viable long-termclean energy strategy, addressing energy security,
economicdevelopment,
andenvironmental
challenges’.
The passing on of the basic principles of ‘bottom-up
thinking based on technology’ and ‘public-private
cooperation’ referred to above are points worthy of
special mention. (Fig. 11)
In line with the basic principles mentioned above, thefive objectives that the GSEP Steel WG is aiming toachieve are outlined below.
(1) Develop and implement energy management
framework which can be used in the wide range ofsteel plants(2) Develop and implement techniques to utilize,
update and verify performance indicators.
(3) Identify
anddisseminate
existing
andbreakthrough technologies to reduce energy usage,
and consequential reduction in CO2 emissions
from steel production.
(4) Disseminate
informationon
reducing
environmental burden and increasing recycling insteel industry.
(5) Share and exchange information on policy
frameworks for the steel industry and financial
mechanisms for technology deployment.

Source: Communication Paper of GSEP Steel WG

Fig. 11 From APP Steel Task Force to GSEP Steel WG

4.2.

Principles and membership of the GSEP

PPP is the major principle underpinning the GSEP
Steel WG and this is reflected not just in its operations
but also in its guidelines since there are at least two
representatives elected from each member country (onefrom the public sector and one from the private) and so
it is clear that it has been established on the basis of aclose cooperative relationship between public andprivate interests.
The membership qualifications are that the GSEP is
open to all IPEEC and Clean Energy Ministerial
members and that, in the case of new affiliates, having
demonstrated their consent to cooperate with andparticipate in the GSEP’s activities, such new affiliates
should agree with the concept of public-private
cooperation with the key requirement that being that all
members agree to these conditions. In other words, thedoor is open to all nations provided that they
participate on the basis of a tightly knit coordination
between government and private interests.
4.3.

Future initiatives

Once a formal register of members has been compiledon the basis of the collected communication papers, thefollowing action plans, having been revised to reflect
the opinions expressed by the member nations, are tobe put into effect with a view to collaboration with the
GSEP Energy Management WG. (Table 3)

Table 3 Action plan
Source: Communication Paper of GSEP Steel WG

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Reference
Bilateral discussions between Japanese and Indian steel industry based on PPP are underway together with
APP/GSEP and other bodies. Given this situation, the creation of a ‘customised technology list’ has begun. This is aselective, customised list created from the ‘full technology list’ (which encompasses worldwide energy conservation
technologies), the contents of which make great use of information shared by the abovementioned APP/GSEP and
is really designed to be particularly suitable for India’s steel industry by satisfying the three points itemized below.
·

Joint initiatives based on public-private cooperation between Japan and India·

Exploiting the ‘experience’ of Japan’s global top-class steel industry. At present, the list has been distilled
down to 17 technologies from the 136 technologies included in the ‘full technology list’ and further revisions
to the list are scheduled. (Fig)·

Various Indian terms and conditions (environmental conservation, policy/technical problems and issues,energy configuration, pricing terms etc.)

At present, the list has been distilled down to 17 technologies from the 136 technologies included in the ‘full
technology list’ and further revisions to the list are scheduled. (Fig)

Source: The Japan Iron and Steel Federation

Fig. Technologies Customized List (draft) appropriate for Indian Steel Industry