U.S. Steel plans $1 billion upgrade of Clairton plant

[Bravo Zulu]

U.S. Steel plans $1 billion upgrade of Clairton plant
Friday, November 30, 2007
By Len Boselovic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

U.S. Steel said today it is considering investing $1 billion at its Clairton plant to build two new coke batteries and a plant that would generate electricity from gas produced by the coke-making process while adding state-of-the-art environmental controls to its existing operations.

The investment, which would occur over a period of years, must still be approved by the steel producer's board of directors and receive approval from regulatory officials. It is also subject to changes in business conditions.

U.S. Steel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John P. Surma said the projects will ensure the long-term viability of its Mon Valley Works, which employ 3,000. They would also create more than 600 construction jobs.

"U.S. Steel is committed to running our operations in the most environmentally responsible, energy-efficient and cost-effective manner possible," Mr. Surma said.

The Clairton plant can produce 4.7 million tons of coke annually. Coke is a baked coal that is used to fuel blast furnaces at the company's Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock and U.S. Steel's other North American operations.

"It's a major investment for this plant, so that's good," said Andrew Miklos, president of United Steelworkers Local 1557, which represents workers at the Clairton plant.

The investment would come on the heels of U.S. Steel's $1.2 billion acquisition of Canadian steelmaker Stelco in October and its $2 billion purchase of Lone Star Technologies, a Dallas-based steel tube producer, in June.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07334/838062-100.stm

[madeline_con]

1. Does US Steel still make US steel?

Or is below par steel still being imported from China?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. between minimills, the falling dollar, and

a mix of blast and electric arc technology, steel exports and manufacturing are getting close to our highest levels historically. Only far more efficiently than ever done before.

by the way, China is now a steel importer. They can't get their hands on enough of it, especially when you consider that they are building a brand new Chicago Downtown every single year.

[FREEWILL56]

8. Yes.

[bonito]

2. Good news. n/t

[jedr]

4. The Edgar Thompson works now has electric furnaces;

Never worked in the mills , so I don't know if you still need coke in an electric furnace???? Anything would help, as the Mon Valley is a ghost town compared to the '70's. Last I knew the ET works employed about 300-500 people, about 1/10 of what it did in the late '60's and early '70's. Here's to you pavet4murtha from an other vet, he's a hell of man and tells those chicken-hawks where it's at......:toast:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. making steel with EA technology is like baking a cake

many mills are recyclers, taking raw rusty car parts and other steel scrap, which is then reprocessed (during which carbon must be added, either as coke, or gaseous form) The purpose it to have carbon reactions in the molten crap to remove the crap. Also added are any trace metals, depending on the class of steel you are aiming for - tool steel, mild steel, high carbon, low carbon, stainless, etc.

When you use iron ore of sufficient quality, coke or other carbon sources are needed, but on a larger scale.

If you haven't seen an EAF in operation, think of hell, but hotter, more noisy and terrifying. First, you have a big pot. NO, make that a HUGE pot. A pot with a lid. Inside the lid there are three holes, with three huge electrodes (these are consumable over time and need to be periodically replaced) On the sides there are a series of jets and guns, some adding oxygen, others using natural gas burners to heat the mess even faster. By gun, I mean a water cooled, 8 foot lance with a 6 inch diameter hole. It helps to keep a "heel" a puddle of molten steel, at the bottom at all times, both to strike the arc and to assist in the start of the melt.

You start the water coolers going on every piece of equipment, including the lid and the pot, - (otherwise the pot would melt, so you cool the pot to keep the molten metal inside) Then you get the guns and jets going. It sounds like the engines of 2 747s are warming up next to your skull. THEN, you strike an arc. Ever see an arc welder in action? Same principle. Exactly the same principle. THe arc provides a huge amount of heat, which rapidly raises the temps, allowing the ore or scrap to melt. As it melts, you add carbon, Oxygen, other chemicals as alloys, and presto, you have a batch of new high quality steel. Some truly efficient mills do this 24-30 times per day, including loading with scrap, melting, alloy creation, more melting, pouring out, closing the opening for the pour, and reloading.

[Hayduke Lives]

10. You just doubled my knowledge of metallurgy

I wonder how many native pittsburghers born after the 1950's (me included) could even begin to explain the steel making process.

I don't miss the toxic air and fouled rivers, but at the same time our city's heritage is disappearing from memory - outside a few pockets in the Mon Valley anyway. I heard recently that there are fewer than 500 steelworkers in the city of Pittsburgh.

I hope USX is true to its word about the investment in Clairton and the pollution controls on the new coke ovens.

[jedr]

11. WOW1

Thanks....that was great!:yourock:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. it is also one of the most dangerous places to work AND

unions are rarely found in mini-mill ops. And in indie mills with unions, they have been forced to toss all benefits. You know, unimportant things like medical, retirement, that sort of stuff.

[bbinacan]

5. One advantage to

a weak dollar.

[TwilightGardener]

6. Glad to hear it. I grew up in the South Hills, and Clairton is a pretty

depressed area--they need all the help they can get.

[spag68]

7. Clairton works

I'm a retired IBEW member, and worked in the Clairton works a number of times. There is something about this article that is kind of wrong. First of all, most of the coke that is produced here is exported. The real money since 1975 or so is in the chemicals they get from the coal. In 1975 they made 1,000,000 a day profit from anhydrous ammonia. Also many other chems. were captured. It seemed stupid even then that the gasses were burned off as waste. Don't look for USS to be altruistic about anything they are not forced to do. Remember that Scaife guy is one of the mover and shakers of USS and they never did anything except try to exploit our workers and environment. Coke can not be made cleanly, and don't forget the mountaintops that get blasted off to get to the coal. IMHO the best use of coal is in the gasification process which is relatively clean,but still depends on coal mining. I also worked on a gasification plant back then which produced methane, which is a fairly clean burning gas. Not don't flame me right away, I'm a certified solar installer and consultant, but we're are not going to get to renewables anytime soon and I still don't know if coal or nukes or worse. We definitely need to change the subsidy's and tax credits and any other means to get to a renewable future. Until then I will always be suspicious of the company that killed it's workers that wanted a livable wage.