International diversified resource company Astra Resources has spent the past four months conducting commercially representative test manufacturing operations for its revolutionary T-Steel technology with promising results. The tests, which were carried out by the independent SGS accredited METALCONTROL labs, were calculated on a number of variations under a ‘worst case’ scenario in order to simulate an extremely poor plant infrastructure. For example, the process included higher than normal slag levels and a lack of vacuum technology.The results achieved during the test manufacturing showed that the combination of the actual physical process, and that of the metallurgical technologies as detailed in the IP, were able to produce substantially improved results in both the physical characteristics and emissions, when compared to emission data available on standard integrated steelmaking and the standard St 52-3 A (DIN 17100, EN 10025-1 2007) as manufactured by a leading steel manufacturer.
A summary of the test results are as follows, with improvements over standard integrated steelmaking and the standard St 52-3 A (DIN 17100, EN 10025-1 2007), as manufactured by a leading steel manufacturer:
- Improved yield strength 26.6%
- Improved tensile strength (Rm) 12.3%
- Improved resistance against brittle fracture 10.9%
Astra CEO Dr Jaydeep Biswas says the manufacturing process was carried out under very high security in order to safeguard the IP owned by Astra. “The aim was to show that an average or below average plant would be able to produce steel of a vastly improved quality,” Dr Biswas says.
The product stratification of the T2 (St 52-3 KG) type steels corresponded to the traditional ST 52-3 reinforcement steels.
The other important parameter of the steel is its resistance against brittle fracture (Rp02/Rm), with the higher the value for this ratio correlating to higher abilities of resistance against brittle fracture.
From an application point of view the most important parameters were the increased yield and tensile strength and the improved weldability, with the latter identified by steel industry representatives as being critical for the applications and thus to the market.
Astra Managing Director Silvana De Cianni says the previously outlined advantages of T-Steel, even in its lower stratifications, have been supported through the testing.
“Industries such as the automotive and mining industry machinery will benefit largely from the improvement in yield strength, without compromising weld ability,” Ms De Cianni says. “The question of CO2 emissions has also become a critical issue both in terms of environmental impact and financial considerations with base measurements and calculations completed during the testing showing that worthwhile reductions can be achieved from the manufacturing process alone. It was also concluded that the emissions produced during the manufacture of the premium category T-Steels, for example T4-T9, will also be consistently less.
“In terms of the proposed commercialization of T-Steel, as outlined in confidential information memorandums in September 2011, a number of criteria were highlighted in terms of the market requirements and advantages. These include improvements in yield and tensile strength and reductions in CO2 emissions, with the results clearly indicating significant savings in terms of manufacturing and the carbon footprint of industries that implement the T-Type steels. The test runs outlined in this document result in properties far exceeding what was assumed in technology valuations previously reported.”
An industry that would benefit greatly from the introduction of T-Steel is the vehicle industry, which is striving towards lighter vehicles and lighter and smaller engines which produce similar or higher power outputs.
Dr Biswas says one of the world’s leading suppliers of steel to the automotive industry has confirmed that better quality, high weldability and stronger steels are required in order to produce smaller engines and more fuel efficient cars. “These requirements also translate into a need for cost effective manufacturing methods so that the price of the steel used does not contribute towards increased manufacturing costs,” Biswas says.
“The improvements in the characteristics of T-Steel over standard steel types are substantial, with a proven commercial history, and will provide significant economic benefits for steel plants where the technology is introduced.”
Dr Ender points out that the reason for this increasing demand is a result of the need for the reduction in mass of steel structures and machinery, without a reduction in lifecycle.
A recently completed Independent Expert’s report, written by chief metallurgist Dr Alfred Ender, acknowledges that the demand for economically produced high strength and high yield strength steels is increasing.
The report also states that ‘additional improvement can be reached’ by the application of other standard technical procedures such as injection technology and closed continuous casting methods.
This translates into an improvement of at least 10 to 15% above the current results in absolute terms, as outlined in the report, when the technology is applied in a relatively standard factory which already has the infrastructure for the above technologies.
In a higher quality manufacturing environment further improvements are able to be made, but in the interests of ‘worst case’ critical reality Ender chose to leave the calculated figures at 15 per cent in absolute terms above the results quoted in the report.
Ender also notes that during the current tests, the amounts of micro-alloying components were not at their highest level, therefore extrapolated increases in the quantity of micro alloying of the magnitude ranging from 0.03 to 0.55 per cent for specific components would result in even higher strength.
The developers have stated that in an appropriate standard manufacturing environment, the improvements over and above the current results can be in excess of 25% in absolute terms.
The report concludes that the ‘product of the detailed T-2 technology (pilot manufacturing) has better mechanical characteristics such as strength, yield, stiffness and resistance against brittle fracture than the product made by traditional technologies’. Therefore the mass of the structure can be reduced for the same application.
Additional applications for the T-Steel technologies include steel structures, pipes, ferro concrete structures, automotive and aquatic vehicle industries, high buildings, aerial ropeway, column crane and towers.