ARCELORMITTAL FINAL PROJECT REPORT
Claire Rosenberger
Amanda Martin
Frank Piotrowski
Mary Susan McAndrew
9 April 2015
Frank and the Girls
Abstract
The objective of this project is to design a process that will enable ArcelorMittal to reduce or reuse
excess byproducts of its steel manufacturing process. ArcelorMittal’s general plant waste includes
drums, totes, pallets and other waste lumber, and 216 Megatons of waste furnace brick, all of
which cost ArcelorMittal time, money, and natural resources. The company’s current recycling
process is inefficient, as it depletes the earth’s natural resources, which directly impacts the
environment and indirectly affects those living on the planet. Team Frank and the Girls has a
combined 40 weeks of experience using SolidWorks creating and designing transportation systems
and modeling coffee mugs refined for optimal performance for individuals with disabilities. The
team is well versed in the engineering design process and is composed of members from diverse
backgrounds and engineering fields, including chemical, biomedical, and mechanical engineering,
which makes the team well suited to meet the needs of ArcelorMittal. Frank and The Girls (FTG)
has designed a novel recycling process that is a solution to the vast level of waste generated by
ArcelorMittal’s steel production.
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1.0 Introduction
Sustainability is an effort to reduce waste, which in turn aids the environment by attempting to
reduce the consumption and destruction of natural resources. Waste generation triggers climate
change, the destruction of natural land, and environmental concerns generated by waste disposal
in landfills, making sustainability a necessary effort. Climate change can no longer be attributed
to natural causes of warming; instead, human activities cause most of the world’s recent climate
change (“Causes of Climate Change”). High temperatures, produced from power plant,
automobile, and factory emissions, have increased instances of heat-related deaths and illnesses,
caused rising sea levels, and amplified storm intensity (“Climate Change Impacts: Higher
Temperatures”). The depletion of forestland occurs at a rate of 375 square kilometers per day.
Exhaustion of natural resources decreases the land’s ability to sustain life (“Environmental
Destruction”). As waste decomposes in landfills, it releases chemicals that seep into and poison
groundwater (“Getting up to Speed: Ground Water Contamination”). Every year in the United
States, people generate 18,433,779,281 cubic feet of waste. At current rates, America will need
160,000 acres to house the waste generated in 100 years (Freudenrich 2000).
The life cycle assessment process consists of a linear system, beginning with the location of
natural resources and concluding with the production of waste. Raw materials enter the system
when they are extracted to produce consumer goods. These materials are then sent to
manufacturing facilities where they are consumed in the production process. Following the
manufacturing process, the goods are distributed to consumers. After product consumption,
consumers dispose of the used product. The majority of waste is disposed of in landfills; however,
some of it is recycled by consumers. Waste is generated in each stage of the life cycle assessment
process (“Defining Life Cycle Assessment”). In the electric furnace steel making process, finite
materials such as recycled steel scrap and refractory material enter the manufacturing process. The
electric furnace produces usable liquid steel and waste refractory material, including refractory
brick. The liquid steel is cast, reheated, and rolled; these processes use electricity, water, and
chemicals as inputs while they output the finished steel product and more waste refractory material.
External waste production throughout the process includes pallets, waste lumber, totes, and drums
from transportation, treatment, and delivery of materials. The majority of the generated waste is
sent to a landfill (sedtapp).
1.1 Initial Problem Statement
The objective of the project is to recycle waste refractory brick generated at the Steelton plant.
The team will achieve this by suggesting a recycling process to ArcelorMittal.
2.0 Customer Needs Assessment
ArcelorMittal is the worlds leading steel and mining company producing over 16.3 million tons
of raw steel over 28 different facilities. With net income of about 2.5 billion US dollars they
employ over 232,000 in more than 60 counties. They take pride in there values of sustainability,
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quality, leadership, and their brand promise “transforming tomorrow” drives their production to
produce safe and sustainable high quality steel. The Steelton plant employs over 675 people to
produce railroad rails, high quality ingots, and blooms. During this production the typical waste
from the electric arc furnace is produced. The 2,500 MT of waste refractory brick is currently
disposed of in landfills. The other wastes such as lumber, drums, totes, and are also disposed of in
a landfill. This waste threatens the values of ArcelorMittal producing the need for a more efficient,
cost effective, and sustainable disposal of their waste. CITATION
2.1 Weighting of Customer Needs
In an effort to compare and determine the relative importance of ArcelorMittal’s needs, the
team FTG generated an Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) Chart. The AHP weighted the six
main design objectives we found were significant to ArcelorMittal and their values. These
objectives being sustainability, liability, cost, marketability, market views, and efficiency.
Weighting customer needs is a significant task, as it aids in organizing the customer’s values and
guides the team towards generating design solutions that best meet the customer’s wants and needs.
Table 1. Initial Customer Needs List Obtained from ArcelorMittal Presentation
Sustainability
Liability
Cost
Marketability
Market Views
Efficiency
show where the needs came from; website lists needs
Table 2: AHP Chart to determine weighting of customer needs
Sustainability Liability Cost Marketability Market Views Efficiency Total
Weight
Sustainability
1
3
3
5
7
9
28
0.35
Liability
0.33
1
3
3
5
7 19.33
0.24
Cost
0.33
0.33
1
3
5
7 16.66
0.21
Marketability
0.2
0.33 0.33
1
3
5
9.86
0.12
Market Views
0.14
0.2
0.33
1
3
3.87
0.048
Efficiency
0.11
0.14 0.14
0.2
0.33
1
1.92
0.024
0.2
Sustainability is an effort to reduce waste, which in turn aids the environment by attempting to
reduce the consumption and destruction of natural resources. One of ArcelorMittal’s primary
values as a company is sustainability. It is therefore the team’s goal to ensure sustainability is a
key feature of concept generation and predominant in the final design solution. As seen in Table
3
2, liability is the second most significant objective that needs to be considered when generating
ideas. The team will mind ArcelorMittal’s responsibility toward its employees as it develops
concepts for waste disposal processes. Cost is another factor that the team needs to consider
when generating ideas. Businesses make decisions based on cost and are concerned with the
financial aspects of the company. While making large purchases may seem foolish initially, an
expensive purchase may benefit the company in the long run by reducing long-term costs.
Marketability will play a role when the team generates design ideas because FTG’s goal is to
present ArcelorMittal with a recycling solution that they will want to invest time, money, and
effort in. Making changes to a company affects those who are invested in that company, which
is why the team will consider ArcelorMittal market views when developing concepts for a
solution. Finally, the team will ensure that its generated concepts are viable and efficient, as a
recycling process that is inefficient would prove to be useless and a waste of resources.
Table 2. Weighted Hierarchical Customer Needs List Obtained from ArcelorMittal
Presentation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Sustainability (0.35)
Liability (0.24)
Cost (0.21)
Marketability (0.12)
Market views (0.048)
Efficiency (0.024)
3.0 Revised Problem Statement
Team FTG will attempt to recycle the vast amount of waste generated at the Steelton plant by
suggesting a sustainability-friendly process to ArcelorMittal that salvages material and reduces
waste.
Talk about attributes and weighting. how that has changed problem statement
4.0 External Search
The team performed an external search using reliable online sources to gain more knowledge on
ArcelorMittal and potential waste disposal solutions. The team’s research focused on
ArcelorMittal as a company, ArcelorMittal’s current waste elimination processes, and the uses of
the waste materials in the plant.
4.1 Literature Review
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At the very beginning of the project, Team FTG understood the basic customer needs
communicated by ArcelorMittal at the project kickoff presentation, and our knowledge sparked
the creation of the AHP Chart (see Figure 1 above) with the criteria of Sustainability, Liability,
Cost, Marketability, Market Views, and Efficiency. While this basic knowledge granted the team
the ability to rank customer needs, the team wanted to research ArcelorMittal so that it could more
easily and clearly understand the customer.
Sustainability, quality, leadership. These are ArcelorMittal’s company values, and employees
implement them with the goal of “transforming tomorrow.” As the world’s leading steel and
mining company, ArcelorMittal is committed to developing quality steel while promoting the
safest approach to steel production. By exploring ArcelorMittal’s company values, Team FTG
was able to comprehend the qualities that our designs should encompass. In the design process,
the team attempted to adhere to the values of sustainability, quality, and leadership by creating an
more environmentally-friendly solution that would place ArcelorMittal at the front of the steel
industry in environmental resolution without compromising the quality of steel that ArcelorMittal
currently produces (http://corporate.arcelormittal.com/who-we-are/at-a-glance).
The team believed that the most effective solution would be created after learning as much as
possible about the waste materials, including their uses, cost, waste disposal methods, and possible
other uses for these materials. ArcelorMittal produces 216 MT of furnace brick waste, 1586 MT
of ladle brick waste, and 763 MT of tundish brick waste. The ignot (tundish) brick usually can
only be used one time. This type of brick is disposed of at least weekly, usually two to three times
per week, because these bricks do not survive the production process. Besides minor replacements
to replace damaged furnace bricks, the furnace brick is replaced twice a year. The ladle brick is
exchanged once per week. All of the brick used interacts with the liquid steel, so the bricks are no
longer useful as refractory brick after exposure to the liquid steel. When the liquid steel seeps into
the brick, it slightly changes the composition of the bricks, which decreases their usefulness. The
different types of brick have different compositions. The furnace brick is composed mostly of
MgO (97.0%) along with trace amounts of Al2O3 (.2%), Fe2O3 (.4%), CaO (1.8%), and SiO2 (.6%).
The ladle brick contains MgO (47.6%), CaO (50.2%), SiO2 ( .7%), Al2O3 (.4%), Fe2O3 (.9%).
Pallets are introduced to the plant when materials, such as refractory bricks, are delivered to the
plant on pallets. ArcelorMittal uses the pallets to transport materials within the plant. The pallets
are kept until the end of their lifespan, when they are in poor condition and are no longer useful in
supporting and transporting materials. Additionally, the pallets are not pure wood, as staples are
used in the pallets.
Steel drums are used to contain antifreeze (diethylene glycol) that is used in the steel making
process. Currently, ArcelorMittal does not melt the steel drums to incorporate them into steel
making; to do this, ArcelorMittal would have to wash the drums and then confirm that the drums
are clean and free from any lingering diethylene glycol. Furthermore, it is difficult to melt the
steel drums for steel making because of their large size, as anything over three feet causes concerns
regarding inefficient melting. Another concern arises from the washing process; remaining
moisture from washing is detrimental to the steel making process. At present, ArcelorMittal is not
sending the steel drums to the landfill, instead they are accumulating them on site.
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http://www.ssiworld.com/products/products3-en.htm
http://sedtapp.psu.edu/design/design_projects/edsgn100/sp15/faq.html
http://www.nssmc.com/en/tech/report/nsc/pdf/n9803.pdf
4.2 Patent Search
Before selecting the final recycling process design for ArcelorMittal, the team determined the
patented processes already in existence for recycling waste refractory brick and and to see what
might exist for pallet recycling. Through a patent search, Team FTG found many processes
already in place for recycling wooden pallets (the team opted to include only one in the below
table). However, the team found many less options for the recycling processes in place for waste
refractory brick recycling (all of the ones found are included in Table 4).
Table 3. Art-Function Matrix for Recycling Processes
Art
Function
Refractory
aggregate for
refractory brick
manufactured
through
recycling
investment
casting old shell
powder and
processing
method thereof
Recycle Brick
US 20030079586
A1
US 20040173070
A1
CN 102951916 A
US 7388492 B2
Pallet Recycling
Pallet
Dismantling
EP 2743029 A1
4.3 Benchmarking
The team benchmarked four products and four processes utilized waste disposal. Subjects were
evaluated based on a numerical scale of 1-5, 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree.
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In Table 5, pallets were compared against three other products used in the transportation of
materials based on the criteria of cost, durability, strength, disposability, and mobility. The results
of benchmarking these four products determined that flat bed carts best matched the criteria, while
pallets, conveyor belts, and dollies all had an equal rating. In Table 6, four waste disposal
processes were compared against each other based on the criteria of cost, sustainability, and
viability. Comparing these four processes determined that selling, recycling, and grinding waste
material for re-purpose is more cost effective, sustainable, and viable than dumping waste into a
landfill. Investigating similar products and processes against the products and methods utilized by
ArcelorMittal guided the team’s concept generation toward better fulfilling the customer’s needs.
Table 4. Benchmarking of Four Products Used in Transportation
Criteria
Pallets
Conveyor Belt
Dollies
Flat Bead Cart
Cost
Durability
Strength
Disposability
Mobility
4
3
3
4
3
1
5
5
1
5
4
2
2
5
4
3
5
4
3
5
Table 5. Benchmarking of Four Waste Disposal Processes
Criteria
Landfill
Recycling
Selling
7
Grind Re-purpose
Cost
Sustainability
Viability
1
1
3
3
5
3
5
3
4
3
5
3
4.5 Design Target
From the external search the team was able to determine ArcelorMittal’s guiding principles:
sustainability, quality, and leadership. In the design process, the team attempted to fulfill the
values of sustainability, quality, and leadership by developing a more sustainable process to reduce
ArcelorMittal’s current amount of land-filled waste. The process will focus on eliminating waste
such as steel drums, wooden pallets, and refractory brick. The team determined that ArcelorMittal
does not want to eliminate the use of pallets altogether, as they are useful in the transportaion of
materials. Researching the composition, uses, and current disposal processes for the pallets, steel
drums, and refractory brick allowed the team to understand ArcelorMittal’s current needs for
inputs, the state of the materials throughout the process, and ways to improve the system. The
patent search highlighted several patents for systems of refractory brick and of pallet recycling,
which allowed the team to examine systems that already existed. The external search process
strengthened the team’s knowledge of the problem, which enabled Team FTG to generate
solutions.
5.0 Concept Generation
5.1 Problem Clarification (optional)
In this section provide the explanation of the functional decomposition of the design problem with
‘black-box’ model(s). More information and examples can be found on pages 145-152 of the
course text.
5.2 Concept Generation
Table 6. Black Box Model
Power Source Materials
Signal
Electricity
Power Switch
Steel
8
Thermal Energy
Metal
Key
Coal
Iron
Electromagnetic Starter
Manual Operation Plastic
Push Button Start
Natural Gas
Table 6. above is a black box model that displays the pieces of the team’s design solution
ideas generated from brainstorming. The team focused on generating a process rather than a
product as a solution to ArcelorMittal’s waste elimination system. Therefore, the team
brainstormed how a potential process would be powered, what materials would comprise the
process, and how the system would be signaled, all of which can be seen in Table 6. above.
Table 7. Morphological Chart
I did the chart in Word and will email it
Table 7. above is a morphological chart displaying possible combinations of the components of
the team’s generated concepts. From the morphological chart, the team was able to construct
three main solutions to ArcelorMittal’s recycling process. The first design solution is for
ArcelorMittal to transport and sell their waste refractory brick to Material Solutions Inc. (MSI),
where this company will break down and recycle the waste brick. This solution would eliminate
the need to dispose of waste brick into a landfill. The team’s second design solution requires
ArcelorMittal purchase a tube shredder to shred and grind up waste materials generated in the
company’s production of steel. The shredder would be used to grind up wooden pallets,
refractory brick, and oil drums, where the output material would then be sold to outside
companies for re-purposing. The team’s third design solution requires ArcelorMittal to use an
alternative material that would be more cost effective and sustainable in place of the refractory
brick that lines the company’s steel furnaces.
Design
Function
Power Source
Materials
9
Signal
1
Electricity
Silicon oxide
Power switch
2 Manual Operation
Clay
Push button
Ceramics
Double throw switch
3
Thermal energy
Polymers Electromagnetic starter
explain in more detail the concepts that were g
5.3 Concept Selection
Table 7. Pugh Chart
Description
Landfill
Brick
Recycling
Shredder
Replacement
Bricks
Criteria
Wt.
Sustainability
6.0
0
+
++
+
Liability
5.0
0
+
0
+
Cost
4.0
0
+
++
0
Marketability
3.0
0
+
++
0
Market Views
2.0
0
++
+
++
Efficiency
1.0
0
-
++
-
+
0.0
22.0
30.0
15.0
0
21.0
0.0
5.0
7.0
-
0.0
1.0
0.0
1.0
Net Scores
0.0
21.0
30.0
14.0
Table 7. above displays a Pugh chart of the team’s final design concept selection. The team’s
three generated concepts were weighted against a datum according to the criteria displayed in
Table 7 in an effort to analyze which design best identifies with the customer’s needs. The
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datum in Table 7. is ArcelorMittal’s current waste disposal method: the process of disposing of
waste in landfills. The other three designs were described in detail in section 5.2. According to
the table above, design 2 proved to be the most cost efficient and marketable solution to
ArcelorMittal’s Steelton plant waste disposal. Concept 2, which includes ArcelorMittal
purchasing a tube shredder to grind up waste for re-purpose, ranked superior in all criteria.
Based on the results from this analysis of the team’s generated ideas, the team will move forward
with concept 2 for the final recycling and waste disposal solution for ArcelorMittal.
6.0 Final Design
The final design allows ArcelorMittal to reuse or recycle almost all waste generated at the plant.
Team FTG proposes that ArcelorMittal should invest in a industrial shredder, which is a machine
that grinds and shreds metal, bricks, concrete, wood, and many other materials. Almost every
waste product produced can be sent through this industrial shredder. The end products can be
sold for a profit, donated to a cause, or reused in ArcelorMittal’s own steel making process; this
solution prevents the waste from going into a landfill. One company that sells this shredder is
SSI Shredding Solutions, Inc. SSI’s Quad Shredder is able to shred all of the discussed waste
that ArcelorMittal produces (steel drums, pallets, and refractory brick). The system requires an
upfront investment, but the environmental, shareholder, and economic returns outweigh the cost
of the system.
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6.1 Design Drawings, Parts List and Bill of Materials
Table 8. Cost Analysis
Table 8 shows these figures, they where calculated using data given by ArcelorMittal.
The expenses where calculated based on electricity, extra labor, and initial cost. The income was
calculated using the values below the current market value of each product to ensure they are
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able to be sold. The saved expenses are hauling and disposal fees saved, in turn the brick hauling
is including in the price as in sand and gravel. Therefore the net income is calculated by
subtracting the expense from the income.
Table 9. Current System
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Table 10. Our System
6.2 How does it work?
This shredder would be an estimated initial cost of $20,000 with a yearly estimated cost
of around $2500 per year. With this shredder the metal drums could be washed out with ethylene
glycol and sent to this shredder. The shredder then is able to “shred” the metal drums into small
shreds and can then be reused in the steel recycling process. All the wood byproducts from the
plant can be sent into this industrial shredder and made into wood chips. Since the shredder has
an electromagnet option, this can be activated to remove any nails or metal from the wood. The
removed metal then can be reused in the steel making process. The wood chips are biodegradable, they can be sold for mulch, sent into compost, or sold as firewood. They could also
be donated as mulch for local communities projects. Finally the refractory brick, this can also be
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sent into the shredder. The brick is then ground into small chunks or powder depending on the
setting. Since the shredder has an electromagnet, since the brick absorbs some liquid steel during
the process as its ground this and be extracted and res-used. The ground brick is made of several
different compositions. First the MgO brick crushed to a powder can be reused in the steel
making process as an additive. The other compositions including the unused MgO brick can be
used as a substitute for sand and gravel in concrete production. It replaced the sand and gravel,
due to the chemical abilities it can also make the concrete stronger, this is due to it taking less
time to cure. Currently there are several companies that use this type of cement, but due to costs
of pure MgO it is not economic for the concrete production companies to buy it direct.
Here is where Team FTG’s solution comes in, since the brick is currently going to a land fill, the
shredded chunks/powder can be sold for a price cheaper than sand/gravel to the many
surrounding concrete production . Taking the economic approach, assuming ArcelorMittal sells
only the brick powder, at a rate of $10 per ton, gravel is $12 per ton, ArcelorMittal can make
more than $30,000 per year. This covers the cost of the machine and the estimated yearly cost for
4 years. This does not include the potential profit of the wood products if they were sold, and the
amount of steel revenue made by recycling metal drums and the steel captured from the brick
pores. Assuming everything is sold ArcelorMittal would be in turn making $150,000 per year.
With the lifetime of the machine is 20 years that an extra 3 million dollars put back into the
company while added back into what was once waste, the company now would have a
sustainable profitable system that will last generations to come.
7.0 Conclusions
Add a few concluding thoughts that summarizes your project. To what extent was your project
successful? To what extent does it meet the customer needs? What are the truly unique features
you have added to your design?
References
“Causes of Climate Change.” United States Environmental Protection Agency, 9 April 2015.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/causes.html
“Climate Change Impacts: Higher Temperatures.” The Nature Conservancy, 9 April 2015.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threatsimpacts/higher-temperatures.xml
“Environmental Destruction.” World Centric, 9 April 2015. http://worldcentric.org/consciousliving/environmental-destruction
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Freudenrich, Ph.D., Craig. "How Landfills Work" HowStuffWorks.com. Last modified 16
October 2000. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/landfill.html
“Getting Up to Speed: Ground Water Contamination.” The Environmental Protection Agency.
Accessed March 9, 2015. http://www.epa.gov/region1/students/pdfs/gwc1.pdf
“Defining Life Cycle Assessment.” The Global Development Research Center. Accessed March
9, 2015. http://www.gdrc.org/uem/lca/lca-define.html
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