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General meeting – 150 Years of Steel
April 8, 2019 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Roger Emmott, a recent Past-President of MinSouth and consultant to the iron and steel industry, will give a presentation on the evolution of steel as a complex and versatile material that has facilitated the modern world as we know it, over a relatively short space of time (150 years).
Starting in 1869, the presentation will cover the evolution of primitive iron into cast-iron and then wrought iron and then finally the discovery that steel could be refined and more latterly using many alloying elements to bestow potentially a wider range of structures and properties than any other material. This is achieved through processes largely attributed to Bessemer, with modifications by Gilchrist, and then the advent of the Siemens Martin open hearth furnace, and finally the realisation around 1948 by Durrer in Austria, that oxygen can be used more effectively.
It will also profile the slow but sure evolution of technology, including the migration of steel ingots into continuous casting, the increased sophistication of hot rolling, the advent of thin slab flat rolling pioneered by SMS and Nucor, and more latterly, direct strip casting as epitomised by the Castrip process also now being commercialised by Nucor.
Starting in 1869, it will review the growth of the industry worldwide, and its many complexities, including the cultural revolution of China and the backyard furnaces in 1958, and subsequent developments.
And what of the future? Steel consumption is predicted to continue to grow. Is that possible? How will the steel of the future be made? Will blast furnaces die? As time goes by, more steel is consumed in the world, so more of it is available to recycle with steel being the most recycled material in the world. There are some issues regarding quality but can these be overcome? Will we see more innovative uses of steelmaking, more use of electric arc furnaces which are much more carbon efficient than blast furnaces, which in turn will mean less use of iron ore?
Roger Emmott is an expert witness and consults on business strategy, business development, innovation and advising the global metals and mining sector.
He has advised clients in over 50 countries, including strategic, due diligence, market and feasibility studies for leading engineering consultancies Hatch and Atkins. He is experienced at managing projects, especially those with diverse global virtual teams.
Roger is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Minerals, Materials and Mining (IOM3) and a serving Council member of Minsouth, as well as being the Past President 2016/17. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Consulting and the Chartered Management Institute.