CONTRIBUTION TO REDUCING THE LONG TERM ENERGY REQUIREMENTS IN METALS STRIP PRODUCTION.

Two areas consuming large quantities of energy are discussed. They are the production of molten metals from their ores and the rolling of ferrous and non-ferrous slabs to produce strip. The energy needed for producing aluminium by Bayer-Hall process is compared with that required by the Alcoa and Toth processes. In the case of steel the conventional blast furnace-basic oxygen steelmaking route is compared with the route based on direct reduction. The various ways of producing strip from liquid metal or direct from ores by powder routes requiring small amounts of energy are reviewed. Particular attention is devoted to the new route of spray rolling for both ferrous and non-ferrous metals and the making of thin steel strip direct from high purity oxide concentrates. The part that may be played in the long term future by nuclear generation of heat for the direct reduction of iron ores and powder metallurgy routes for fabricating iron and steel is also discussed.