Assessment of the Possibility of Reducing Energy Consumption and Environmental Pollution in the Steel Wire Manufacturing Process

This paper describes research on the influence the technology of zinc-coated steel wire manufacturing has on the energy and force parameters of the drawing process, energy consumption and zinc expenditure. In the theoretical part of the paper, the theoretical work and drawing power were calculated. Calculations of the electric energy consumption have shown that usage of the optimal wire drawing technology results in a 37% drop in energy consumption, which in the course of a single year translates to savings equal to 13 TJ. This, in turn, results in the decrease of CO2 emissions by tons and a total decrease of the eco-costs by approximately EUR 0.5 mln. Drawing technology also influences the losses of the zinc coating and CO2 emissions. Properly adjusted parameters of the wire drawing technology allow obtaining a zinc-coating that is 100% thicker, translating to 265 tons of zinc, whose production generates 900 tons of CO2 and incurs eco-costs equal to EUR 0.6 mln. Optimal parameters for drawing, from the perspective of decreased CO2 emissions during the zinc-coated steel wire manufacturing, are as follows: usage of the hydrodynamic drawing dies, angle of the die reducing zone alpha = 5 degrees, and drawing speed of 15 m/s.