U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Industrial Technologies Program – Steel Industry of the Future

Completed R&D Projects

Nickel Aluminide Transfer Rolls

Nickel Aluminide Transfer Rolls are in full-scale commercial use in a Burns Harbor plate mill to allow non-stop processing and reduce energy use by 33%. (PDF 2.5 MB)



Operating practice permits recycling of waste oxide agglomerates in the steelmaking vessel

Recycling of Waste Oxides (PDF 99 KB)



Mag-Gate™ reduces pouring turbulence, re-oxidation, and impurity entrapment

Magnetic Gate System for Molten Metal Flow Control (PDF 94 KB)



The following projects were recently completed. In some cases, the R&D produced a new technology that is now emerging in the marketplace. In other cases, the R&D results will help to guide future development of energy-efficient technologies and processes for the steel industry. Project factsheets for each project are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.

  • Advanced Control in Blast Furnace (PDF 86 KB)
  • Aluminium Bronze Alloys to Improve the System Life of Basic Oxygen and Electric Arc Furnace Hoods, Roofs, and Side Vents (PDF 1.1 MB) (See OSTI's Final Report (PDF 4.0 MB))
  • Appropriate Resistance Spot Welding Practice for Advanced High Strength Steels (PDF 99 KB) (Final Reports (PDF 3.8 MB), (PDF 246 KB))
  • Automated Steel Cleanliness Analysis Tool (ASCAT) (PDF 81 KB) (See OSTI's Final Report (PDF 7.0 MB)) 
  • CFD Modeling for High Rate Pulverized Coal Injection in the Blast Furnace (PDF 1.1 MB)
  • Characterization of Fatigue and Crash Performance of a New Generation of HSS (Final Report (PDF 1.2 MB))
  • Clean Steels: Advancing the State of the Art (PDF 72 KB) (Final Report (PDF 589 KB))
  • Cold Work Embrittlement of Interstitial-Free Steels (PDF 2.2 MB)
  • Constitutive Behavior of High Strength Multiphase Sheet Steels under High Strain Rate Deformation Conditions (PDF 124 KB) (Final Report (PDF 3.3 MB))
  • Controlled Thermal-Mechanical Processing of Tubes and Pipes (PDF 2.2 MB) (Final Report (PDF 5.9 MB))
  • Dephosphorization When Using Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) or Hot Briquetted Iron (PDF 2.0 MB)
  • Development and Application of Steel Foam and Structures (PDF 62 KB) (Final Report (PDF 3.3 MB))
  • Development of a Process to Continuously Melt, Refine, and Cast High Quality Steel (PDF 2.3 MB) (Final Report (PDF 3.0 MB))
  • Development of Next Generation Heating System for Scale Free Steel Reheating, Phase I (Final Report (PDF 1.4 MB))
  • Development of O2-Enriched Furnace (PDF 76 KB)
  • Elimination or Minimization of Oscillation Marks - A Path to Improved Cast Surface Quality (PDF 1.2 MB)
  • Enhanced Inclusion Removal from Steel in the Tundish (PDF 1.1 MB)
  • Enrichment of By-Product Materials from Steel Pickling Acid Regeneration Plants (PDF 1.2 MB)
  • Feasibility Study for Recycling Use Automotive Oil Filters in a Blast Furnace (Final Report (PDF 538 KB))
  • Formability Characterization of a New Generation of High Strength Steels (Final Report (PDF 1.9 MB))
  • Future Steelmaking Processes - Dec. 2003 (PDF 83 KB)
  • Geological Sequestration of CO2 by Hydrous Carbonate Formation with Reclaimed Slag (PDF 1.1 MB)
  • Hydrogen and Nitrogen Control in Ladle and Casting Operations (PDF 72 KB) (Final Report (PDF 929 KB))
  • Improved Criteria for Acceptable Yield Point Elongation (YPE) of Surface Critical Steels (PDF 1.2 MB)
  • Inclusion Optimization for Next Generation Steel Products (See OSTI's Final Report (PDF 4.0 MB)) 
  • In-Situ, Real-Time Measurement of Melt Constituents (PDF 117 KB)
  • Integrating Steel Production with Mineral Sequestration (PDF 1.2 MB)
  • Intelligent Inductive Processing (PDF 80 KB)
  • Large-Scale Evaluation of Nickel Aluminide Rolls in a Heat-Treat Furnace (PDF 2.6 MB)
  • Laser Contouring System (PDF 1.1 MB)
  • Life Improvement of Pot Hardware (PDF 72 KB) (See OSTI's Final Report (PDF 7.0 MB))
  • Magnetic Gate System for Molten Metal Flow Control (PDF 69 KB)
  • The Mesabi Nugget Research Project New Ironmaking Technology of the Future: High Quality Iron Nuggets Using a Rotary Hearth Furnace (PDF 701 KB)
  • Minimizing NOx Emissions from By-Product Fuels in Steelmaking (PDF 67 KB)
  • New Process for Hot Metal Production at Low Fuel Rate - Phase 1 Feasibility Study (Final Report (PDF 2.4 MB))
  • New Ultra-Low Carbon Steels With Improved Bake Hard ORNL (PDF 110 KB)
  • Novel Low-NOx Burners for Boilers in the Steel Industry (PDF 73 KB) (See OSTI's Final Report (PDF 1.0 MB))
  • Optical Sensor for Post-Combustion Control in Electric Arc Furnace Steelmaking (PDF 2.0 MB)
  • Optimization of Post Combustion (PDF 104 KB) (Final Report (PDF 705 KB))
  • Plant Line Trial Evaluation of Viable Non-Chromium Passivation Systems for ETP (Final Report (PDF 20.1 MB))
  • Processing Electric Arc Furnace Dust into Saleable Chemical Products (PDF 83 KB)
  • Properties of Galvanized and Galvannealed Advanced High Strength Hot Rolled Steels (PDF 1.2 MB)
  • Pulverized Coal Injection (PDF 96 KB) (Final Report (PDF 16.4 MB))
  • Quantifying the Thermal Behavior of Slags (Final Report (PDF 2.0 MB))
  • Real-Time Melt Temperature Measurement in a Vacuum Degasser Using Optical Optometry  
  • Recycling of Waste Oxides (PDF 72 KB)
  • Removal of Residual Elements in the Steel Ladle (PDF 101 KB)
  • Standard Methodology for the Quantitative Measurement of Steel Phase Transformation Kinetics (Final Report (PDF 697 KB))
  • Strip Casting: Anticipating New Routes to Steel Sheet (PDF 87 KB)
  • Study of Deformation Behavior of Lightweight Steel Structures (PDF 101 KB)
  • Submerged Entry Nozzles that Resist Clogging (PDF 68 KB) (Final Report (PDF 8.9 MB))
  • Suspension Hydrogen Reduction of Iron Oxide Concentrate (PDF 1.2 MB)
  • Sustainable Steelmaking Using Biomass and Waste Oxides (Final Report (PDF 747 KB))
  • Technical Feasibility Study of Steelmaking by Molten Oxide Electrolysis (PDF 1.1 MB)
  • Temperature Measurement of Galvanneal Steel (PDF 87 KB)
  • Validation of the Hot-Strip Mill Model (PDF 109 KB)
  • Verification of Steelmaking Slag Iron Content (PDF 103 KB) (Final Report (PDF 3.7 MB))

Projects Relevant to Steel R&D

Other Industrial Technologies Program areas support projects that are highly relevant to steel.

  • An Energy Saving Model for the Heat Treatment of Castings (Final Report (PDF 8.5 MB))
  • Development of a Versatile Laser Ultrasonic System and Application to On-Line Measurement for Process Control (PDF 802 KB)