Why green steel needs precision analysis
Green steel certification covers various CO₂ reduction strategies like including electric arc furnace (EAF), hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (H₂-DRI), carbon capture and storage (CCS), and standards like ResponsibleSteel™ and the Global Steel Climate Council.
Despite emissions reductions, steel performance depends on precise control of purity, inclusions, and tramp elements—particularly with recycled scrap or DRI feedstocks.
Advanced analytical technologies across the entire value stream, from scrap to final product bridges sustainability goals and performance requirements, helping to ensure environmentally friendly steel meets demanding mechanical and durability standards.
Incoming material verification
The quality of green steel begins with precise verification of incoming raw materials. Effective analytical technologies at this stage prevent contamination issues before they enter the production process, establishing the foundation for sustainable, high-quality steel.
Bulk material characterization
PGNAA (Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis) delivers true full-stream analysis of large scrap loads* and raw materials, providing comprehensive elemental data without sampling bias of conveyor streams. PGNAA analyzes the entire volume of material, ensuring representative composition information for heterogeneous feedstocks and the potential to reduce carbon footprint through optimized material usage.
Detailed elemental analysis
While PGNAA provides bulk analysis for process control, laboratory XRF (X-ray fluorescence) and OES (optical emission spectroscopy) deliver precise elemental composition of representative samples from incoming materials. This technology offers exceptional accuracy for critical elements that impact steel quality and recyclability. This information helps optimize material blending and process parameters before production begins.
Detailed sorting and classification
Once bulk materials are verified, precise sorting and classification of individual components contributes to optimal feedstock quality. This targeted analysis stage identifies specific problematic materials that could compromise green steel quality or process efficiency.
Rapid scrap sorting
Portable XRF analyzers enable targeted testing of specific scrap pieces at the yard or receiving dock, providing immediate elemental composition data for precise material classification.
Fast identification of tramp elements helps ensure problematic materials are intercepted before entering production, reducing contamination risks, and protecting equipment and product quality.
Sintering process control
For integrated steel mills transitioning to greener production, optimizing the sintering process is crucial for reducing energy consumption and emissions. Advanced analytical technologies at this stage promote consistent sinter quality while minimizing environmental impact.
Real-time basicity control
For blast furnace operations, PGNAA analyzers monitor sinter feed chemistry on-line, providing high-frequency compositional analysis to enable real-time control of basicity (CaO/SiO₂ ratio). This critical quality parameter significantly affects blast furnace operation efficiency and stability.
An online elemental cross belt analyzer for sinter promotes consistent quality from the beginning of the process, analyzing the proper selection and mixing of raw materials including iron ore fines, coke breeze, limestone, mill scale, and flue dust.
Mineralogical analysis of raw materials
X-ray diffraction (XRD) provides detailed mineralogical analysis of iron ores, sinter, and other raw materials, identifying crystalline phases that impact downstream processing. This technology reveals critical information about mineral structure that elemental analysis alone cannot provide.
XRD analysis helps optimize sintering parameters by identifying minerals that affect sinter quality, such as hematite, magnetite, and various silicate phases. Understanding the mineralogical composition enables precise adjustment of sintering conditions to achieve optimal product properties.
Sinter product quality control
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis of finished sinter products provides critical information about elemental composition after the sintering process. This verification step helps support that the sinter meets specifications before entering the blast furnace, optimizing downstream operations.
The Thermo Scientific ARL OPTIM'X WDXRF spectrometer Spectrometer delivers rapid, accurate analysis of sinter samples, monitoring key elements that affect blast furnace performance. This information helps maintain consistent burden quality despite variations in raw materials.
Process control and optimization
As raw materials transform into intermediate products, continuous process control and optimization become essential. This stage leverages advanced analytical technologies to monitor and adjust production parameters, promotes consistent quality while minimizing resource consumption.
Feedstock quality & phase insights
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis provides fast, accurate detection of tramp elements in processed scrap, direct reduced iron (DRI), and slag. By identifying unwanted contaminants such as copper, tin, or lead, XRF helps ensure clean feedstock and prevents impurities from compromising steel properties.
X-ray diffraction (XRD) delivers mineralogical insight by identifying oxide and gangue phases in ores, pellets, and DRI. These phase measurements predict reducibility and the likelihood of inclusion formation during steelmaking, supporting process efficiency and steel cleanliness.
Together, the complementary techniques of XRF and XRD give producers both the elemental composition and the phase insights required to control feedstock quality and optimize downstream steelmaking.
Melt quality assurance
The melting stage represents a critical point where final adjustments to steel chemistry and cleanliness can be made. Real-time analytical technologies at this stage provide immediate feedback for process interventions, helping to ensure the molten steel meets both sustainability and performance requirements.
Real-time elemental composition and inclusions monitoring
Optical emission spectrometry (OES) with inclusion analysis detects oxide, sulfide, and other types of inclusions during melting, providing real-time feedback for immediate process adjustments. Our Thermo Scientific ARL iSpark Plus OES Metal Analyzer delivers immediate detection of non-metallic inclusions during production by type.
Slag and refractory analysis
X-ray diffraction analysis of slag samples and refractory materials provides critical insights into the steelmaking process. By identifying crystalline phases in slag, XRD helps optimize flux additions and slag conditioning treatments that directly impact steel cleanliness.
For green steel production, XRD analysis of slag is particularly valuable in monitoring the efficiency of inclusion modification treatments and understanding the interaction between new process technologies and traditional slag chemistry. This analysis helps maintain steel cleanliness while adapting to lower-carbon production methods.
Slag chemistry analysis
XRF analysis of slag samples provides rapid elemental composition data that complements XRD phase analysis. This information is crucial for monitoring and adjusting slag chemistry to optimize steel cleanliness and process efficiency.
The Thermo Scientific ARL PERFORM'X XRF Spectrometer delivers precise analysis of slag components, helping steelmakers maintain optimal slag basicity, fluidity, and inclusion absorption capacity. For green steel production, this analysis helps adapt traditional slag practices.
Finished product verification
The final stage of the value stream confirms that green steel products meet all dimensional and quality specifications. Continuous monitoring technologies at this stage provide complete documentation of product characteristics, supporting both quality certification and sustainability claims.
Final quality assurance
Online non-contact thickness gauges provide continuous monitoring of finished steel products, measures for dimensional accuracy and consistency throughout the entire coil or plate. Thickness is a critical parameter for downstream processing and product performance, and having accurate data at the end of the line can help validate material consistency, facilitates compliance with specifications, and support traceability.
Thermo Scientific non-contact thickness gauges deliver reliable, repeatable process control data to promote product uniformity, identify operating issues, and increase output for both virgin and recycled steel products.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.