What color is metallurgy?

– Dad, is this red currant?
– No, black.
– Why is she white?
– Because it’s still green.

Non-ferrous metallurgy, black, white, green

Let’s start simple.

Non-ferrous metallurgy includes all metals and alloys that do not contain iron or in which iron is not the main component. Gold medallions, famous copper pipes, beautiful bronze statues, silver cutlery, aluminum profiles, tin soldiers are all different colors, so why come up with a name? Colored.

Casting zinc into molds
Casting zinc into molds

Historical background: In the beginning there was gold and silver. They made all sorts of rubbish out of them, mostly jewelry. It was so long ago, around the Stone Age. Then they discovered copper – a metal that turned the course of history, launched the first technological revolution and opened the doors to the Bronze Age. Many useful things could be made of bronze, especially tools of labor and murder. It was then that life began to turn. There was no time to be bored. On the nose was an iron century.

Ferrous metallurgy… It’s all about iron and its alloys.

There are over 3500 steel grades in the world. Each brand has its own chemical composition, which affects its strength, plasticity, heat resistance and other characteristics. Your car will likely use up to 40-45 different grades of steel to make your journey as safe as possible and to keep you alive during a collision. In most modern films, where the main character tries to escape from captivity, the bars on the windows of his prison are most likely made of Hadfield steel – a cunning bastard, the more you saw, the stronger it becomes.

Why is ferrous metallurgy ferrous? Who knows … Maybe because black is style and elegance?

Pouring iron into an oxygen converter
Pouring iron into an oxygen converter

Curious insert: Scrap metal it is a scarce commodity. So don’t kick the rusty trough in your yard. Look closely, it smells like Klondike. You will not find good scrap metal in the afternoon with fire. Melted the scrap – here’s steel for you, but go find ore, mine, enrich, process, smelt steel. The benefits are obvious.

Scrap metal is a valuable commodity. It is imported and exported. For example, the steel structures of the World Trade Center (about 400 thousand tons) were sold to India and China in the distant 2000s, and who knows what has been smelted from them now.

Before we could look back, we are on the doorstep White metallurgy I must say that White metallurgy woven from contradictions.

Let’s start with the fact that this term is relatively new. It appeared in 2010. It is used only in the vastness of our country and not at all about metals and their color. White metallurgy is the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, which has sunk to Russian soil, adapted, overgrown with modern technologies and took root at a number of production sites in Russia. Simply put, it is a system of continuous improvement of the quality of what you do and how you do it.

Feel the contradiction? The fact that a Japanese is a natural habitat is completely unnatural for a Russian. It’s as if Emelya from our fairy tales suddenly got up from the stove, became a samurai and devoted his life to perfecting the use of an ax.

In addition, White metallurgy is not at all white, but very colorful and bright. The term itself was introduced into everyday life by the ChTPZ group. And not only introduced, but also implemented at the production sites: “Height 239”, “Eterno” ChTPZ, “Iron Ozone 32” and “Finish Center”. Take “Height 239” for example: only the robes worn by workers are white, but the walls are painted bright red. They say that 105 tons of paint were used to paint the workshop. In the region, interruptions even began with it – the plant bought up all the reserves. ChTPZ managed to perform a Russian miracle and make a samurai out of Emelya. The case when it is better to see once than to read a hundred times.

Height 239 - large diameter pipe workshop
Height 239 – large diameter pipe workshop

They drove on. As mercilessly as decarbonization reached the Iron and Steel Industry, we reached the Zelena… Green metallurgy – environmentally friendly production. An attempt to turn the industry towards nature and reduce CO2 emissions. There is nothing you can do about it: during the production of steel, mountain air is not generated, which is a pity.

This is what metallurgy will look like in 2050
This is what metallurgy will look like in 2050

How to rotate? The best way to make production pay for emissions. No sooner said than done. Some countries have made increased commitments and started to actively develop emission control instruments. There are two popular ones:

  1. Carbon tax… You produce a “dirty” product with a big carbon footprint – pay a big tax;

  2. Emissions quota system… It’s like gigabytes of internet that you can buy, use, transfer or sell.

The Motherland said – “it is necessary”, the production answered – “there is” and was divided into two camps. Some industries are simply taken and moved to other countries. Where there is no or lower carbon tax. As a result, in the context of a particular country, emissions decreased, and in the context of the planet, they simply moved to another place. This effect is called “carbon leakage”.

More forward-thinking industries are investing in new green technologies. There are reasons for this. In 2019, the European Union adopted a “green pact” – zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. And 2050 is just a stone’s throw away.

Russia has a special path, but no one canceled the climate agenda. We have not entered into any unions, but we are actively discussing everything.

Metallurgy in Datana colors

This is the case when color doesn’t matter. We work with industrial sites of all colors to help them become efficient, safe, sustainable and bring the best product to market.

In the next article I will tell you how we shoved the camcorder into the heat and what we saw there. Keep for updates.

For now, here’s a photo. What do you think it is?

Write your answers in the comments.

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