Water Footprint in Leather Tanning and Steel Production
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development after the industrial revolution in Europe and North America, following
by a significant demand to trade and transport such as shipbuilding and railways.
Nowadays, steel is considered as one of the essential world’s materials. Its industry
employs more than 2 million people worldwide industries. Transport, automotive and
construction power and machine are the most industries relying on steel production
because of its low cost and tensile strength. World crude steel production has been
increasing in the world by the development of new products, improvement of the
manufacturing process, and future breakthrough technologies.
Despite the awareness given by the Organization of Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) concerning the raise of 55% of global water abstraction
between 2000 and 2050, it is noted that many countries especially in arid geographic
zone strategically depend on steel production which is one of their most income
revenue [16]. The steel industry is significant in energy consumption, as well as
freshwater. Steel products are generally extracted all over the world, conveyed and
spread again, then responsible for the consumption of global resources of freshwater.
Therefore, it is necessary to study the steel production chain in order to evaluate the
volume of water used during the processing and assess the water footprint deal with
the water consumption problem. The steel industry has an important impact on the
economy of many countries in the world and is considered as a major pillar. Global
steel production has raised from 2008 to 2010 and China was the first producer
following by Japan, America, Russia, and India [14].
In fact, according to the World Steel Association analysis, global steel production
raised from 1.348 tons in 2007 until 1.669 tons in 2014. By 2017, the production has
reached 1.691 billion tons of crude steel representing 5.3% of the production growth
in relation to 2016. Equivalent numbers were found in Europe representing 313.2
million tons in 2017, which counts for 3.8% growth from the 2016 steel production level. In European Member states, the 4.1% yearly growth accounted for 168.7
million tons in 2017, after 210.6 million in 2007 and 162 million in 2016 [18]. These
recent findings showed the continuous demand for steel for our society which might
be due to the increase of innovativeness, quality, and customer orientation. As far as
steel production is related to the consumption of freshwater, it is important to point
out that this industry seriously damages local, regional, and global water resources.
The wastewater coming from the steel industry generally contains harmful pollutants including dissolved metals like cadmium, arsenic, petroleum-derived products,
volatile phenol, etc.
12 Production Chain of Steel
On the basis of underground and surface mineral deposits, the production of steel
takes place on different routes and depending on countries. For example, in China,
an electric arc furnace (EAF) and the integrated steelmaking (BF-BOF) are the main
steel production routes. This last route accounts for 95% of the national steel products
in the country. However, two main routes are usually used to produce steel:
147
development after the industrial revolution in Europe and North America, following
by a significant demand to trade and transport such as shipbuilding and railways.
Nowadays, steel is considered as one of the essential world’s materials. Its industry
employs more than 2 million people worldwide industries. Transport, automotive and
construction power and machine are the most industries relying on steel production
because of its low cost and tensile strength. World crude steel production has been
increasing in the world by the development of new products, improvement of the
manufacturing process, and future breakthrough technologies.
Despite the awareness given by the Organization of Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) concerning the raise of 55% of global water abstraction
between 2000 and 2050, it is noted that many countries especially in arid geographic
zone strategically depend on steel production which is one of their most income
revenue [16]. The steel industry is significant in energy consumption, as well as
freshwater. Steel products are generally extracted all over the world, conveyed and
spread again, then responsible for the consumption of global resources of freshwater.
Therefore, it is necessary to study the steel production chain in order to evaluate the
volume of water used during the processing and assess the water footprint deal with
the water consumption problem. The steel industry has an important impact on the
economy of many countries in the world and is considered as a major pillar. Global
steel production has raised from 2008 to 2010 and China was the first producer
following by Japan, America, Russia, and India [14].
In fact, according to the World Steel Association analysis, global steel production
raised from 1.348 tons in 2007 until 1.669 tons in 2014. By 2017, the production has
reached 1.691 billion tons of crude steel representing 5.3% of the production growth
in relation to 2016. Equivalent numbers were found in Europe representing 313.2
million tons in 2017, which counts for 3.8% growth from the 2016 steel production level. In European Member states, the 4.1% yearly growth accounted for 168.7
million tons in 2017, after 210.6 million in 2007 and 162 million in 2016 [18]. These
recent findings showed the continuous demand for steel for our society which might
be due to the increase of innovativeness, quality, and customer orientation. As far as
steel production is related to the consumption of freshwater, it is important to point
out that this industry seriously damages local, regional, and global water resources.
The wastewater coming from the steel industry generally contains harmful pollutants including dissolved metals like cadmium, arsenic, petroleum-derived products,
volatile phenol, etc.
12 Production Chain of Steel
On the basis of underground and surface mineral deposits, the production of steel
takes place on different routes and depending on countries. For example, in China,
an electric arc furnace (EAF) and the integrated steelmaking (BF-BOF) are the main
steel production routes. This last route accounts for 95% of the national steel products
in the country. However, two main routes are usually used to produce steel: