Tata Steel is set to invest EUR 5 million for installation of state-of-the-art electric induction furnaces, in a bid to reduce emissions by at least 2000 tonnes of CO2 a year from the company’s Corby tube mill. The improved efficiency of the new electric furnaces means that they require less pre-heating from the gas-fired furnaces and therefore fewer associated emissions.
A EUR 5 million investment in state-of-the-art electric induction furnaces will reduce emissions from one of Tata Steel’s tube mills in Corby by at least 2000 tonnes of CO2 a year. The Stretch Reduction mill (SR2) takes 169 mm diameter steel tubes and heats them to around 1100°C before they are stretched into hollow sections as small as 40mm diameter with wall thicknesses as thin as 3.2mm. Works Manager Gary Blackman shared, “This is the first part of our extensive plans to make the Corby site CO2-neutral in line with Tata Steel’s declared environmental ambitions of becoming net zero globally by 2045. It also forms part of our sustainability commitment that encompasses the wider topics of biodiversity, material efficiency and sustainable products.”
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Project Lead, Paul Ilko added, “The new induction furnaces will replace the original ones that first came into operation in 1980, since which the mill has produced around 2.5 million tonnes — or over 200,000km— of tubes in its lifetime: enough to stretch around the world five times. Mr. Ilko shares that the improved efficiency of the new electric furnaces means that they require less pre-heating from the gas-fired furnaces and therefore fewer associated emissions. At the same time, as part of their sustainability commitment, the company aims to move their electricity supply towards low-carbon, renewable sources in due course.
