Metallurgy - what is it? Centers of the metallurgical industry. §45. Ferrous metallurgy
1. How would you define the importance of metallurgy in the economy of our country? In the world at large?
The metallurgical complex is the basis of the industry. It is the foundation of mechanical engineering, which, together with the electric power industry, provides chemical industry development of scientific and technological progress at all levels National economy countries.
Metallurgy is one of the main and oldest industries in Russia. The historically established three metallurgical centers: Ural, Central and Siberian provide the production base of our country with ferrous and non-ferrous metals, primarily for the domestic mechanical engineering and defense industry.
2. What are the features of iron and steel industry?
Metallurgical production has a number of specific features.
1. The technological process requires large volumes of not only ore raw materials, but also water, fuel (coking coal, natural gas), and energy.
2. Interdependence of the raw materials and fuel and energy base, as well as a large volume finished products associated with mass transport.
3. Industrial waste and emissions of harmful substances create serious environmental problems.
4. Secondary metallurgy (use of scrap metal) is gaining particular importance in order to reduce costs and environmental risk.
3. What are the features of the location of ferrous metallurgy in Russia?
In Russia, large areas of metallurgical production in the Urals, the Center and Siberia have developed in accordance with the availability of raw materials and fuel base.
4. Choose the correct answer. The northernmost iron and steel enterprise full cycle in Russia is located in the territory: a) Leningrad region; b) Arkhangelsk region; c) Vologda region; d) Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
Correct answer: c) Vologda region.
5. Choose the correct answer. Which center of ferrous metallurgy is characterized by the least air pollution: a) Magnitogorsk; b) Stary Oskol; c) Cherepovets; d) Nizhny Tagil?
Correct answer: b) Stary Oskol.
6. How can you explain the location of a full-cycle metallurgical plant in Lipetsk? Please provide at least two reasons.
1. The presence of the nearby KMA deposit (in the Kursk and Belgorod regions), which produces more than half of all iron ore in Russia.
2. The presence of a large coal basin nearby - Donbass, a source of coking coal for the plant.
7. Match the cards on p. 250-251 and 252-253 Appendices, map in Figure 89 and explain what factors influence the location of metallurgical bases in Russia. Using Figure 89, write down the largest centers of full-cycle metallurgy; indicate the volume of steel production (in million tons).
For ferrous metallurgy enterprises, the main location factors are:
1. The raw material factor is decisive for most full-cycle metallurgical plants, which consume huge amounts of raw materials and process fuel - coke, therefore most metallurgical plants were built either near iron ore deposits (Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil, Novotroitsk, Stary Oskol), or near deposits coking coals (Novokuznetsk).
2. Energy factor. Large metallurgical plants are large consumers of electricity generated at nearby power plants, as a rule, thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants, located in a cascade on large rivers in Russia.
3. The consumer factor is typical for pigment metallurgy, which uses scrap metal as raw material (Moscow, Elektrostal, Vyksa, Kulebaki, Kolpino, Volgograd, Taganrog, Krasnoyarsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur), as well as for pipe production (Moscow, Volzhsky, Almetyevsk) .
4. Only the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant, which uses iron ores of the Kola-Karelian region and KMA, coking coals of the Pechora and Donetsk basins, and sends finished products - steel and rolled products - to St. Petersburg, Moscow, other machine-building centers and to export.
5. The environmental factor in our country was previously practically not taken into account during the construction of ferrous metallurgy enterprises, which has a detrimental effect on the environment and human health.
The largest full-cycle metallurgy centers:
Novokuznetsk Metallurgical Plant (steel production volume 2.6 million tons per year)
Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (steel production volume 12.2 million tons per year)
Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (steel production volume 4.6 million tons per year)
Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works (steel production volume 4.2 million tons per year)
"Ural Steel" (until 1992, Orsko-Khalilovsky Metallurgical Plant) (steel production volume 2.8 million tons per year)
Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant (steel production volume 11.6 million tons per year)
Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works (steel production volume 15.4 million tons per year)
Try to find out: a) which factories depend on imported iron ore; b) which plants have an economic-geographical position that is most favorable for the export of metal, and which plants have a less favorable location.
9. Explain why ferrous metallurgy is called the “backbone” of the Russian economy. Give at least 3-4 arguments to support this.
1. Ferrous metallurgy serves as the basis for the development of industry in the Russian Federation, incl. mechanical engineering (1/3 of the cast metal from the blast furnace goes into mechanical engineering) and construction (1/4 of the metal goes into construction). The main raw materials for the production of ferrous metals are iron ore, manganese, coking coals and alloy metal ores (mining industry), as well as energy (electric power).
2. Russia ranks first in the world in terms of iron ore reserves and is one of the five leading countries in its mining, as well as in steel smelting.
3. Russia ranks 2nd in the world in terms of coal reserves and is one of the six leading countries in its production.
They are determined mainly by the geography of mineral deposits necessary for the metallurgical process. From the standpoint of economic feasibility, metallurgical plants appear in the vicinity of iron ore deposits. This is a general rule.
However, there are exceptions to this. The absence of coal basins and powerful power plants near iron ore deposits excludes the possibility of building a metallurgical plant in such an area. Ideal conditions are considered to be the concentration of all factors in one place: the presence of ore, coal and electricity.
The choice of area for the construction of a metallurgical plant plays an important role, because new cities grow around the new enterprise, infrastructure develops, and the economic activity of small businesses increases. Most metallurgical plants play a city-forming role in their locations.
The importance of metallurgy for economic development
Russia is one of the world leaders in steel production. Metallurgical industry Russian Federation constitutes a significant portion of the country's gross domestic product. According to this indicator, it is second only to the oil and gas sector.
The export of metal products provides stable foreign exchange earnings to the Russian economy.
The metallurgical complex consists of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. Products produced by metallurgical plants are used in a huge number of sectors of the economy. Ferrous metallurgy indirectly creates jobs in related industries.
Raw material base
Domestic metallurgy is developing thanks to the wealth of minerals that fill the bowels of the state.
Numerous deposits of coking coal fully satisfy the needs of metallurgists. Most Ural plants operate on coal supplied from the Kuznetsk coal basin (Kuzbass).
In terms of iron ore reserves, the Russian Federation is now in first place in the world. Its territory contains about 19% of the world's reserves of this mineral. Large deposits of iron ore are called an iron ore basin. The largest examples of them in the post-Soviet space are:
- Krivoy Rog iron ore basin;
- iron ore basin of the southern Urals;
- Kursk magnetic anomaly.
Experts also develop iron ore deposits using underground (mine) methods.
The feasibility of developing coal or ferruginous quartzite deposits is determined by the depth of the deposits, transport accessibility of the deposit, as well as technological parameters.
Having considered the factors (not only raw materials) influencing the choice of location for metallurgical plants.
Criteria for choosing the location of metallurgical enterprises
The greatest economic effect is achieved when enterprises and interrelated industries are concentrated in one territory. This gives metallurgical plants significant savings on transportation costs.
It also greatly simplifies the organization of production management:
- Metallurgical plants, due to their technology, require large volumes of water resources. This makes it mandatory for them to be located near bodies of water.
- The environmental factor is also important. Metallurgical plants cannot be built near environmental protection zones. Their design must take into account the wind rose of each specific area.
- Electrometallurgical plants require large amounts of electricity and scrap metal to operate. Such enterprises are usually built near powerful hydroelectric power stations.
Industrial zones with metallurgical plants should be located at a reasonable distance from residential areas. Under the influence of these factors, design institutes are developing new metallurgical enterprises that comply with all protection standards environment.
Among the many factors for the location of ferrous metallurgy, a special place is occupied by its proximity or distance from large river and sea ports. Export deliveries are most feasible when products are shipped by sea, which is the cheapest. Proximity to the river system is one of the main requirements for the construction site of a metallurgical plant.
Ferrous metallurgy
Metallurgy development centers in Russia
Most Russian metallurgical enterprises are located in the Urals. This region accounts for up to half of the total volume of steel produced. The main industry giants are located in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Tagil.
In the European part of Russia, large plants are located in Lipetsk, Cherepovets and Stary Oskol. In the latter, by the way, there is the only electrometallurgical plant in Russia.
In the West Siberian region, metallurgical production is represented by two large plants in Novokuznetsk. The factors for the location of metallurgy in Siberia are determined by the presence of cheap Kuzbass coal in this territory.
The geography of the location of metallurgical enterprises is quite extensive. General rule for the three named centers of metallurgy, there is a gravitation towards sources of raw materials and fuel.
Metallurgy of non-ferrous metals has its own characteristics.
How does this industry differ from ferrous metallurgy in terms of its location factors?
Location of plants for the production of non-ferrous metals
Non-ferrous metallurgy is very diverse. It is divided into the following subspecies:
- copper;
- lead-zinc;
- nickel-cobalt;
- aluminum;
- titanomagnesium;
- production of precious metals.
In total, Russian industry produces more than seventy types of non-ferrous metals. Half of the non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises in the Russian Federation are aluminum. They gravitate toward powerful hydroelectric power plants.
A distinctive feature of non-ferrous metal smelting plants is the high level of environmental pollution from their activities and the high energy intensity of the technological process.
Non-ferrous metals are distinguished by the diversity of their deposits. The geography of non-ferrous metal deposits is very extensive. “Give examples,” the majority of the population will say. These are mountains, rivers, and large ore deposits on the ground and underground. Gold and rare earth metals “live” in the sands. People can provide samples of some copper mines in the Urals, where they are extracted from groundwater.
The metallurgical process for the production of non-ferrous metals is similar to the same process in ferrous metallurgy, although it has its own characteristics. The technological chain for the production of non-ferrous metals is as follows:
- ore mining and beneficiation;
- smelting in high temperature furnaces;
- pressure treatment.
Criteria for choosing the location of non-ferrous metallurgy facilities
The geological factor is the main criterion influencing the location of plants for the production of non-ferrous metals. Due to the low proportion of useful components in non-ferrous metal ores, their transportation is not economically feasible.
This requires the location of factories in this industry in mining areas. Nickel production, for example, is strictly localized.
Such factors lead to the fact that production is located in unfavorable climatic conditions - in the Arctic Circle (Norilsk).
The development of non-ferrous metal deposits is often associated with a number of difficulties. Access to useful minerals is often blocked by a shield of waste rock and must be blasted. This development requires the use large quantity equipment: excavators, conveyors, electric locomotives.
Problems and prospects for the development of metallurgy in Russia
A common problem of the Russian metallurgical complex is the need for modernization and technical re-equipment.
Domestic metallurgical enterprises are faced with the task of reducing the energy intensity of their production. The rapid growth of metallurgy in China requires Russian manufacturers to take effective measures to reduce costs.
Reducing costs while maintaining the quality of products is the only way to be competitive manufacturers in the global steel parts market.
Metallurgy on Far East will be developed thanks to iron ore deposits in the Aldan province and the discovery of coking coal deposits in Yakutia. The construction of full-cycle metallurgical enterprises in the Far East is due to the need to reduce the cost of metal for the local machine-building plants.
Railroad deliveries significantly increase the cost of rolled steel. This factor plays a negative role in the competitiveness of metal-intensive enterprises in the Far East.
The metallurgical complex includes ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy: a set of interconnected industries and stages production process from the extraction of raw materials to the production of finished products - ferrous and non-ferrous metals and their alloys. The integrity of this inter-industry complex is due, first of all, to the similarity of its constituent industries in terms of the nature of mining and the technology of pyrometallurgical processing of ore raw materials, as well as the use of finished products as structural materials. The metallurgical complex is characterized by the concentration and combination of production. The state and development of the metallurgical industry ultimately determine the level of scientific and technological progress in all sectors of the national economy. The specific features of the metallurgical complex are the production scale, which is incomparable with other industries, and the complexity of the technological cycle. The complex-forming and area-forming significance of the metallurgical complex in the territorial structure of the Russian national economy is exceptionally great.
These technical and economic features have strong influence on territorial organization ferrous metallurgy: development of appropriately sized raw material and fuel bases, selection of the most effective in terms of the use of natural, labor and material resources, options for locating enterprises, establishing certain spatial combinations of metallurgical production with other industries. The USSR is well supplied with raw materials for the development of ferrous metallurgy: about half of the explored ores are located on its territory. Most of them are rich (not requiring beneficiation) and relatively easy to process ores. Russia ranks first in the world in iron ore production and the level of concentration of its production.
The dynamics of the development of ferrous metallurgy can be traced from the table.
The output of finished steel will increase without an increase in cast iron production. It is planned to improve the structure of metal products by producing rolled sheets, rolled products from low-alloy steel and with hardening treatment. It is planned to expand the production of pipes for oil and gas pipelines.
Ferrous metallurgy has the following features of its raw material base:
the raw material is characterized by a relatively high content of useful components - from 17% in siderine to 53-55% in magnetite iron ores. High-grade ores account for almost a fifth of industrial reserves used for beneficiation;
variety of raw materials in species-wise(magnetite, sulfide, oxidized, etc.), which makes it possible to use a variety of technologies and obtain metal with a wide variety of properties;
various mining conditions (both mine and open pit, which accounts for up to 80% of all raw materials mined in ferrous metallurgy);
the use of ores of complex composition (phosphorus, vanadium, titanomagnetite, chromium, etc.). Moreover, more than 3/5 are magnetite, which facilitates the possibility of enrichment.
There have been structural changes in steel production. Currently, the main method of steel smelting is open-hearth. The share of oxygen-converter and electric steelmaking methods accounts for only about 1/2 of the total production volume.
Changes in ferrous metallurgy are due to the growth in the production of metal powders, the use of which makes it possible to improve the quality characteristics of products and reduce their labor and metal intensity.
It is extremely important to develop on an industrial scale the technology for producing iron from ores using the direct reduction method, which is also significantly less energy-intensive than blast furnace production. On the territory of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA), the Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant is currently operating, with a design capacity of 5 million tons of metallized pellets and 2.7 million tons of rolled products per year.
Ferrous metallurgy is characterized by highly developed production combinations. Particularly great benefits come from combining metallurgical processing with coal coking. Therefore, the predominant part of all coke is produced by metallurgical plants. Modern large enterprises of ferrous metallurgy, by the nature of internal technological connections, are metallurgical and energy chemical plants.
Combines are the main type of iron and steel enterprises in most industrialized countries. Full-cycle enterprises produce over 9/10 of cast iron, about 9/10 of steel and rolled products. In addition, there are factories producing cast iron and steel, steel and rolled products (including pipe and hardware plants), as well as separately cast iron, steel and rolled products. Enterprises without iron smelting are classified as so-called pigment metallurgy. A special group in terms of technical and economic parameters consists of enterprises with electrothermal production of steel and ferroalloys. There is “small metallurgy” - the production of steel and rolled products at machine-building plants.
Ferrous metallurgy with a full technological cycle is an important regional-forming factor. In addition to numerous industries arising from the disposal of various types of waste from iron smelting and coal coking - heavy organic synthesis (benzene, anthracene, naphthalene, ammonia and their derivatives), production building materials(cement, block products), Thomas flour (for the processing of iron ores with a high phosphorus content), ferrous metallurgy attracts related industries. Its most typical satellites are: thermal power engineering, primarily installations that are part of metallurgical plants and can operate on by-product fuel (excess blast furnace gas, coke, coke breeze); metal-intensive mechanical engineering (metallurgical and mining equipment, heavy machine tools). Ferrous metallurgy forms around itself such powerful and diversified industrial complexes that arose in the Urals and Kuzbass.
Full-cycle metallurgy, processing and “small” metallurgy differ from each other in terms of placement. For the placement of the first, raw materials and fuel are of particular importance; they account for 85-90% of all costs for iron smelting, including approximately 50% for coke and 35-40% for iron ore. For 1 ton of cast iron, 1.2-1.5 tons of coal are required (taking into account losses during enrichment and coking), 1.5 tons of iron ore, over 0.5 tons of fluxing limestone and up to 30 m 3 of recycled water. This emphasizes the importance of the mutual transport and geographical position of raw materials and fuel bases, water supply sources and auxiliary materials.
Balance reserves of iron ore amount to 107.1 billion tons, including explored reserves - 63.7 billion tons, or over 2/5 of the world's resources (1975). Of these, approximately 15% are rich ores (with an iron content of over 55%), used without beneficiation. More than 1/2 of the total explored reserves are concentrated within the KMA (16.7 billion tons) and the Krivoy Rog basin (15.5 billion tons). The Kachkanar group of deposits (6.1 billion tons) in the Urals also stands out.
The most important deposits of manganese ores are located in Western Siberia(Usinsk).
A positive factor regarding the efficiency of enterprise location is the territorial combinations of coking coals and iron ores: Donbass - KMA, South Yakutsk basin - Aldan basin, etc. The relative location of iron ore and coking coal resources, their quantity, quality, operating conditions, proximity to industrial centers and transport routes determine the importance of each raw material and fuel base of metallurgical production in the territorial division of labor. European part stands far ahead of the eastern regions in terms of explored reserves of iron ore, and is noticeably inferior to them in terms of explored reserves of coking coal. In the eastern regions, on the contrary, there are significantly more fuel resources compared to raw materials.
For the extraction of iron ore and coking coal, the ratios between the European and eastern regions are different. The first produces more than 5 times more raw materials and 1.5 times more fuel than the eastern regions. At the same time, about 1/2 of coking coal is in the Donbass. This coal (in its natural form and as coke) is supplied to many areas of the European part and is also exported. The main source of fuel is Kuzbass (about 1/3 of the total coking coal production).
A characteristic trend in the development of ferrous metallurgy is the concentration of the extraction of metallurgical raw materials on the largest and most favorable deposits in terms of operating conditions, with the widespread deployment of the open-pit method with the subsequent beneficiation of iron ores, as well as the production of metallized pellets. In the future, the main raw material bases of ferrous metallurgy will be KMA in European zone, Angaro-Ilimsky and Aldan basins - in the eastern regions.
Currently, the ratio of costs for raw materials and fuel shows that enterprises located near sources of iron ore and using imported fuel, all other things being equal, are able to produce cheaper metal compared to those enterprises located near sources of coking coal and using imported raw materials . However, in practice, the location of metallurgical production equally depends on both raw materials and fuel and energy factors, which is confirmed by the experience of our country. In the USSR, ferrous metallurgy, being the basis for the formation of many industrial complexes, attracts various fuel-intensive industries (chemistry, electric power, construction materials industry, etc.). Therefore, along with the areas of iron ore distribution, it also finds favorable conditions within the coal regions.
Full cycle ferrous metallurgy, depending on economic feasibility, gravitates towards sources of raw materials (Ural, central regions of the European part), fuel bases (Donbass, Kuzbass).
In some cases, it is advisable to territorially divide a single metallurgical cycle by locating the production of cast iron and steel near sources of raw materials, and the production of rolled products with fourth-stage products (bent profiles, sheet steel with various coatings, strips, etc.) in areas of concentrated consumption of finished products. Particle metallurgy focuses mainly on sources of secondary raw materials (metallurgical production waste, rolled metal waste, depreciation scrap) and on places of consumption of finished products, since greatest number Metal scrap accumulates in areas of developed mechanical engineering. “Small” metallurgy interacts even more closely with mechanical engineering.
The production of ferroalloys and electric steels is distinguished by special features of the location. Ferroalloys - alloys of iron with alloying metals (manganese, chromium, tungsten, silicon, etc.) - are produced in blast furnaces and by the electrothermal method. In the first case - at full-cycle metallurgical enterprises, as well as with two (cast iron - steel) or one (cast iron) processing stages, in the second - at specialized plants. Electrothermal production of ferroalloys, due to high electricity costs (up to 9 thousand kWh per 1 ton of product), is optimal in areas where cheap energy is combined with alloying metal resources. The production of electric steel is developed near energy sources and metal scrap.
Historically, domestic ferrous metallurgy first arose in central regions European part of the country. Starting from the 18th century, the production of ferrous metals moved to the Urals, which for a long time was the main metallurgical region.
Of the total amount of pig iron smelted in the country, over 9/10 is pig iron, the rest is foundry pig iron, and also, in small quantities, blast furnace ferroalloys. Pig iron production is concentrated in the RSFSR (over 1/2 of all smelting), where it is localized in the Urals, in the Central, Central Black Earth and Northern regions, in Western Siberia.
The current distribution of ferrous metallurgy enterprises shows that, with significant territorial concentration of production, most regions of the country use metal smelted in the Urals.
There are three metallurgical bases on the territory of Russia - Central, Ural, Siberian. These metallurgical bases vary in scale; specialization and structure of production; transport and geographical location, provision of raw materials and fuel and energy resources, the nature of the location of enterprises, the level of development of concentration and combination, technical and economic indicators of metal smelting and other characteristics.
The Ural metallurgical base is the largest in Russia and is second only to the Southern metallurgical base of Ukraine within the CIS in terms of ferrous metal production volumes. The share of Ural metallurgy accounts for 52% of cast iron, 56% of steel and more than 52% of rolled ferrous metals from the volumes produced on a large scale former USSR. The Urals use imported Kuznetsk coal. Our own iron ore base is depleted, so a significant part of the raw materials is imported from Kazakhstan (Sokolovsko-Sarbaiskoye deposit), from the Kursk magnetic anomaly and Karelia. Strengthening the raw material base is associated with the development of titanomagnetites (Kachkanarskoye deposit) and siderites (Bakalskoye deposit), which account for 3/4 of iron ore reserves. The first ones are already involved in development (Kachkanarsky GOK). The largest centers of ferrous metallurgy were formed in the Urals (Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil, Novotroitsk, Yekaterinburg, Serov, Zlatoust, etc.). With the significant development of pigment metallurgy, the main role is played by enterprises with a full cycle. They are located mainly along the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains. On the western slopes, pigment metallurgy is more represented.
The concentration of production in the Urals is high. The predominant part of ferrous metals is produced by giant enterprises (Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil), which arose during the years of industrialization as part of the Ural-Kuznetsk Combine (UKK). At the same time, many small factories (albeit reconstructed) have survived in the Urals, producing more than 1/10 of cast iron and steel, and more than 1/5 of all rolled products. A prominent place is occupied by the production of ferroalloys by blast furnace (Chusovoy) and electrothermal (Serov, Chelyabinsk) methods, and pipe rolling (Pervouralsk, Chelyabinsk). In addition, the Urals are the only region where naturally alloyed metals are smelted (Novotroitsk).
The ferrous metallurgy of the Urals is currently being partially reconstructed (the first stage of steelmaking at the Magnitogorsk Combine and small-capacity metallurgical plants).
Central metallurgical base - district early development ferrous metallurgy, where the largest reserves of iron ore are concentrated. The center, being an old region of ferrous metallurgy, developed relatively recently in two unrelated directions: the first - the smelting of foundry cast iron and blast furnace ferroalloys (Tula, Lipetsk), the second - the production of steel and rolled products mainly from metal scrap (Moscow, Elektrostal, Nizhny Novgorod and etc.).
The ferrous metallurgy of the Center is completely dependent on imported fuel (Donetsk coal or coke). The raw material resources represented by the KMA deposits practically do not limit production. Great importance has scrap metal. Almost all iron ore is mined open method. Along with rich ores, ferruginous quartzites are mined in large quantities (Lebedinsky, Mikhailovsky and Stoilensky GOKs). The Yakovlevskoe rich ore deposit is being developed. KMA serves as a source of raw materials not only for the factories of the Center, it also provides it to a number of enterprises in the Urals, the South, and also the North. Within the KMA, a particularly promising production of metallized pellets has emerged. On this basis, electrometallurgy is developing without blast furnace processing (Oskol plant). The production of cold-rolled strip was created (Oryol Steel Rolling Plant).
The metallurgical base of Siberia as a metallurgical base of Russia is in the process of formation. Siberia and the Far East account for approximately a fifth of the cast iron and finished products produced in Russia and 15% of steel. Modern production is represented by two powerful enterprises with a full cycle - the Kuznetsk Metallurgical Plant and the West Siberian Plant (Novokuznetsk), and several processing plants (Novosibirsk, Guryevsk, Krasnoyarsk, Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky, Komsomolsk-on-Amur), as well as a ferroalloy plant (Novokuznetsk). The raw material base is the iron ores of Gornaya Gioria, Khakassia and the Angara-Ilim basin (Kormunovsky GOK). Fuel base - Kuzbass.
The ferrous metallurgy of Siberia and the Far East has not yet completed its formation. Therefore, based on efficient raw material and fuel resources, in the future it is possible that new centers of ferrous metallurgy will emerge, in particular the Taishet plant for Kuznetsk coal and Angaroilim ores, as well as the Barnaul plant for the processing of Lisakovo brown iron ore to produce phosphorus-rich slag, which is important for meeting the needs of Siberia for mineral fertilizers.
In the Far East, prospects for the development of ferrous metallurgy are associated with the creation of a full-cycle enterprise using coking coals from the South Yakutsk basin.
Interregional connections in ferrous metals are largely due to:
the variety of rolled steel profiles produced and regional differences in the structure of their consumption;
high territorial concentration of rolled steel production;
territorial dispersion of rolled metal consumption;
inconsistency on the scale of various processing stages (cast iron, steel, rolled products) across metallurgical bases;
lack of pipe rolling in the eastern regions.
In general, it is significant that the country’s metallurgical bases exchange various rolled products with each other, moreover, they partially import them from metal-consuming areas. At the same time, the most important metal-consuming areas, where the volume of consumption far exceeds the scale of production, export certain rolled profiles.
The most important long-term task is to establish the necessary proportions between the stages of metal processing for each metallurgical base. The existing territorial differences from the point of view of combining production are such that in terms of smelting iron and steel at full-cycle enterprises, the Urals are far superior to other regions producing ferrous metals.
At the current stage of development of the national economy, the environmental situation in many regions of Russia has sharply worsened, which cannot but be taken into account in the process of locating metallurgical enterprises. The metallurgical complex has a great influence on the environment. Metallurgical enterprises are major polluters of the atmosphere, water bodies, forests, and lands. The higher the level of environmental pollution, the higher the costs of preventing pollution. An increase in these costs can lead to unprofitability of any production.
Ferrous metallurgy enterprises account for 20-25% of dust emissions, 25-30% of carbon monoxide, and more than half of sulfur oxides of their total volume in the country. These emissions contain hydrogen sulfide, fluorides, hydrocarbons, compounds of manganese, vanadium, chromium, etc. Ferrous metallurgy enterprises take up to 20% of the total water consumption in industry and heavily pollute surface waters.
The problems of locating this industry are particularly complex due to the fact that the high level of development of productive forces and the latest achievements of science and technology make it economically feasible to build large enterprises with multifaceted logistics connections (mines, lime quarries, coke plants, etc.). Each of these features affects the efficiency of this industry in one way or another, but highest value, as a rule, belongs to the raw material and fuel factors, since ferrous metallurgy is very material-intensive.
Large-scale ferrous metallurgy can generally develop effectively only in areas that have the natural prerequisites for this. Non-compliance this requirement leads to a shortage of prepared ores and high-quality coking coals at individual enterprises. The efficiency of location of ferrous metallurgy is also affected by metal consumption. It was the proximity to the largest metal-consuming centers of Russia that served as one of the main factors for the creation of metallurgy in the central and northwestern regions in the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century.
The location of metallurgical plants is also influenced by the availability of water sources. In some cases, especially where the water balance is tense, their role can become decisive.
Despite the ongoing structural changes in industry caused by the chemicalization of production and the increasingly widespread use of light and non-ferrous metals, plastics and other products of chemical synthesis, ferrous metals have not lost their role as the main structural material in industry and transport. They are widely used in construction and other sectors of the national economy. Their production remains one of the most important indicators of the industrial development of a country, reflecting its technical level.
The metallurgical complex is a set of industries producing various metals. This complex consumes up to 25% of coal and energy, and accounts for up to 30% of freight traffic.
The complex includes black and color metallurgy.
90% of all metals used in modern production are ferrous metals, i.e. iron and alloys obtained on its basis. However, the number of non-ferrous metals is much larger (there are more than 70), they have very valuable properties. Therefore, non-ferrous metallurgy is of great importance for industries that ensure the development of scientific and technological progress in the national economy.
Peculiarities.
The metallurgical complex of Russia is characterized by a number of features that influence its geography:
1. Metallurgy covers the entire process of metal production: mining and preparation of ores, fuels, metal production, production of auxiliary materials. Therefore, in metallurgical production it is widely developed combination. In ferrous metallurgy, combination based on the sequential processing of raw materials (ore - cast iron - steel - rolled products) prevails; in non-ferrous metallurgy, it is based on its complex use: for example, several metals are obtained from polymetallic ores. The plants produce all the pig iron, the bulk of the steel and non-ferrous metals.
2. In metallurgy high level of concentration and monopolization of production. The 200 largest enterprises (5% of their total number) produce 52% of ferrous metallurgy products and 49% of non-ferrous metallurgy.
3. Metallurgy – labor intensive industry(a large number of builders, workers + a city near the plant of 100,000 people).
4. Characteristic of metallurgy high material consumption. A modern metallurgical plant receives the same amount of cargo as Moscow.
5. High creation costs and maintenance of the plant, with its slow payback.
6. Metallurgy – largest polluter environment. 14% of industrial emissions into the atmosphere come from ferrous metallurgy and 21% from non-ferrous metallurgy. In addition, the metallurgical complex produces up to 30% of wastewater pollution.
Placement factors.
features of the raw materials used;
type of energy used to produce metal;
geography of raw materials and energy sources;
transport routes;
the need to protect the environment;
enterprises associated with the final stage of metallurgy - metal processing, are most often located in areas where finished products are consumed.
Geography of the metallurgical complex.
Ferrous metallurgy.
Ferrous metallurgy is a branch of heavy industry that produces various ferrous metals. It covers the mining of iron ore and the production of ferrous metals - cast iron - steel - rolled products. Cast iron and steel are used in mechanical engineering, rolled steel in construction (beams, roofing iron, pipes) and transport (rails). The military-industrial complex is a major consumer of rolled steel. Russia fully meets its needs for ferrous metallurgy products and exports them.
Steel consumption per unit of production in mechanical engineering in Russia exceeds this figure in other developed countries. With economical use of metal, Russia could increase the size of its exports.
Cast iron is smelted in blast furnaces - huge and expensive structures made of refractory bricks. The raw materials for the production of cast iron are manganese, iron ore, refractories (limestone). Coke and natural gas are used as fuel. 95% of coke is produced by metallurgical plants.
Steel is smelted in open hearth furnaces, converters and electric furnaces. The raw materials for steel production are cast iron and scrap metal. The quality of steel increases with the addition of non-ferrous metals (tungsten, molybdenum). Rolled steel is produced on rolling machines.
The structure of the ferrous metallurgy stimulated the development of intra- and inter-industry plants. Combination is the unification at one enterprise (plant) of several technologically and economically related industries of various industries (see Fig. 45, Dronov, p. 134). Most metallurgical plants in Russia are plants that include three stages of metal production: cast iron - steel - rolled products (+ coke plant, + thermal power plant or nuclear power plant, + production of building materials, + hardware plant).
For every ton of cast iron, 4 tons of iron ore, 1.5 tons of coke, 1 ton of limestone, and a large amount of gas are consumed, i.e., ferrous metallurgy is a material-intensive production that is associated with raw materials or fuel sources (coke). Placement factors:
Therefore, full-cycle enterprises are located: at iron ore or coke; at sources of raw materials and coke; between coke and raw materials (Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant). After the collapse of the USSR, 60% of ferrous metallurgy remained in Russia (the majority remained in Ukraine). 50% of rolled products and 60% of steel are produced using outdated equipment.
The country's prospects are connected with technical re-equipment and the latest technologies. We are talking about modernizing existing enterprises. It is planned to replace open-hearth steel production with new production methods - oxygen-converter and electric steelmaking at factories in the Urals and Kuzbass. Steel production using the converter method is increasing up to 50%.
This industry includes the following types of enterprises:
Full cycle metallurgical plants (Combines) producing cast iron - steel - rolled products (3/4 of all cast iron and 2/3 of all steel).
Steel smelting and steel rolling plants , and metallurgy enterprises – steel – rolled products. Such enterprises smelt steel from cast iron or scrap metal and are located in large mechanical engineering centers.
Domain enterprises (production of cast iron only). There are few of them. These are mainly factories in the Urals.
Non-furnace metallurgy enterprises , where iron is produced in electric furnaces by direct reduction from iron ore pellets.
Small metallurgy enterprises with the production of steel and rolled products at machine-building plants.
Pipe factories .
Ferroalloy production – iron alloys with alloying metals (manganese, chromium, tungsten, silicon).
Due to high electricity costs - 9000 kW/h per 1 ton of products, ferrous metallurgy enterprises gravitate towards cheap sources of electricity, combined with the resources of alloying metals, without which the development of high-quality metallurgy is impossible (Chelyabinsk, Serov - Ural).
In 1913, Russia ranked 5th in the world (USA, Germany, England, France) in iron ore mining and metal production. 1980 – 1990 – one of the first places in the world in iron ore mining and first in steel and cast iron smelting. Now Russia has been pushed aside by Japan and the USA.
Russia is fully provided with raw materials for ferrous metallurgy, except for manganese ores, which are imported from Ukraine and Georgia, as well as chrome ores, which are imported from Kazakhstan. Russia has 40% of the world's iron ore reserves. 80% of iron ore is mined by open pit mining. Russia exports 20% of its ore.
Geography of iron ore deposits:
In the European part, KMA is rich in iron ore. It contains ores rich in content (iron is up to 60%), which do not require beneficiation.
In the Urals - the Kachkanar group of deposits. There are large reserves of iron ore, but it is poor in iron (17%), although it can be easily enriched.
Eastern Siberia - Angara-Ilimsky basin (near Irkutsk), Abakan region.
Western Siberia - Mountain Shoria (south of Kemerovo region).
Northern region – Kola Peninsula – Kovdorskoye and Olenegorskoye deposits; Karelia - Kostomuksha.
There are ores in the Far East.
Geography of manganese deposits:
Western Siberia - Usinsk (Kemerovo region).
Historically, ferrous metallurgy originated in the central part of the country. Starting from the 18th century, ferrous metallurgy production appeared in the Urals. The development of capitalism in Russia and the successful combination of iron ore with coal and manganese, as well as the favorable territorial and geographical position in relation to the main areas of metal consumption, brought the south to the fore (Donbass and the Dnieper region of Ukraine).
Metallurgical enterprises are not distributed evenly throughout Russia, but are concentrated in certain areas. A group of metallurgical enterprises that uses common ore or fuel resources and provides the main needs of the country is called metallurgical base . Within Russia there are three metallurgical bases: Central, Ural and Siberian.
Ferrous metallurgy bases:
Ural – produces 43% of steel and 42% of rolled products. Used imported coke from Kuzbass and Karaganda. Iron ore 1/3 uses its own - the Kachkanar group of deposits (north of the Sverdlovsk region), and 2/3 - imported (Sokolovsko-Sarbayskoye deposit in the Kustanai region, as well as KMA ore). Manganese - from the Polunochnoe deposit (north of the Sverdlovsk region). Western slopes of the Urals – pigment metallurgy. The eastern slopes are plants created in Soviet times.
Combines– Nizhny Tagil (Sverdlovsk region), Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk (Chelyabinsk region), the city of Novotroitsk (Orsko-Khamilovsky plant). They use their own alloying metals and produce the bulk of the metal.
Particle metallurgy– Yekaterinburg (Verkhne-Isetsky plant), Zlatoust (Chelyabinsk region), Chusovoy (Perm region), Izhevsk. Scrap metal is used.
Pipe factories– Chelyabinsk, Pervouralsk (Sverdlovsk region).
Ferroalloys– Chelyabinsk, Chusovoy (Perm region).
Central base is actively developing and today is almost equal to the Ural one. It produces 42% of steel and 44% of rolled products. The bulk of the products are produced in the Central Black Earth and Northern economic regions.
Coke- imported from the eastern wing of Donbass, the Pechora basin, Kuzbass. Iron ore– from KMA, manganese – from Nikopol (Ukraine). Scrap metal is used.
Full cycle– Cherepovets plant, located between the iron ore of Karelia (Kostomuksha) and the Kola Peninsula (Olenegorsky, Kovdorsky) and the coke of the Pechora basin. Novolipetsk and Novotulsky plants use KMA ore. Within the KMA, the production of metallized pellets arose together with Germany. Based on them, a domainless electrometallurgy(Stary Oskol - Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant).
There are many enterprises within the central base pigment metallurgy(Moscow Elektrostal, etc.).
Siberian base produces 13% steel and 16% rolled products.
Combines– Novokuznetsk (Kuznetsk Metallurgical Plant), 20 km from Novokuznetsk (West Siberian Metallurgical Plant). Both enterprises use Kuzbass coke; iron ore from Mountain Shoria, Khakassia and the Angara-Ilim basin; manganese from the Usinsk deposit.
Particle metallurgy– Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky (Chita region), Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Ferroalloys– Novokuznetsk.
Currently time is running formation of the Far Eastern metallurgical base. There is a conversion plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Let's not say whether this is normal or not normal. Most likely, we should diversify the economy. But today our economy really depends on metallurgy. For example, they are now talking about some GDP growth in the first quarter and growth industrial production. The explanation is very simple. The reason for this growth is the rise in prices for rolled metal foreign markets. That is, prices rose and this led to economic growth. Objectively, metallurgy, whatever it may be, remains a very important segment of our economy. Metallurgy itself belongs to the middle technological structures. That is, this is not a low, but an average lifestyle. And thanks to metallurgy, we are in the category of countries with an average economic structure. Therefore, if we take away metallurgy from our economic structure, then this structure will fall to the economy of third world countries. So metallurgy objectively plays a big role. Should she play such a big role? Should not. Should we use the potential of metallurgy for our growth and economic development? Of course they should. And the fact that we have metallurgy, with which we can obtain this potential, is a very important factor.
What does steel recycling mean in Ukraine? This means that we get added value from the raw materials we extract. The processing process provides - jobs, salaries. If we export raw materials, we provide the opportunity to produce added value in the countries where we export these raw materials. Accordingly, by processing these raw materials, we create jobs in those countries where we export these raw materials.
In 2015, we processed less than half of the iron ore in Ukraine and exported more than 50%. That is, this can be called deindustrialization in metallurgy itself. In addition, our share of semi-finished products in exports has increased. For example, if a ton of billets or semi-finished products costs $250-270, then a ton of finished rolled products will cost $350-400. This means that the added value that could have been created at the box office is also not created.
The last chain of this production process also does not work - for example, finished products are not produced, where metal plays a major role. For example, railway cars. We produced about 30,000 of them in 2007. In 2015, this is already only a thousand pieces. And this whole process shows that we are increasingly becoming a resource-based economy. This is a process that is very dangerous in Ukraine.
Because when we don’t process locally, it leads to people losing jobs, we don’t provide jobs, we don’t give people the opportunity to earn money, we don’t introduce technology and thus lose development skills.
If a ton of ore costs, for example, 50 dollars, then a ton of rolled ore will cost 100, and a ton of ore in wagons will cost much more. Thus, this process shows how much added value we get if we process in Ukraine. Therefore, in no case can we accept the model where we export ore instead of processing it and exporting steel. Since this process will mean structural destruction of the economy in third world countries.
What should metallurgists do to ensure that their products are in demand in the world and they can increase export volumes?
This is a question of competitiveness. Firstly, we are traditionally present in foreign markets in the regular rental segment. If we were present in the high-tech casting segment, prices there do not change as much as they do in the ordinary rolled products segment. Because there prices are fixed for six months, for a year.
For example, a sheet for the automotive industry - where prices are fixed for a long period. If, for example, regular rolled steel falls in price, sheet prices do not fall that much. Therefore, we need to produce more products with higher added value in metallurgy. This means investment. Investments in steel production, investments in rolling capacities. Our level of investment per ton of steel produced per year is somewhere around 17-20 dollars. In Russia it is about 40 dollars. In the European Union it is 70 dollars. Therefore, we need to invest and master production best views products.
Director of the State Enterprise Ukrpromvneshekspertiza Vladimir Vlasyuk.
