Iron and steel celebrated by History Channel as "Modern Marvels"
Looking for something good to watch on TV? The History Channel's popular series, "Modern Marvels" will celebrate iron and steel this week.
"Modern Marvels: Iron" will explore the wonders of iron ore with a visit to the ArcelorMittal mine in Minnesota to see the process of how iron ore is extracted and made into steel.
The episode also delves into how military metallurgists create the latest weapons, as well as iron's magnetic properties and the role that iron oxide plays in creating everything from paints for cars and houses to ink for tattoos and the dollar bill. Finally, it's off to the Moon and Mars to mine iron in space.
An interview with Jody Shaw of AISI and US Steel is also featured in the episode.
The show will air Thursday, August 14 at 9:00PM EDT, Friday August 15 at 1:00AM, and Saturday, August 23 at 4:00PM.
AISI promotes use of steel for next-generation vehicles
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) this week gave a presentation on the benefits of using steel in cars to improve fuel economy and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
At the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City Michigan Tuesday, Ron Krupitzer, VP of Automotive Applications for AISI, discussed the ways that steel can help the automotive industry meet new environmental requirements for fuel economy, emissions and recyclability.
"We have shown that with the use of current advanced high-strength steels, a vehicle's body structure mass can be reduced by at least 25 percent," Krupitzer said. "However, with the new third generation steels now under development, we expect to achieve more than 35 percent in structural mass reduction, which will significantly help automakers improve fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Krupitzer went on to discuss how steel production has lower GHG emissions levels than that of other metals like aluminum. He also talked about AISI's multi-million dollar initiative, Future Steel Vehicle (FSV) that will develop steel automotive body concepts including hybrid, electric and fuel cell systems.
To find out more about AISI's bold FSV plan and to download the full PowerPoint presentation, "Steel and Fuel Economy," visit www.steel.org.
AK Steel razes part of Mansfield mill for scrap
AK Steel recently razed some buildings that haven't been used in years in order to sell the steel from the buildings as scrap.
The company has decided that some vacant buildings at its Mansfield, Ohio mill that formerly housed its cold mill pickling operations are worth more as scrap than they are standing. Scrap metal collected from the torn-down buildings is now heaped into dozens of piles where the buildings used to be.
"The price of scrap is at a point where it makes economical sense (to raze the buildings)," AK's VP Alan McCoy told press. He said that the buildings haven't been used since 1999 and that tearing them down will have no impact on employment at the Mansfield operations.
Local residents are hoping, though, that the company finishes the project sooner rather than later. Referring to the remains of the buildings, local landscaper Steven Cash told the local Mansfield News Journal, "It'd be nice to see all of that stuff gone."
Another health-related business moves into US Steel tower
In a sign of the times, a fitness center will open a facility in the US Steel Tower this week.
The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh will open a facility in the tower on Friday the 15th.
The 15,000 square ft. wellness center will, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which occupies five floors of the building, offer programs including nutrition, obesity, smoking cessation, weight management, physical therapy, pre-and post-natal programming, older adult programs and cardiac rehabilitation.
The US Steel Tower, built in 1970, is the tallest skyscraper in Downtown Pittsburgh. Although no longer the owner of the building, US Steel is the largest tenant, occupying more than a half million square feet of office space.