GE Spotlights Wuhan Iron & Steel Success Story at AISTech 2012

News release:

07 May 2012

GE Spotlights Wuhan Iron & Steel Success Story at AISTech 2012

 

• GE Showcases Wuhan Iron & Steel Waste-to-Value Solution That Has Saved $32 Million in Annual Savings
• GE Metals Solutions Features Solutions for Power Efficiency Improvements and Water Usage Reduction at Major Steel Conference

ATLANTA, GA.—May 7, 2012—Today at AISTech 2012—one of the largest conferences of the year for the iron and steel industry—GE (NYSE: GE) showcased the waste-to-value success story of China’s Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Company (WISCO). Wuhan’s challenge began shortly after the Chinese government passed stringent legislation to reduce the emissions of steel mill operations.

Collaborating with WISCO, GE was able to turn their challenge into a strategic opportunity by devising an advanced technology solution that captures waste gases from the blast furnace and converts them into usable energy. Sequestering and burning the gases reduces the emissions from the steel-making process, improves reliability and provides a zero-cost fuel source for generating the electricity necessary to operate the mill. In a rapidly growing region bursting with industrial opportunity, Wuhan’s goal is to produce more products while simultaneously lowering its power generation costs and reducing greenhouse gases. Thus far, the waste-to-value solution has been so successful that WISCO has saved $32 million in annual operational savings and reduced CO₂ emissions by 2 million tons per year—equal to removing more than 391,000 cars off the road.

The World Steel Association reports that 1.3 billion tons of steel were produced in 2007, and production levels are expected to double by 2050 to meet the growing demand for steel around the world. Since energy constitutes a significant portion of the cost of steel production—from 20 to 40 percent in some countries—improvements in energy efficiency result in reduced production costs and in turn, improved competitiveness.

During this week’s AISTech steel conference at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center, GE Metals Solutions is showcasing this waste-to-value and other solutions including:

• Power efficiency improvements to save more than 10 percent of facility costs.
• Water consumption solutions with 20 to 40 percent usage reduction and 25 to 40 percent in cost-out savings.

GE connects with steel producers everywhere to create viable solutions with the potential benefit to those steel mill customers looking to fulfill this staggering rise in demand.

Focusing on serving the metals industry, GE’s dedicated Metals Solutions organization is working with metals manufacturers to develop innovative solutions in the areas of power, water, automation and electrical distribution.

“The advances made in collaboration with Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Company serve as examples of our dedicated approach to the metals industry,” said Keiran Coulton, president of GE Global Industries and general manager of GE Metals Solutions. “We’re bringing the diverse GE product and service portfolio together, creating synergies specific to the metals industry and working with global manufacturers to take advantage of our vast research and development capabilities to help evolve the industry.”

GE Metals Solutions is a sponsor of AISTech 2012 and will spotlight the addition of Power Conversion—formerly known as Converteam—to the portfolio.

For more on the Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Company story, please visitwww.ge-spark.com/wuhan. Or, stop by the GE Metals Solutions booth at the Georgia World Congress Center (#1035).

About GE

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