United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Industrial Environmental Research ~V.
Laboratory "T^rc:-
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA-600/S2-84-003 Feb. 1984
Project Summary
Organic Emissions from
Ferrous Metallurgical
Industries: Compilation
of Emission Factors and
Control Technologies
R. L. Stallings
This report presents a review and
analysis of the information and data
available in the public domain on organic
emissions from the ferrous metallurgy
industry, specifically the iron and steel,
iron foundry, and ferroalloy industries.
Emission sources and information gaps
are identified and the credibility ratings
of organic emissions data are reported.
Organic emission factors for various
source categories in these industries are
compiled. The content of this report,
which reflects accurately the present
state of knowledge about organic emis-
sions in the iron and steel, iron foundry,
and ferroalloy industries, may be used
as a guide to plan and direct programs
for further studies, particularly a pro-
gram to characterize more precisely
those classes of organic species (com-
prising the volatile organic compound
category) that are released from the
potential sources identified.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Industrial Environmental Re-
search Laboratory, Research Triangle
Park, NC, to announce key findings of
the research project that is fully docu-
mented in a separate report of the same
title (see Project Report ordering in-
formation at back).
Introduction
For the most part, environmental stud-
ies and regulatory control activities in the
iron and steel, iron foundry, and ferroalloy
industries have focused on atmospheric
particulate emissions and waste water
effluent qualities. The studies relating to
organicemissions have involved primarily
the emission of poly nuclear organic mate-
rials (POMs) from coke production and
by-product recovery facilities and lubri-
cant organics from mill rolling and finish-
ing operations. There is no comprehensive
list of volatile organic compound (VOC)
emission factors from the ferrous metal-
lurgy industry.
Purpose and Scope
The original purpose of this study was
to list VOC emission factors for the iron
and steel, iron foundry, and ferroalloy
industries based solely on data and
information available in the open litera-
ture. This would provide information on
the present status of VOC emission data
from these industries and offer guidance
in selecting further study efforts. The
study's objectives were: to identify VOC
emission sources within these industries;
to quantify and rate the credibility of
emission factors for the identified sources;
to identify information and database
gaps; to assess the effectiveness of VOC
control technology in use; and to estimate
the effectiveness of alternate control
technologies, processes, and operating
methods on VOC emissions.
Once the data collection phase was
well under way, it became apparent that
virtually no specific VOC emissions data
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were available. Therefore, the decision
was made to broaden the species defini-
tion to the general category organic
emissions. To provide an overview of
organic emission factors of various
sources within the ferrous metallurgy
industry, engineering analyses and esti-
mates have been used to supplement the
actual data where data gaps were found.
Where significant operating variations
occur in a particular process and different
types of control systems may influence
emissions, several emission factors or a
range of emission factors are reported.
Caveat
Several comments about the overall
credibility of the organic emission factors
reported herein are warranted to caution
the reader in using the results and in
drawing conclusions from the data pre-
sented.
First, the paucity of suitable and com-
plete organic emission data required the
extensive use of engineering analyses in
the estimation of emission factors to
provide an overview of the relative organic
emissions from the various point sources
within the ferrous metallurgy industries.
These estimates, based on the available
fragmentary data whenever possible and
on engineering experience, however,
should represent emission factors within
the range of process and operating vari-
ability that might be found for the iron and
steel, iron foundry, and ferroalloy indus-
tries. In preparing the engineering esti-
mates, assumptions were conservative
so that the derived emission factors might
represent estimates on the upper bound
of the actual organic emissions. This
conservative approach ensured that all
significant sources of organic emissions
in the ferrous metallurgy industries were
identified.
Second, the ambiguity inherent in the
classifications used for reporting organic
emissions data (e.g., hydrocarbons, organic
solvents, alphatic organics, aromatic or-
ganics, extractable organics, and chromato-
graphicable organics) made consistent
and precise identification of the types of
organic compound emissions virtually
impossible. Consequently, comparative
evaluation of organic emissions factors
from different point sources is uncertain
because a consistent basis for calculation
of the emission factors could not be
established. For example, in some cases
the organic emissions (on a mass basis)
were expressed as methane, which dis-
torts the actual mass emissions of or-
ganics; and in other cases, only POM or
extractable emissions were measured
and reported.
Although the above problems encoun-
tered in this study impact the determina-
tion of the true organic emission factors
for the point sources within the ferrous
metallurgy industry, the reported emis-
sion factors should be with in the range of
process and operating variability that
exists for similar sources throughout this
industry. Also, this study does reflect
accurately the present state of knowledge
about organic emissions in the iron and
steel, iron foundry, and ferroalloy indus-
tries. It can be used asa guide to plan and
direct programsfor further studies, partic-
ularly a program to characterize more
precisely those classes of organic species
(comprising the VOC category) that are
released from the potential sources identi-
fied in this study.
Summary
The ferrous metallurgy industry (which
includes the iron and steel, iron foundry,
and ferroalloy industries) is one of the
largest industries in the U.S. in terms of
annual sales, people employed, and pro-
duction volume.
Over the past decade, however, this
industry has been under economic stress;
and has undergone a forced state of
change, characterized by dramatic shifts
in annual production, by major plant
closings, by business diversification of
major steel corporations, and by a general,
although variable, decline in the work
force. Although the ferrous metallurgy
industry has reduced its production capac-
ity significantly through plant closings,
the industry is presently still operating
well below its available capacity. Domes-
tic production in the ferrous metallurgy
industry over the past two decades has
declinedto 1981 annual production levels
of 120,828,000 tons of steel, 12,390,000
tons of iron foundry castings, and
1,274,000 tons of ferroalloys, while do-
mestic consumption of these commod-
ities has shown generally a steady in-
crease over the same period.
Although the ferrous metallurgy indus-
try, specifically the iron and steel industry,
is not generally viewed as a major indus-
trial source of VOC emissions when
compared with the petroleum and organic
chemicals industries whose products
themselves are largely volatile organics,
this industry can be potentially a signifi-
cant contributor to VOC emissions as well
(as other classes of organic compounds)
because of its very large size and the
quantities of organic materials used in
the manufacturing process. For example,
the iron and steel industry consumes
annually more than 343,000 tons of
lubricants of which up to about 15
percent may enter the atmosphere as
organic pollutants. This industry is an
even larger consumer of other organics
such as coal and fuels, a portion of which
also become organic pollutants in the
atmosphere.
This study was initially directed toward
a review and analysis of the information
and data available in the public domain on
VOC emissions from the ferrous metal-
lurgy industry, specifically the iron and
steel, iron foundry, and ferroalloy indus-
tries. However, the available emission
data, for the most part, do not include
specific measurements of VOC emissions.
Since VOCs represent a component of
organic emissions from point sources in
the ferrous metallurgy industry, this
study examined the broader class of
organic emissions from this industry to
provide an upper limit or bound on the
potential amount of VOC emissions.
Therefore, the organic emissions factors
reported herein represent more precisely
total organic emissions to the atmosphere
rather than the more specific VOC emis-
sions.
Table 1 summarizes the organic emis-
sion factors for various source categories
in the iron and steel, iron foundry, and
ferroalloy industries. The emission factor
ratings included in the table reflect the
relative credibilities of the emission fac-
tors for estimation of organic emissions
for the source categories. Also included
in the table is an estimate of the annual
organic emissions from these three indus-
tries based on 1981 production data.
The credibility rating assigned to each
emission factor in the table is an estimate
of the factor's reliability orcredibility as
an accurate and representative measure
of the emissions for the particular source
throughout the industry. These ratings
are based on the procedures and scales in
the report "Technical Procedures for
Developing AP-42 Emission Factors and
Preparing AP-42 Sections," 1980, pre-
pared by EPA's Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards.
As can be seen from the table, the
organicemissionsfromthe iron and steel
industry represent nearly 96 percent of
the total organic emissions from the
whole ferrous metallurgy industry. By-
product cokemaking and sinter production
account for about 43 percent and 36
percent, respectively, of the total emis-
sions based on emission factors given a
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Table 1. Summary of Organic Emission Factors for the Iron and Steef. Iron Foundry, and
Ferroalloy Industries
Organic
Emission Factor
fib/ton}'-3 Rating
Iron and Steel Industry^
Byproduct cokemaking
Blast furnace ironmaking
Sinter production
Basic oxygen process steelmaking
Electric arc furnace steelmaking
Open hearth furnace steelmaking
Hot forming and finishing operations
Total
Iron Foundry Industry"
Cupola furnace melting
Electric arc furnace melting
Inoculation
Metal pouring and cooling
Casting shake out
Total
Ferroalloy Industry'
Open submerged arc furnace smelting
Silicon metal alloys
Ferrosilicon alloys
Ferromanganese alloys
Ferrochromium alloys
Covered submerged arc furnace smelting
Ferrosilicon alloys
Ferromanganese alloys
Ferrochromium alloys
Total
Total for ferrous metallurgy industry:
11.5
1.98
4.80
0.0029
0.348
0.168
0.643
0.181
0.347
0.0052
0.136
1.23
51.6'
4.4
3.72
4.06
4.48
0.80
3.14
C
D
C
C
C
D
C
C
C
C
C
-
B
B
B
D
B
B
D
-
Normalized
Organic
Emission
Factor
lib/ton/"1
3.90
1.17
3.20
0.0018
0.0995
0.0188
0.184
8.57
0.195
0.1 6O
0.0013
0.209
1.89
2.46
10.2
1.86
0.34O
0.645
0.225
0.0479
0.0614
13.4
Annual
Organic
Emissions
(1 981! (tons f
235.614.6
70.684.4
193.324.8
108.7
6.011.2
1.135.8
11.116.2
517.995.7
1.208.0
991.2
8.1
1.294.8
11.708.6
15.210.7
6.497.4'
1.184.8
216.6
410.9
143.3
30.5
39.1
8,522.6
541.729.0
'Emission factors based on ton of process or operation product output (e.g., coke, iron, sinter).
"Emission factors normalized to Ib/ton finished product (i.e., total steel products, net castings, total
ferroalloys).
C1981 steel production 120.828,000 tons.
"1981 iron casting production 12,390.000 tons.
'1981 ferroalloy production 1.274,000 tons.
'Emission factors and annual organic emissions do not include low boiling point (Ci-CeJ
hydrocarbons.
'Conversion factors: 1.0 Ib/ton = 0.5 kg/MT(MT = metric ton = 1.0 Mgj and 1.0 ton - 0.9072 MT.
restricted use of scrap and mill scale
containing high levels of oil contaminants
have significantly reduced organic emis-
sions and have been generally adopted as
standard practice. Similarily in the iron
foundry industry, an increase in the
cooling time of castings before mold
shakeout significantly reduces organic
emissions during shakeout operations.
"C" reliability rating. On a per ton of
finished product basis, however, the
ferroalloy industry has the highest overall
organic emission factor, with the iron and
steel industry second, and the iron found-
ry industry the lowest. But the ferroalloy
industry has the lowest quantity of organic
emissions of the three industries because
of its low production level.
The organic emission factors summa-
rized in the table represent uncontrolled
organic emissions which, in some cases,
include emissions released to the atmos-
phere through particulate pollution con-
trol devices in current use. Except for
some by-product cokemaking facilities,
the pollution control devices in use are
designed primarily to control particulate
emissions to the atmosphere. These
devices include mainly baghouses, wet
scrubbers, and electrostatic precipitators
(ESPs). Although data on the efficiency of
these devices in capturing organic emis-
sions from ferrous metallurgical industry
sources are very limited, wet scrubbers,
as might be expected, appear to be more
effective in organics removal than the
other devices. For example, in the ferro-
alloy industry, scrubber efficiences for
organics of 65 to 88 percent compared to
13 to 65 percent for baghouses have been
reported.
In some cases, changes in production
procedures and operating practices have
been used to reduce organic emissions.
Most notably in the iron and steel indus-
try, for example, the use of fresh quench
water in the coke quench tower and the
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R. L. Stall ings is with Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC
27711.
ft. C. McCrillis is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Organic Emissions from Ferrous Metallurgical
Industries: Compilation of Emission Factors and Control Technologies," (Order
No. PB 84-141 548; Cost: $13.00, subject to change) will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
ft U.S GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1984-759-015/7307
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