Creating a Sustainable Future Together.
We are proud to announce that Big River Steel installed EPS (Eco Pickled Surface) processing cells as part of their Big River 2 expansion. US Steel’s Big River facility became the first mill in the world to be qualified to sell steel under the ResponsibleSteel Certified Steel Banner. The addition of EPS not only allows Big River to pickle their electrical steel more efficiently, but also fits with their sustainability initiative.
The two Gen 4 EPS cells combined with an Andritz acid line complete their Hybrid Pickling Line and will be used when processing Big River’s electrical steel. Their new InduX™ steel is an innovative, ultra-thin steel that has been specifically engineered to meet the demands of the growing electric vehicle (EV) market, as well as the power generator and transformer manufacturing industries.
“Electrical steel is especially difficult to pickle. We knew EPS could descale electrical steel as a standalone process, but for our situation, employing EPS in a hybrid configuration together with acid made sense. This hybrid line can pickle both low-carbon and electrical steel at higher speeds. Big River is proud to be the first mill with a more environmentally friendly hybrid EPS-acid line for electrical steel.”
– Robert Costello, Cold Rolling Manager
EPS + ACID HYBRID PICKLING
EPS and Acid in tandem allows difficult to descale products to be pickled far more efficiently than either process alone. This reduces acid consumption, acid section effluents, and overall energy utilization.
