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| Image by Deutsche Fotothek, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 de. |
A multidisciplinary
research team from Georgia Tech has just been awarded $500,000 over four years to
study ways in which steel production in China can be made more sustainable. The grant is being awarded by the National
Science Foundation (NSF). It is matched
with a research grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(NSFC) to a group of Chinese investigators from the Chinese Academy of
Sciences and China’s Northeastern University. The project, entitled “U.S.-China: Systems-Based Approaches for
Sustainable Steel Manufacturing,” is led on
the U.S. side by Georgia Tech Professors Bert Bras, John Crittenden, and Marc
Weissburg. The Chinese team is led by Dr.
Hongbin Cao, Dr. Xin Xiao, and Dr. Jiuju Cai. This study has the potential to
contribute significantly to improvements in the Chinese steel industry, where,
given its size, improvements can have far ranging benefits - domestically and
internationally.
The multidisciplinary US-China team
will focus on developing innovative systems-based solutions for increasing the
environmental sustainability of the Chinese steel industry. China is by far the largest producer of crude
steel, producing more than half of the global supply. Such enormous production levels are driven by
both domestic and foreign demand. Steel
production has significant environmental impacts, accounting for 6.7% of the
total world CO2
emissions,
and considerable use of, and toxic discharge to fresh water sources. In comparison, due to efficiency measures
undertaken in the past 3 decades, U.S. metal production is two thirds less
energy intensive compared to that of Chinese industries. The team will have cutting-edge access to the
Chinese steel industry as well as eco-industrial parks, in which China is
leading the world. The team expects that
many unique insights will be gained.
Focusing on the steel industry will
provide immediate benefit to China’s Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) and industries
associated with steel production. This
project can help develop methods and approaches useful in many applications in
both the U.S. and China. The team will
capitalize on the unique opportunity for collaboration between two different
countries with different cultures, as well as different steel manufacturing
technologies.
The Brook Byers
Institute for Sustainable Systems is Georgia Tech's umbrella organization to promote
comprehensive and innovative systems-based approaches to address the challenges
and opportunities inherent in achieving a sustainable and prosperous
future. The BBISS enhances Georgia Tech’s research, education, and
service missions, and campus operations through leadership, communications,
development, and decision making inspired and defined by the principles of
sustainability. Programs and projects initiated or supported by the BBISS lie
at the intersections of these themes.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is the national academy for
the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is headquartered in
Beijing, with branch institutes all over mainland China.
Northeastern University
(NEU) is a public university founded in 1923 in the city of Shenyang,
Liaoning Province, China.
From Georgia Tech:
Bert Bras – Professor,
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Director, Sustainable
Design and Manufacturing Program, Brook Byers Professor.
John Crittenden - Professor, School of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, Director, Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, Hightower
Chair, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Sustainable Systems, member
of the U.S. and Chinese National Academies of Engineering.
Marc Weissburg – Professor, School of Biology,
Co-Director, Center for Biologically Inspired Design.
Hongbin Cao – Professor, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese
Academy of Sciences.
Xin Xiao – Professor,
Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Jiuju Cai – Professor,
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Eco-Industry, Institute of
Thermal and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University.
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