Demand prompts steel research.

Improved market conditions for the steel industry have apparently helped spur at least one research initiative focused on upgrading steelmaking techniques.

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR) are exploring ways to make steel production in the United States quicker, cheaper and more efficient. Five electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking companies are helping to fund one current study, according to a UMR news release.

"We have about $1.8 million in research projects at UMR aimed toward producing steel more efficiently and rapidly, which could help alleviate some of the steel shortages that have been experienced in the last few years," says Kent Peaslee, associate professor of metallurgical engineering at UMR.

With the U.S. steel industry running at 90 percent capacity, which is as high as it has been in years, UMR hopes to increase the industry's productivity and efficiency through new processes and technologies. In one project, Peaslee and his team of researchers are developing a new process that is completely continuous from start to finish, unlike many current steelmaking processes.

The project is funded with $670,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy and several industry partners, including Nucor Steel, TXI-Chaparral Steel, SMI Steel, Gerdau Ameristeel and Bayou Steel.

"It's not something that would solve all the shortage problems tomorrow. It's more of the a long-range plan of improving it and reducing costs enough that more steel would be made in America," says Peaslee.

Peaslee believes the new process can be more productive and less expensive while also making it easier to adjust production requirements. "Within two hours, scrap metal would be transformed to a product with the new process," says Peaslee. "Where today, batch treatment requires a series of steps with transportation of the batch to different locations."