Recently, the China Iron and Steel Association and Chinese Society for Metals (CSM) announced the appraisal results of the 2022 China Metallurgical Science and Technology Awards. Seven achievements led by the Shougang Group and four in which it participated won awards, including three first prizes, seven second prizes and one third prize. This reflects the continuous rise of Shougang’s technological innovation ability and represents the concentrated embodiment of its great emphasis on innovation leadership and technology empowerment in recent years.

In this appraisal, Development and Application of Key Technologies for High-aluminum Steel and Microalloyed Steel Slab Continuous Casting led by Shougang and R&D and Application of Safety, Longevity and Self-repair Theory and Key Technologies of Blast Furnace and Large Slab Continuous Casting: Development and Integrated Application of Key Technologies for High-Efficiency and Green Rolling Interface participated in by Shougang won the first prize.

High-aluminum steel and microalloyed steel are high-end steel materials which are widely used in key fields such as automobiles, energy and electricity, marine engineering and ships. Aiming to address the difficult quality control conditions and complicated processes of such steel, after long-term industrial continuous casting practice and systematic research, Shougang’s research team and USTB effectively solved many technical problems such as poor castability, numerous surface cracks and red feeding cracks of microalloyed steel slabs, and obtained the authorization of ten invention patents. The implementation of this project has effectively promoted energy conservation and consumption reduction in iron and steel enterprises, and provided a new approach and direction for iron and steel enterprises to realize low-carbon and green metallurgy. The China Iron and Steel Association organized the appraisal of scientific and technological achievements, and the expert group agreed that “the overall technology of this achievement is leading in the world”. Ji Chenxi, chief engineer of the Shougang Institute of Technology, explained that at present, a series of high-aluminum cold-rolled high-strength steels developed by Shougang have been applied to Mercedes-Benz, FAW, etc. in batches, strongly supporting the lightweight trend of the automobile industry. The microalloyed steel developed by Shougang has been applied in key projects such as Big Air Shougang, Xiong’an High-speed Railway Station, Yongqing Liaison Station of the China-Russia East Line, Bluewhale I, CTGNE Zhuanghe Offshore Wind Power, etc. After adopting the R&D results of this project, the hot charging temperature and proportion of microalloyed steel slabs were increased, and CO2 emission reduction reached 10.8 kg/ton of steel. Thus, Shougang Jingtang has achieved the hot charging of high-grade steel slabs with remarkable energy conservation and consumption reduction effects.

The second prize winners included Development and Application of Key Manufacturing Technologies for High-Quality Thick Plates, Key Manufacturing Technologies and Application of High-performance Multiphase Steel for Automobiles, Coke Quality Control Technology Based on Research on the Tuyere Coke Solution Loss Mechanism of Extra-Large Blast Furnaces, Key Technologies for the Efficient Preparation and Application of High-quality Commercial Vehicle Wheel Steel and Digital Intelligent Manufacturing System for Hot Rolling in Jingtang led by Shougang, and System Innovation and Engineering Application of Environmental Corrosion Evaluation Technology for Steel Materials and Excavation Instability Mechanism, Key Control Technologies and Engineering Application of Strip-mining Steep Rocky Slope participated in by Shougang. 

The third prize winner was Research and Application of Stability and Longevity Technology of Blast Furnace Top Equipment led by Shougang.

The China Metallurgical Science and Technology Awards are the highest science and technology awards in China’s metallurgical industry. They aim to promote the technological progress and innovation of the metallurgical industry, and encourage the use of scientific and technological forces to push the industry forward. They are appraised and awarded once a year. At the 2022 China Metallurgical Science and Technology Awards, 23 first prizes, 29 second prizes, 58 third prizes and one special award were presented.