Feralpi's founder, Carlo Pasini's motto, "Producing and growing in respect of human beings and the environment," has been the companies guiding principle since 1968. His early commitment to corporate social responsibility laid the foundations for the Group's sustainable development strategies, which remain at the core of its operations today. In other words, this means that Feralpi translates this vision into an ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) strategy focusing on a gradual reduction in direct and indirect emissions. Feralpi has mapped out an ambitious roadmap with an action plan whose timing and activities are dictated by the 2023-2027 industrial plan. The plan includes, among its technological pillars, process electrification, reduction in the use of fossil fuels and waste, and maximization of a circular economy.
Within its sustainability journey, Feralpi Siderurgica in Lonato del Garda (Brescia – Italy) has taken significant steps, thanks to a longstanding and strategic collaboration with SMS group. This partnership, one of its most crucial and enduring, is instrumental in supporting Feralpi's sustainability project in Italy. The modernization of Feralpi's Lonato plant, once complete, will position it as one of the most competitive and efficient rolling mills for deformed and spooled bars in Europe.
Hot charging of billets
Especially regarding developments involving the implementation of a "hot charge," namely the direct connection between continuous casters and rolling mills, SMS can boast experience dating back to the early 2000s. The aim was to achieve the decarbonization goal in the fight against "global warming." The results have led to the adoption of this solution by the first plants in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
On the other hand, the established practice in conventional steel plants is to cool down and store cast billets for subsequent reheating and rolling operations. After casting, and when cold, the billets are charged into a fossil fuel-fired furnace (natural gas or fuel oil) to be reheated, in most cases, from room temperature to rolling temperature.
The new project of Feralpi Lonato envisages a continuous and direct uninterrupted flow of billets from the continuous casting to the rolling area with minimum energy losses and elimination of the gas reheating furnace. The "hot" billets are then fed into a series of induction reheating modules through which the billets undergo homogenization and temperature increase to reach the temperature required for subsequent rolling. Thanks to this solution, you can eliminate direct CO2 emissions by excluding gas combustion and reducing the energy needed for reheating. This reduction comes from the higher average temperature of the billets arriving at the rolling mill and the necessary activation of inductors only when the billet passes through, thereby avoiding consumption in the absence of active production. This process is enhanced by welding the billets downstream of the reheating area and, therefore, by rolling a single and continuous billet instead of several separate billets. The additional advantages of this approach are reduced waste, increased productivity, and higher plant utilization rates.
Furthermore, with a continuous focus on circular economy in the SteelZeroWaste project, even the rolling scale obtained from this production cycle is valued through recovery and reuse strategies, making it sustainable also from a solid emissions point of view. In addition, the absence of reheating with a natural gas furnace significantly reduces scale formation.
