Great Lakes Steel, National Steel Division
Located in Ecorse, MI, and River Rouge, situated along the Detroit River, Great Lakes Steel was once Michigan’s largest steel producer. Great Lakes Steel was a division of National Steel, which at one time was the nation’s third largest steel producer with headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA.
It was the merger of Great Lakes Steel, portions of the M.A. Hanna Company and Weirton Steel in Weirton, West Virginia, which created National Steel. The primary reason for locating Great Lakes Steel in the area south of Detroit was to serve The Motor City’s growing automobile industry. Since its existence, Great Lakes Steel has become the leading supplier of flat rolled steel for automobiles and trucks. Its products are used in many other important markets such as appliances and earth-moving equipment.
Three materials taken from the earth – iron ore, coal, and limestone – arrive at the blast furnace operations located on Zug Island along the Detroit River. They are combined to produce molten iron for the steelmaking furnaces at the main plant in Ecorse. The coal is converted into nearly 5,000 tons of coke by baking in the three coke oven batteries. The coke is used as fuel in the four blast furnaces which are charged with more than 12,000 tons of iron ore pellets, scrap and limestone to produce over 11,000 tons of molten iron per day for the steelmaking furnaces in Ecorse.
A sintering plant serves a dual role – by recycling iron-bearing particles from the blast furnace air cleaning equipment along with other steel mill waste to produce a high iron content feed for the blast furnaces. About 5,000 tons of this waste material, which otherwise would have to go into landfill areas, is recycled in the sintering plant daily. The blast furnace operations are linked to the steel mill by a network of railways on which locomotives pull ladle cars loaded with up to 200 tons of molten iron. Great Lakes Steel’s basic oxygen furnaces then refine the molten iron, along with steel scrap into high-quality steel.
Built in 1962, the No. 1 basic oxygen process (BOP) Shop has two 300-ton capacity furnaces which can turn out a heat of steel in 40 minutes. The No. 2 shop, which began operations in 1970, has two 200-ton furnaces and matches the production time of the first shop. The company’s original open-hearth furnaces required up to 15 hours to produce a heat of steel. Both shops are served by electrostatic precipitators which remove the dust generated in the refining process before the gasses are expelled into the atmosphere. While the electric furnaces and ingot molds are no longer used, at once time it had capabilities to produce 125 tons of steel in approximately three to four hours.
Great Lakes Steel’s Continuous Caster produced the widest steel slabs ever continuously cast in the United States. Today it is still a leader among the steel industry’s hot mills. Heated slabs are pushed onto a rolling table and pass through a series of five roughing and seven finishing mill stands. Four pickling lines pass hot rolled steel coils through a bath of hydrochloric acid to remove iron oxide from the surface. The coils are then further reduced in thickness on one of the tandem cold mills. Cold rolling hardens the steel so that it must then be annealed. This is a heat-treating process to restore its formability. The exact temper of the steel, as well as the flatness and surface quality required by the customer, is achieved by rolling on one of three temper mills, or “skin mills”. Steel finished in this manner usually appears in exposed steel parts such as the outer panels of cars and appliances. Should the customer desire the steel in cut lengths, or narrow width coils shear lines and slitting lines are utilized.
Steelmaking equipment, massive and complex, requires the skills of many people such as millwrights, pipefitters, carpenters, welders and various craftsmen who perform necessary maintenance and repair work. Others behind the steelmaking scenes who contribute greatly to steel production are those employed in the Service Division and Energy and Utilities Division.
Exposures to the asbestos products at the mill can cause mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, and other cancers decades after initial exposure. Even if you smoked you may be entitled to compensation if you are suffering an asbestos related disease.
Great Lakes Steel, National Steel Division
Located in Ecorse, MI, and River Rouge, situated along the Detroit River, Great Lakes Steel was once Michigan’s largest steel producer. Great Lakes Steel was a division of National Steel, which at one time was the nation’s third largest steel producer with headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA.
It was the merger of Great Lakes Steel, portions of the M.A. Hanna Company and Weirton Steel in Weirton, West Virginia, which created National Steel. The primary reason for locating Great Lakes Steel in the area south of Detroit was to serve The Motor City’s growing automobile industry. Since its existence, Great Lakes Steel has become the leading supplier of flat rolled steel for automobiles and trucks. Its products are used in many other important markets such as appliances and earth-moving equipment.
Three materials taken from the earth – iron ore, coal, and limestone – arrive at the blast furnace operations located on Zug Island along the Detroit River. They are combined to produce molten iron for the steelmaking furnaces at the main plant in Ecorse. The coal is converted into nearly 5,000 tons of coke by baking in the three coke oven batteries. The coke is used as fuel in the four blast furnaces which are charged with more than 12,000 tons of iron ore pellets, scrap and limestone to produce over 11,000 tons of molten iron per day for the steelmaking furnaces in Ecorse.
A sintering plant serves a dual role – by recycling iron-bearing particles from the blast furnace air cleaning equipment along with other steel mill waste to produce a high iron content feed for the blast furnaces. About 5,000 tons of this waste material, which otherwise would have to go into landfill areas, is recycled in the sintering plant daily. The blast furnace operations are linked to the steel mill by a network of railways on which locomotives pull ladle cars loaded with up to 200 tons of molten iron. Great Lakes Steel’s basic oxygen furnaces then refine the molten iron, along with steel scrap into high-quality steel.
Built in 1962, the No. 1 basic oxygen process (BOP) Shop has two 300-ton capacity furnaces which can turn out a heat of steel in 40 minutes. The No. 2 shop, which began operations in 1970, has two 200-ton furnaces and matches the production time of the first shop. The company’s original open-hearth furnaces required up to 15 hours to produce a heat of steel. Both shops are served by electrostatic precipitators which remove the dust generated in the refining process before the gasses are expelled into the atmosphere. While the electric furnaces and ingot molds are no longer used, at once time it had capabilities to produce 125 tons of steel in approximately three to four hours.
Great Lakes Steel’s Continuous Caster produced the widest steel slabs ever continuously cast in the United States. Today it is still a leader among the steel industry’s hot mills. Heated slabs are pushed onto a rolling table and pass through a series of five roughing and seven finishing mill stands. Four pickling lines pass hot rolled steel coils through a bath of hydrochloric acid to remove iron oxide from the surface. The coils are then further reduced in thickness on one of the tandem cold mills. Cold rolling hardens the steel so that it must then be annealed. This is a heat-treating process to restore its formability. The exact temper of the steel, as well as the flatness and surface quality required by the customer, is achieved by rolling on one of three temper mills, or “skin mills”. Steel finished in this manner usually appears in exposed steel parts such as the outer panels of cars and appliances. Should the customer desire the steel in cut lengths, or narrow width coils shear lines and slitting lines are utilized.
Steelmaking equipment, massive and complex, requires the skills of many people such as millwrights, pipefitters, carpenters, welders and various craftsmen who perform necessary maintenance and repair work. Others behind the steelmaking scenes who contribute greatly to steel production are those employed in the Service Division and Energy and Utilities Division.
Exposures to the asbestos products at the mill can cause mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, and other cancers decades after initial exposure. Even if you smoked you may be entitled to compensation if you are suffering an asbestos related disease.