US Steel look to reduce emissions with a new baghouse

US Steel is looking to reduce emissions by building a baghouse at its Granite City Works in Southern Illinois.

Granite City Works is one of the leading suppliers of high-quality hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheet steel products in the US. The facility has an annual raw steelmaking capability of 2.8 million net tons, and has two coke batteries with approximate annual production capability of 500,000 tons.

US Steel is now looking to reduce emissions at the site by building a baghouse, which is hoped will decreased harmful pollutants from the mill's basic oxygen process furnaces, according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's summary for the project.

The baghouse would work by capturing emissions from the furnaces where scrap metal and iron are turned into liquid steel. By adding another layer onto the plant's current filtering process, particulate emissions should see a substantial reduction.

A National Emissions survey in 2008 found that Granite City Works ranked second in the Metro East (Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties) for emissions of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers in diameter, or 1/30 the width of a hair. These pollutants have been found to be particularly dangerous and are associated with several health concerns.

A 2010 memorandum of understanding with the IEPA dictates that US Steel is required to take steps to reduce emissions at the plant. Once the construction plans have been approved by the IEPA, work can begin constructing the baghouse.

Amy Funk, air quality project specialist for the University of Illinois told STL Today: "A baghouse's purpose is to help keep some of that matter from entering the environment.

"In theory it would be a good thing."

Posted by Lauren Steadman