Primary MetalsTable of Contents Industry Overview Steel Making
Industry Ferrous & Non-Ferrous Foundries Aluminum Smelting & Refining |
1 Industry OverviewThe primary metals industries include facilities that produce metal products from metal
ore and / or scrap metal. Plants may refine metals, cast molten metal into desired shapes,
or produce the inputs for the refining or casting process. Primary metals industries
utilize both ferrous and non-ferrous metals and produce pure metal products or alloys in
the form of end products or stock for use by other industries. The primary metals industries included in this manual are covered by SIC 3300: Primary
Metals. They include steel works, blast furnaces, and coke making; ferrous and non-ferrous
foundry operations; and smelting and refining of common non-ferrous metals. Facilities may
function as independent plants which sell metal products to other industries, or as part
of a larger plant which produces metal pieces for use within a facility or company. Some
facilities housed within larger Pollution associated with primary metals industries depends largely on the type of
operation. The type of facility, metal and non-metal inputs, processes, and equipment all
factor into the pollution sources and prevention opportunities. As such, the primary
metals industries in this document have been divided into Steel Making (Chapter 2),
Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Foundry Operations (Chapter 3) and Non-Ferrous Metal Refining,
including aluminum (Chapter 4), copper (Chapter 5), lead (Chapter 6) and zinc (Chatper 7).
The processes, waste streams and pollution prevention operations are discussed
independently for each sector. Overlapping processes and pollution prevention
opportunities are noted. After being refined and cast, metal pieces are usually coated to prevent corrosionor
enhance surface properties. Metal coating, electroplating , or surface-finishing is
occasionally performed at foundries or other primarym metal production plants. However,
more often, it is performed at captive or job shops outside of primary metals facilities.
Information about metal coating and surface finishing can be obtained in Pollution
Prevention and the Coating Industry or Pollution Prevention and the Metal
Finishing Industry manuals. |