A Review of Environmental Assessment Methods in the Production of Heavy Steel Parts: From Casting to Final Processing

The production of heavy and ultra-heavy steel components, such as choke valves and slag ladles, plays a critical role in the energy, steel, and oil and gas industries. Considering the high consumption of energy and raw materials, as well as pollutant emissions generated during casting, heat treatment, and machining processes, the environmental assessment of these products is essential to support sustainable industrial development. This review article examines key environmental assessment methods, including Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Material Flow Analysis (MFA), and climate change impact indicators. Software tools such as OpenLCA and databases such as Ecoinvent are introduced, and relevant case studies related to steel production and heavy component manufacturing are reviewed. Furthermore, the challenges of implementing these methods in Iran's steel industry—such as limited access to process data, insufficient software infrastructure, and inadequate technical training—are analyzed, and improvement strategies are proposed. With a focus on the specific conditions of Iran's industrial sector, this article outlines practical pathways for the localization of environmental assessment in heavy steel component production. The aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current status and future directions toward sustainable manufacturing of heavy steel components in the country.

کلیدواژه ها:

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ، Heavy Steel Components ، Casting ، OpenLCA ، Slag Ladle ، Choke Valve