Connecting Contest Entry Ideas to Real Implementation Within the Year to Achieve Energy Savings
POSCO employees held an "Energy Waste Discovery Contest" from June to July, inviting staff from the Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks to identify sources of energy waste at their sites.
Employees proposed ideas to save electricity, fuel, water, and gas in their respective workplaces, resulting in more than 50 ideas being collected.
On the 27th of last month, POSCO announced three outstanding ideas selected based on the scale of energy savings, originality, and feasibility.
The first prize was awarded to Jang Sungwoon, manager of the Stainless Steelmaking Department at Pohang Steelworks, for his idea to "Reduce Fuel Consumption by Decreasing the Number of Operating Ladles through Improvements in Stainless Steel No.2 Steelmaking Ladles."
This improvement plan involves moving away from the conventional method of operating a dedicated ladle for long-term heat retention while producing special steel. Instead, it proposes flexibly operating new ladles for general steel to reduce ladle heat retention standby time.
Kim Sangjin, leader of the EIC Technology Department at Gwangyang Steelworks, won second place with his idea to "Reduce Water Usage by Differentially Managing Cooling Water Turbidity at Gwangyang No.3 Coke Plant CDQ."
Kim suggested that redefining the currently unified cooling water turbidity management standards according to the factory’s purpose and location could minimize unnecessary forced drainage and freshwater supply, thereby reducing water waste.
Kim Insu, manager of the Steelmaking Department at Pohang Steelworks, who took third place, proposed reducing unnecessary operation time and supplying nitrogen only during gas generation to prevent waste when transferring molten iron to the converter, thus offering an idea to reduce annual nitrogen consumption.
POSCO plans to verify the feasibility of the ideas submitted during the proposal period within this year and will separately reward outstanding energy-saving cases at the end of the year.
Kim Sungjun, Head of Production Technology Strategy at POSCO, said, "As energy prices rise, the importance of energy efficiency in operations is increasingly emphasized. Having employees, who are the top experts at each site, participate directly from the idea discovery stage is the best way to ensure both the effectiveness and feasibility of energy savings."
POSCO is continuously discovering outstanding energy-saving cases and ideas to overcome the energy crisis at its steelworks and achieve carbon neutrality, thereby securing future competitiveness.
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