U.S. Steel to invest $150 million dollars for a DR grade pellet system in Minnesota
U.S. Steel is moving into the DR grade pellet market. The company announced Tuesday they have plans to invest $150 million dollars into a DR pellet system in Minnesota this fall.
The company owns Minntac and Keetac. The announcement does not say which plant would be making the DR grade pellets. DR grade pellets have a higher iron content, and are used in Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) processing. That material goes into the electric arc furnaces, which are different than the traditional blast furnaces.
“This is the biggest announcement in four decades. The fact that U.S. Steel is investing $100-$200 million in Minnesota Ore Operations, and with steelmaking in this country moving towards electric arc furnaces, the steelworkers are extremely excited for this news,” shared John Arbogast, from the United Steelworkers District 11.
The announcement also said they are working with SunCoke Energy to repurpose two blast furnaces at Granite City. SunEnergy would then build a pig iron production facility there. DR grade pellets can be used to make pig iron as well.
Cleveland-Cliffs began making DR grade pellets at their Northshore plant in Silver Bay in 2019. But they have moved production of that pellet to Minorca.
WDIO-DT
Toronto could soon receive a high-speed ferry service to Niagara Falls
A planned ferry service from Lake Ontario EXPRESS would run two zero-emission passenger boats from Toronto’s waterfront to the lower Niagara Peninsula and would cost $25 per ride.
Bruno Caciagli, president of Lake Ontario Express plans to start with two boats, with a 50 – 80 passenger capacity. So far, he has acquired the necessary permits on the Niagara end and is working on securing a docking space in Toronto, but it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing.
Once they’re up and running, the boats will be operational during the tourist season of April to mid-fall. Because of the technology the boats use — an Artemis eFoiler, which enables the boats to glide over the water — they can’t operate in the winter when there’s ice in the lake. The Artemis eFoiler is based on the integration of a high-power density electric drivetrain into an autonomously controlled hydrofoil.
This won’t be the first attempt at a Toronto to Niagara ferry. Specifically, 2 Katran hydrofoils (Seaflight I and II) operated on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Queenstown, Niagara from1998 -2003. Other companies have tried to operate similar routes in the past, but a lack of passengers taking the service made the boats unprofitable.
Having looked at studies done by Metrolinx in 2015 on the GO Train service between Niagara and Toronto, Caciagli is confident that a robust customer base wanting to go between the two cities is there.
Construction of the boats, built by Artemis Technologies LTD in the UK, is expected to start in 2023
blogTO
NOAA award the University of Michigan’s Great Lakes research center $53M
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded the University of Michigan a five-year, $53 million grant to continue and expand the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, which leads research for sustainability in the Great Lakes.
Scientists and students at the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research work alongside researchers at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor to find solutions to pressing Great Lakes issues, such as climate change, extreme weather events, invasive species, harmful algal blooms and ecosystem protection. The institute is hosted by U-M’s School for Environment and Sustainability.
Over the next five years, a key focus for scientists and engineers at the institute and GLERL will be the further development of autonomous monitoring systems, stationary and mobile, for the Great Lakes.
Since 1989, NOAA has awarded eight consecutive multiyear cooperative agreements to UM to help the federal office at the institute. The latest grant more than doubles the funding level of the previous five-year period and is the largest sponsored award in the school’s history.
“The renewal of our cooperative agreement will allow us to expand our research to meet key scientific challenges in the Great Lakes,” said UM environmental microbiologist and Cooperative Institute Director Gregory Dick, a professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Effective July 1, UM’s renewal agreement of $3.6 million over five years to the Cooperative Institute triples its previous funding level.
Besides research, the institute also leads a regional consortium of universities and private-sector partners.
The renewal agreement adds Lake Superior State University as the 10th university in the regional consortium. LSSU, in the Upper Penninsula, will facilitate collaborations with the U.S. Coast Guard National Center of Expertise for the Great Lakes, which will conduct research on the effects of and responses to oil spills.
The Detroit News
Free museum vessel admission on Ding Schoonmaker Day; Launch of museum ship HistoBrick LEGO® kit
The National Museum of the Great Lakes will be holding “Ding Schoonmaker Day” on July 1st—offering FREE admission to museum vessels with the purchase of museum-only admission. In addition, the day will include the public launch of a new HistoBrick Kit featuring an exclusive, limited edition brick model of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker.
Ding Schoonmaker Day was developed to be both a celebration of the Anniversary of the rechristening of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship and to honor the late Ding Schoonmaker, grandson of the vessel’s namesake who was instrumental in the boat’s restoration. HistoBrick creates custom historical models out of LEGO® bricks and has partnered with the museum to feature the Col. James M. Schoonmaker. Model kits are made of new-condition LEGO® bricks and can be ordered online directly through HistoBrick with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the National Museum of the Great Lakes.
Please note that pre-order tickets will not be available for Ding Schoonmaker Day on July 1, admission will be walk-in only. For additional information on HistoBrick and to pre-order the limited edition kit of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker ship visit: histobrick.com/collections/building-kits/products/ss-col-james-m-schoonmaker
National Museum of the Great Lakes
