Cast iron production without direct CO2 emissions

Saint-Gobain PAM inaugurated a new electric furnace at its Pont-a-Mousson plant in France in the summer of 2022. It enables the production of cast iron without direct CO₂-emissions and without extracting water from the environment. A nice step toward a CO₂-neutral manufacturing process of ductile iron pipes.

The electric furnace has a capacity of 120,000 tons per year. For imaging purposes, a 100 mm diameter pipe weighs 95 kilograms, so this is roughly equivalent to 7,500 kilometers of pipe. The 18 MW furnace can recycle scrap from the traditional process. This reduces the use of natural resources, as well as the CO₂-impact of transporting raw materials. 

Reuse of scrap metal

A nice bonus is that this electric furnace makes it possible to recycle scrap from external sources. And that opens up new opportunities for Saint-Gobain PAM. Because scrap iron from products that have been used for decades can now also be reused. Moreover, this increases the supply of raw materials, making PAM more flexible and independent. With this in mind, Saint-Gobain PAM has developed a recycling service for old cast iron pipes. The old pipes are brought to the PAM plant(s), where they are cut into pieces before being remelted for the production of new pipes. This is because cast iron - whether gray or ductile iron - is a material that can be reused again and again without loss of material properties or risks to (water) quality. 

The furnace, a 10 million euro investment, allows Saint-Gobain PAM to increase cast iron production while improving service quality. Indeed, it is much easier to anticipate changing or fluctuating market demand. The new process is part of Saint-Gobain PAM's strategy to increase the production of ductile iron pipe CO₂-neutral. Thanks to this new electric furnace, the CO₂-emissions reduced by 30 kilotons annually.