Steel and Aluminum Energy Conservation and Technology Competitiveness Act of 1988: Annual report of the metals initiative for fiscal year 1996

This annual report has been prepared for the President and Congress describing the activities carried out under the Steel and Aluminum Energy Conservation and Technology Competitiveness Act of 1988, commonly referred to as the Metals Initiative. The Act has the following purposes: (1) increase energy efficiency and enhance the competitiveness of the American steel, aluminum, and copper industries; and (2) continue research and development efforts begun under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program known as the Steel Initiative. These activities are detailed in a subsequent section. Other sections describe the appropriation history, the distribution of funds through fiscal year 1996, and the estimated funds necessary to continue projects through fiscal year 1997. The Metals Initiative supported four research and development projects with the U.S. Steel industry: (1) steel plant waste oxide recycling and resource recovery by smelting, (2) electrochemical dezincing of steel scrap, (3) rapid analysis of molten metals using laser-produced plasmas, and (4) advanced process control. There are three Metals Initiative projects with the aluminum industry: (1) evaluation of TiB2-G cathode components, (2) energy efficient pressure calciner, and (3) spray forming of aluminum. 1 tab