BE: MUSES: Multilevel Cycles, Models, and Scenarios for Iron Alloying Elements

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This Biocomplexity in the Environment - Materials Use: Science, Engineering and Society research project focuses on linking the use of alloying elements used in steel production through materials flow analysis (MFA) and economic analysis. To date, no multilevel linked cycles have been constructed for any technological materials, such as steel. World steel production has increased by almost a factor of ten since the Second World War. Advances in metallurgy have occurred over the same timeframe, making it possible to produce a wide variety of steels with considerably enhanced properties, achieved through the alloying of iron with small to moderate amounts of a suite of other engineering metals. For some of these elements, industrial use is significantly linked to the demands of steel production. Very little information on the material flow cycles of these elements is available, especially on how those cycles are linked together, and on what the implication of changes in those cycles might be for resource availability, economics, the environment, and options for governmental policy. This research will use a dynamic material flow analysis model to study the linking of the alloying elements, as well as to trace the histories of the ferroalloy element use and to develop long-term scenarios for the future. In parallel, an economic model incorporating materials flows will be developed for the United States to explore market structure, costs, and related drivers as influences on future materials flows. A unique information exchange will be created with a six-member advisory team of researchers from the steel industry, government, and academia representing Europe, Asia and the United States. In order to inform the broader public of the significance of decisions regarding steel and its alloying elements, an exhibit on material flow cycles will be organized for the Yale Peabody Museum. This research directly addresses a key topic, identified by the National Research Council, on "Reinventing the Use of Materials". It is expected that the integrated, dynamic framework of MFA and economics that results from this project will enable future research studies on materials and the environment by both national and international researchers in industrial ecology. The award is jointly funded and monitored by the BES and CMS divisions of the NSF Engineering Directorate.