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Clean Steel Laboratory,

Graduate Institute of Ferrous and
Eco Materials Technology,
Department of Materials Science and Engineering (JA),

Pohang University of Science and Technology

In the Clean Steel Laboratory (CSL) of the Graduate Institute of Ferrous and Eco Materials Technology and jointly associated with Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, we are aiming to contribute to our academic community and steel industry by carrying out research, education, and communication.  The main research area of interest is chemical metallurgy, including chemical thermodynamics, kinetics, and solidification.  The practical application area includes the pyrometallurgical process, in particular for steelmaking and continuous casting processes.   

We are looking for students and post-docs who are interested in high-temperature process metallurgy including molten steel cleanliness (chemical refining and inclusion control), ferrous scrap and Li-ion battery recycling, hydrogen production, hydrogen ironmaking, low C emission steel production via chemical metallurgical principles (thermodynamics, kinetics, physicochemical properties of melts, etc.). If you are interested in carrying out the research at CSL, please contact Dr. Youn-Bae Kang.

  NEWS

Dr. Min-Su Kim (KITECH) and Dr. Hyun-Jin Cho (POSCO), alumni of CSL, received the Young Engineer Award from KIMM.  Congratulations!


Mr. Yong-Min Cho was awarded a Ph.D. degree, Mr. Chanumul Jung, and Mr. Hyun-Jae Kim received their M.Sc. degrees.   Dr. Cho joined Li-battery recycling center, POSCO Holdings.  Mr. Kim continues his studies in CSL as a Ph.D. course student. Mr. Jung is operating his own business.


Dr. Kang will serve as the Director of Financial Affairs at KIMM in the year 2024.


CSL students have received two awards in ASCON-IEEChE 2023:

Congratulations!


CSL students have received three awards in 2023 KIMM Fall Meeting:

Congratulations!


Graduate students of Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Austria, visited GIFT, POSTECH as a part of their field trip to Asian countries. This year, they chose Korea as their destination country.  Dr. Kang was the main host to them on GIFT side. 


Mr. Jooho Park joined CSL as a researcher. Welcome!


Seven professors of the School of Materials Science and Engineering (SMSE), Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST)  visited GIFT, POSTECH, to participate in the 2nd symposium on Advanced Metals and Processing.  Dr. Kang organized the symposium and post-symposium activity successfully.   On the HUST side, Dr. Bui Anh Hoa, a former alumnus of CSL (formerly PMRL, based on Dept. of MSE, POSTECH) led the professors from HUST including a new Dean of SMSE, HUST.


CSL students have received two awards in 2023 Steel Science Forum, organized by KIMM :

Congratulations!


A new exchange student, Mr. Robert Littringer, from Chair of Ferrous Metallurgy, Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Austria, visited CSL for a semester.  He will stay with us during this fall in the framework of MOU between POSTECH and Montanuniversitaet Leoben, will take a few courses offered at GIFT, and will carry out a research on mutual interest (thermodynamic modeling of Fe-Mn-S system).


CSL alumnus, Dr. Hyun-Jin Cho, Technical Research Laboratories of POSCO, was appointed as a "Materials Innovation Young Researcher" by the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials.  Dr. Cho is conducting research in the field of continuous casting process, focusing on the design and control of molten steel flow in the tundish and mold to improve the quality of slabs produced in the continuous casting process. He is developing technologies to design and control the molten steel flow inside the tundish and mold, aiming to enhance the quality of slabs produced in the continuous casting process. Congratulations!


Three summer intern started their internship at CSL during this summer vacation.  They will carry out some of CSL's research topics: denitrogenation of liquid steel under low pressure, evaporation reactions of C and S in liquid steel under low pressure, and Li analysis using an electron microprobe.


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang visited Chair of Ferrous Metallurgy in MUL and gave a presentation about recent research activities of CSL.  Future collaboration between CSL and Chair of Ferrous Metallurgy was discussed.  He also visited voestalpine Stahl Linz GmbH and Primetals technologies Austria GmbH in Linz, Austria.  


Prof. Christain Bernhard visited CSL for a week, and gave a presentation on "Recent activities in continuous casting research at Chair of Ferrous Metallurgy, MUL, with a focus on quality prediction".  He has been in long interactions with CSL for research, student exchange, and administrative work between MUL and POSTECH.


CSL students have received four awards in 2023 KIMM Spring Meeting:

Congratulations!


Mr. Dong-Jun Lee got a job offer from Corning Inc.(코닝정밀소재) in Cheonan. Congratulations!


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang was appointed as an international advisory board member of steel research international, originally known as Archiv für das Eisenhüttenwesen.  He will advise on topics and authors of interest, support in identifying new trends and developments, and encourage colleagues to contribute their top results to the journal.


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang started his term as an advisory committee member of C-Neutral Green Steel Technology of POSCO.   Various topics including hydrogen heating and infrastructure, low-C emission ironmaking and steelmaking technologies, technical issues of HyREX will be discussed in this year.


A Research projects page is created (in Korean).


Mr. Sang-Jin Kwak joined CSL as an M.Sc. course student.  Welcome!


Mr. Soon-Jong Jung, Mr. Dong-Jun Lee, and Mr. Tae-Gyu Wi received M.Sc. degrees.  Mr. Soon-Jong Jung has been continuing his duty at POSCO steelmaking department.  Dr. Dong-Hyun Kim attended this ceremony as well. Congratulations! 


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang has been affiliated with Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering as a Joint-Appointment (JA) professor.


Dr. Michael Bernhard joined CSL as a post-doctoral researcher.  He holds a PhD degree of Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Austria.  He will be doing research on CALPHAD modeling of high alloyed steel and tramp elements-containing steel, supported by NRF. Welcome!


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang gave an invited presentation at POSCO Forum 2022, held in POSCO R&D Center in Songdo, Incheon.  He discussed the decarbonization strategy of steelmakers. 


Mr. Won-Bum Park and Mr. Tae-Gyu Wi won Excellence Awards at Steel Science Forum, hosted by Korean Insititute of Metals and Materials. "Methods for Measuring the Miscibility Gap in the Fe-Sn Binary System and Its Status" and "Experimental Technique for Kinetics of Methane Pyrolysis Using Liquid Metal Catalyst and Its Application to Pure Metals and Fe-Based Alloys", respectively. Congratulations!


Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim and Mr. Ki-Soo Kim received Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees, respectively.  Dr. Dong-Hyun Kim joined POSCO Technical Research Laboratories, and Mr. Ki-Soo Kim has been continuing his duty at POSCO STS department. 


A poster presentation "Experimental Technique for Kinetics of Methane Pyrolysis and Its Application to Liquid Cu-Sn Catalyst" by Mr. Tae-Gyu Wi was recognized as one of best papers in 2022 KHNES (Korea Hydrogen and New Energy Society) Spring Meeting.  Congratulations!


Mr. Won-Bum Park and Mr. Dong-Jun Lee were chosen as "Best Student Presenters" in 2022 KIMM Spring Meeting for their presentations "Thermodynamic Investigation of Fe-Sn-C Liquid Alloy for Tramp Element Control in Ferrous Scrap-based Liquid Iron" and "Impact of Internal Carbothermic Reaction in SEN Refractories on Nozzle Clogging". Good job!


Dr. Min-Su Kim, an alumnus of CSL, got married. Congratulations!


Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim placed his name on the final list of steelChallenge-16 organized by steeluniversity.  He got the title of "regional champion" of Americas. Congratulations!


The article “Thermodynamic Basis of Isothermal Carbothermic Reduction of Oxide in Liquid Steel for Simultaneous Analysis of Soluble/Insoluble Oxygen Contents in the Steel Specimens” published in Metall. Mater. Trans. B was selected as “Editor’s Choice for Free Access”.


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang was appointed as an associate editor of ISIJ International.  He will serve on the editorial committee for the manuscript reviewing process, selecting the award recipients, etc.


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang received the 2021 Key Reader Award of Metallurgical and Materials Transaction B, published jointly by TMS and ASM International.  It is his third time receiving this award. 


Ms. Ji-Hyun Park resigned from her job to continue her post-graduate study.  Good luck!  Ms.  Jimin Lee newly joined as a new assistant. Welcome!


Mr. Hyun-Jae Kim and Mr. Chanumul Jung joined CSL as M.Sc. course students.  Welcome!


Mr. Gang-Ho Bang and Mr. Wun-Bum Park received their M.Sc. degrees.   Mr. Bang returned back to his home company, POSCO.  Mr. Park continues his study in CSL as a Ph.D. course student.


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang and all students attended the 8th Asia Steel International Conference (AsiaSteel 2021 jointed with ASIC), held in HICO Gyeongju, Dec. 5-9, and online.  Dr. Kang served as the Secretary General of the organizing committee.  Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim won a Young Steel Scientist Award. The title of his presentation was "Quantitative Relation of Applied Electricity and Electrochemical Desulfurization of Molten Iron Using Molten Slag".


Mr. Won-Beom Park won a poster award at the Fall Meeting of the Annual Conference of the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, held in Jeju ICC, Oct. 20-22, 2021. The title of his presentation was "Attempt to Develop a Zn Stream Balance Model in the FINEX Process".


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang was chosen as the 42nd recipient of the Yoon Dong Seok Award by KIMM.  The award ceremony was held in Jeju ICC during KIMM annual fall meeting.  He gave a Yoon Dong Seok memoria lecture on recent research activities about the continuous casting of ultra-low C steel.


Mr. Ki-Soo Kim returned back to his company where he continues his master's course research on stainless steelmaking and the casting process.  Mr. Hyun-Hae Kim, Hanyang University, joined CSL as an intern.  


Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim started his 6 months visiting study at Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Canada, supported by NRF and Mitacs.


CSL was introduced in a series of LabCumentary of POSTECH "Clean Steel Lab".  This is now online (https://youtu.be/P56jDSZanew).


Three new students joined CSL: Mr. Soon-Jong Jung, Dong-Jun Lee, and Tae-Gyu Wi. Welcome!


Ms. Hae-Mi Hong got married, and also was employed at POSTECH as an admissions officer. Congratulations!


Mr. Jea-Bok Choi received an M.Sc. degree.   Mr. Choi has been working for his home company, POSCO.


Dr. Kang starts his two-year term on the Board of Directors of Metals and Materials International, published by the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials.


Mr. Ki Su Kim joined CSL. Welcome! 


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang is promoted to a full professor at GIFT, POSTECH.


Many CSL members visited Gwangyang Works, POSCO for two days.  A special workshop was organized by two CSL alumni (Mr. Jea-Bok Choi and Dr. Sung-Hoon Jung) who are working at Gwangyang, and was given by Dr. Youn-Bae Kang.   After the workshop, the CSL graduate students had a chance to visit the steelmaking plant in Gwangyang Works, by looking at various steel production facilities including KR reactor, BOF, LF, RH, T/D, and CC machine. 


Dr. Joo Choi received the Hyunsong Engineering Award presented by Hyundong Foundation of Education and Culture during the 2020 Spring meeting, KIMM.  His longtime contribution to the development of high Mn steel during his service at POSCO was acknowledged.  Congratulations! 


Mr. Gang Ho Bang and Mr. Won-Bum Park joined CSL. Welcome! 


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang was chosen as one of 10 recipients of the Key Reader Award 2019 in Metallurgical and Materials Transaction B, published jointly by TMS and ASM International.


Mr. Yong-Jung Lee and Ms. Hae-Mi Hong received M.Sc. degrees.  The commencement was unfortunately postponed due to a novel coronavirus pandemic.  Mr. Lee has been working for POSCO, and Ms. Hong continues her research in our laboratory as a researcher.


Dr. Joo Choi, former Head of Technical Research Laboratories, POSCO, joined GIFT as a research professor, and now is working in CSL. Welcome to our laboratory!


Our laboratory is now certified as one of "2019 Excellent Laboratories for Safety Control", by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Rep. of Korea.


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang and Dr. Joo-Hyeok Lee, Dr. Sung-Kwang Kim, an alumnus of our laboratory, are recipients of the  2019 Sawamura Award presented by ISIJ for their paper entitled "Oxidation of Ti Added ULC Steel by CO Gas Simulating Interfacial Reaction between the Steel and SEN during Continuous Casting".  This article was published in ISIJ International in 2018.


Mr. Joo-Hyeok Lee and Mr. Young-Joon Park received Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees, respectively.  Dr. Joo-Hyeok Lee joined POSCO Technical Research Laboratories, and Mr. Young-Joon Park will continue his research with CSL as a researcher. 


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang came back from his sabbatical stay at Polytechnique Montreal, Canada. 


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang was chosen as one of 6 recipients of the Key Reader Award 2018 in Metallurgical and Materials Transaction B, published jointly by TMS and ASM International.


Mr. Jea-Bok Choi joined CSL. Mr. Yong-Min Cho continues to work as a researcher with us. Welcome! 


Mr. Yong-Min Cho obtained his M.Sc. degrees.


Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim won a bronze prize in Steel University Korea Challenge.


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang started his sabbatical stay at CRCT (Centre for Research in Computational Thermochemistry) at Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Canada for 1 year.


Mr. Joo-Hyeok Lee won a participation prize in the poster competition of "The 12th Steel Science Forum", organized by the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, held in Pohang, Jul. 19-20, 2018.  The title of his presentation was "Influence of Oxygen Potential on Formation of Interfacial Product on Ti-bearing Al-killed Ultra Low Carbon Steel in Continuous Casting".


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang, Mr. Joo-Hyeok Lee, Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim attended ICS 2018, held in Venecia, Italy.  Prof. Emeritus Hae-Geon Lee also attended from Australia (currently holds also an honorary professorship at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia). 


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang visited Chair of Ferrous Metallurgy, Montanunivesitaet Leoben and met Prof. Christian Bernhard, Dr. Anrin Bhattacharyya, Dr. Peter Presoly and Mr. Michael Bernhard.   Future collaboration between two research groups was discussed.


Mr. Yong-Jung Lee and Ms. Hae-Mi Hong joined CSL. Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim continues to work as a researcher with us. Welcome! 


Mr. Young-June Cho, and Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim obtained their M.Sc. degrees, respectively.


Dr. Youn-Bae Kang and Dr. Sung-Hoon Jung, an alumnus of our laboratory, received the Marcus A. Grossmann Young Author Award presented by ASM International for their paper entitled "Simultaneous Evaporation of Cu and Sn from Liquid Steel".  This article was published in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B in 2016.


Mr. Young-Joon Park joined CSL. Welcome!


Mr. Joo-Hyeok Lee won third place in the poster competition of "The 11th Steel Science Forum", organized by the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, held in Ansan, Jul. 17-18, 2017.  The title of his presentation was "Effect of Carbon Contents in Liquid Steel on Interfacial Reaction Between Ti-bearing Al-killed Steel and CO gas Generated from Nozzle Material for Continuous Casting".


Mr. Young-June Cho won a poster award at the Spring Meeting of the Annual Conference of the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, held in Changwon, Apr. 26-28, 2017.  The title of his presentation was "Chromium Distribution Behavior in Molten Pig Iron".


Prof. H. Matsuura and his students from the University of Tokyo, Japan, visited us for research communications.


Mr. Yong-Min Cho and Mr. Yong-Hwan Kim joined CSL. Welcome!


A review article introducing the research effort of GIFT was published by Dr. Hae-Geon Lee, in response to his appointment as the "Honorary Member" of ISIJ in 2016.  The article can be found on the ISIJ website.


Dr. In-Beom Park, Dr. Tae-In Chung, Mr. Eunhack Jang, Mr. Ho-Yeol Lee, and Mr. Fahmi Tafwidli obtained their Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees, respectively.


Mr. Fahmi Tafwidli and Mr. Dong-Hyun Kim won second place in the "Steel Technology Solution and Idea Competition", organized by the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, held in Busan, Oct. 26-28, 2016.


Mr. In-Beom Park won second place in the poster competition of "Steel Science Forum", organized by the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, held in Hongchun, Jul. 7-8, 2016.  The title of his presentation was "In-Situ X-Ray Fluoroscopic Observation for Motion of Bubbles in Liquid Fe-C and Fe-C-S for Correction of Drag Coefficient Used in Numerical Simulation".


The article “Simultaneous Evaporation Cu and Sn from Liquid Steel” published in Metall. Mater. Trans. B was selected as “Editor’s Choice for Free Access”.


Mr. Fahmi Tafwidli won a poster award at the Spring Meeting of the Annual Conference of the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, held in Kyungju, Apr. 27-29, 2016. The title of his presentation was "Kinetic Study of Cu Evaporation in Liquid Fe-Cu-C-S System".


Dr. Hae-Geon Lee was appointed as "Honorary Member" of ISIJ, and a ceremony was held during the 171st ISIJ meeting at Tokyo University of Science on Mar. 23, 2016.


For any questions about this website, contact at csl.gift.postech@gmail.com.