scholarly journals Integration of Renewable Hydrogen Production in Steelworks Off-Gases for the Synthesis of Methanol and Methane

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2904
Author(s):  
Michael Bampaou ◽  
Kyriakos Panopoulos ◽  
Panos Seferlis ◽  
Spyridon Voutetakis ◽  
Ismael Matino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Content ◽  
Steel Production ◽  
Coke Oven ◽  
Basic Oxygen Furnace ◽  
Carbon Efficiency ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Residual Hydrogen ◽  
Synthesis Of Methanol ◽  
Alternative Routes ◽  
Renewable Hydrogen

The steel industry is among the highest carbon-emitting industrial sectors. Since the steel production process is already exhaustively optimized, alternative routes are sought in order to increase carbon efficiency and reduce these emissions. During steel production, three main carbon-containing off-gases are generated: blast furnace gas, coke oven gas and basic oxygen furnace gas. In the present work, the addition of renewable hydrogen by electrolysis to those steelworks off-gases is studied for the production of methane and methanol. Different case scenarios are investigated using AspenPlusTM flowsheet simulations, which differ on the end-product, the feedstock flowrates and on the production of power. Each case study is evaluated in terms of hydrogen and electrolysis requirements, carbon conversion, hydrogen consumption, and product yields. The findings of this study showed that the electrolysis requirements surpass the energy content of the steelwork’s feedstock. However, for the methanol synthesis cases, substantial improvements can be achieved if recycling a significant amount of the residual hydrogen.

scholarly journals Towards Deep Decarbonisation of Energy-Intensive Industries: A Review of Current Status, Technologies and Policies

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2408
Author(s):  
Anissa Nurdiawati ◽  
Frauke Urban
Keyword(s):  
Technological Development ◽  
Steel Production ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Price Support ◽  
Reference Case ◽  
Technological Trajectories ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Energy Intensive Industries

Industries account for about 30% of total final energy consumption worldwide and about 20% of global CO2 emissions. While transitions towards renewable energy have occurred in many parts of the world in the energy sectors, the industrial sectors have been lagging behind. Decarbonising the energy-intensive industrial sectors is however important for mitigating emissions leading to climate change. This paper analyses various technological trajectories and key policies for decarbonising energy-intensive industries: steel, mining and minerals, cement, pulp and paper and refinery. Electrification, fuel switching to low carbon fuels together with technological breakthroughs such as fossil-free steel production and CCS are required to bring emissions from energy-intensive industry down to net-zero. A long-term credible carbon price, support for technological development in various parts of the innovation chain, policies for creating markets for low-carbon materials and the right condition for electrification and increased use of biofuels will be essential for a successful transition towards carbon neutrality. The study focuses on Sweden as a reference case, as it is one of the most advanced countries in the decarbonisation of industries. The paper concludes that it may be technically feasible to deep decarbonise energy-intensive industries by 2045, given financial and political support.

scholarly journals Management of Lime in Steel

Metals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Manocha ◽  
François Ponchon
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Steel Production ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Basic Oxygen Furnace ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Steelmaking Process ◽  
Iron And Steel ◽  
Refractory Life ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Local Sourcing

The EU28 total lime demand in 2017 was estimated at about 20 million tons, out of which about 40% are consumed in the iron and steel industry. Steel remains the major consumer after environment and construction. The lime industry is quite mature and consolidated in developed countries, with enough reserves and production to serve regional markets while being fragmented in developing nations where steel producers rely on local sourcing. There is relatively very little trade for lime worldwide. Lime has a critical role at different steps of the steelmaking process, and especially to make a good slag facilitating the removal of sulphur and phosphorus, and for providing a safer platform to withstand high intensity arc plasma in the electric arc furnace (EAF), and violent reactions in the basic oxygen furnace (BOF). Lime quality and quantity has a direct effect on slag quality, which affects metallurgical results, refractory life, liquid metal yield, and productivity, and therefore the total cost of the steel production. In this paper, we present the importance of careful selection in the limestone and calcination process, which influences critical lime quality characteristics. We shall further elaborate on the impact of lime characteristics in the optimization of the steelmaking process, metallurgical benefits, overall cost impact, potential savings, and environmental benefits.

scholarly journals Enrichment of Integrated Steel Plant Process Gases with Implementation of Renewable Energy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Roza Medved ◽  
Markus Lehner ◽  
Daniel C. Rosenfeld ◽  
Johannes Lindorfer ◽  
Katharina Rechberger
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Coke Oven ◽  
Biomass Gasification ◽  
Plant Size ◽  
Basic Oxygen Furnace ◽  
Steel Plant ◽  
Integrated Steel Plant ◽  
Process Gases

The steel industry is one of the most important industry sectors, but also one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters. The process gases produced in an integrated steel plant, blast furnace gas (BFG), basic oxygen furnace gas (BOFG) and coke oven gas (COG), are due to high shares of inert gas (N2) in large part energy poor but also providing a potential carbon source (CO and CO2) for the catalytic hydrogenation to methane by integration of a Power-to-Gas (PtG) plant. Furthermore, by interconnecting a biomass gasification, an additional biogenic H2 source is provided. Three possible implementation scenarios for a PtG and a biomass gasification plant, including mass and energy balances were analysed. The scenarios stipulate a direct conversion of BFG and BOFG resulting in high shares of N2 in the feed gas of the methanation. Laboratory experimental tests have shown that the methanation of BFG and BOFG is technically possible without prior separation of CO2. The methane-rich product gas can be utilised in the steel plant and substitutes for natural gas. The implementation of these renewable energy sources results in a significant reduction of CO2 emissions between 0.81 and 4.6 Mio tCO2,eq/a. However, the scenarios are significantly limited in terms of available electrolysis plant size, renewable electricity and biomass.

scholarly journals Production of Negative-Emissions Steel Using a Reducing Gas Derived from DFB Gasification

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4835
Author(s):  
Sébastien Pissot ◽  
Henrik Thunman ◽  
Peter Samuelsson ◽  
Martin Seemann
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Cost Estimation ◽  
Direct Reduction ◽  
Steel Production ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
Basic Oxygen Furnace ◽  
Energetic Efficiency ◽  
Reducing Gas ◽  
Negative Emissions ◽  
The Cost

A dual fluidized bed (DFB) gasification process is proposed to produce sustainable reducing gas for the direct reduction (DR) of iron ore. This novel steelmaking route is compared with the established process for DR, which is based on natural gas, and with the emerging DR technology using electrolysis-generated hydrogen as the reducing gas. The DFB-DR route is found to produce reducing gas that meets the requirement of the DR reactor, based on existing MIDREX plants, and which is produced with an energetic efficiency comparable with the natural gas route. The DFB-DR path is the only route considered that allows negative CO2 emissions, enabling a 145% decrease in emissions relative to the traditional blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF–BOF) route. A reducing gas cost between 45–60 EUR/MWh is obtained, which makes it competitive with the hydrogen route, but not the natural gas route. The cost estimation for liquid steel production shows that, in Sweden, the DFB-DR route cannot compete with the natural gas and BF–BOF routes without a cost associated with carbon emissions and a revenue attributed to negative emissions. When the cost and revenue are set as equal, the DFB-DR route becomes the most competitive for a carbon price >60 EUR/tCO2.

scholarly journals An Economic Model to Assess Profitable Scenarios of EAF-Based Steelmaking Plants under Uncertain Conditions

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
pp. 7395
Author(s):  
Francesco Facchini ◽  
Giorgio Mossa ◽  
Giovanni Mummolo ◽  
Micaela Vitti
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Direct Reduction ◽  
Steel Production ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Basic Oxygen Furnace ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Steel Scrap ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Market Uncertainty ◽  
Economic Point

The steelmaking processes are considered extremely energy-intensive and carbon-dependent processes. In 2018, it was estimated that the emissions from global steel production represented 7–9% of direct emissions generated by fossil fuels. It was estimated that a specific emissions value of 1.8 tCO2 per ton of steel was produced due to the carbon-dependent nature of the traditional blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route. Therefore, it is necessary to find an alternative solution to the BF-BOF route for steel production to counteract this negative trend, resulting in being sustainable from an environmental and economic point of view. To this concern, the objective of this work consists of developing a total cost function to assess the economic convenience of steelmaking processes considering the variability of specific market conditions (i.e., iron ore price, scraps price, energy cost, etc.). To this purpose, a direct reduction (DR) process fueled with natural gas (NG) to feed an electric arc furnace (EAF) using recycled steel scrap was considered. The approach introduced is totally new; it enables practitioners, managers, and experts to conduct a preliminary economic assessment of innovative steelmaking solutions under market uncertainty. A numerical simulation has been conducted to evaluate the profitability of the investment considering the economic and environmental costs. It emerged that the investment is profitable in any case from an economic perspective. On the contrary, considering the environmental costs, the profitability of the investment is not guaranteed under certain circumstances.

scholarly journals Performance assessment of integrated energy systems for the production of renewable hydrogen energy carriers

2020 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 01007
Author(s):  
Francesco Lonis ◽  
Vittorio Tola ◽  
Giorgio Cau
Keyword(s):  
Energy Systems ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Hydrogen Energy ◽  
Catalytic Reactor ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Integrated Energy Systems ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Renewable Hydrogen

To guarantee a smooth transition to a clean and low-carbon society without abandoning all of a sudden liquid fuels and products derived from fossil resources, power-to-liquids processes can be used to exploit an excess of renewable energy, producing methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) from the conversion of hydrogen and recycled CO2. Such a system could behave as an energy storage system, and/or a source of fuels and chemicals for a variety of applications in several industrial sectors. This paper concerns the conceptual design, performance analysis and comparison of small-scale decentralised integrated energy systems to produce methanol and DME from renewable hydrogen and captured CO2. Renewable hydrogen is produced exploiting excess RES. Water electrolysis is carried out considering two different technologies alternatively: commercially mature low temperature alkaline electrolysers (AEL) and innovative high temperature solid oxide electrolysers (SOEC). A first conversion of hydrogen and CO2 takes place in a catalytic reactor where methanol is synthesised through the hydrogenation process. Methanol is then purified in a distillation column. Depending on the final application, methanol can be further converted into DME through catalytic dehydration in another catalytic reactor. The chemical (either methanol or DME) is stored at ambient conditions and used as necessary. To predict the performance of the main components and of the overall system, numerical simulation models were developed using the software Aspen Plus. The performance and efficiencies of each section and of the overall systems were evaluated through extensive mass and energy balances. Globally, the overall power-to-liquids efficiency was found to be above 0.55 for all the different configurations, both considering a powerto-methanol or a power-to-DME process.

scholarly journals Energy Intensity of Steel Manufactured Utilising EAF Technology as a Function of Investments Made: The Case of the Steel Industry in Poland

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 5152
Author(s):  
Bożena Gajdzik ◽  
Włodzimierz Sroka ◽  
Jolita Vveinhardt
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Steel Industry ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Intensity ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Steel Production ◽  
Basic Oxygen Furnace ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Steel Scrap

The production of steel in the world is dominated by two types of technologies: BF + BOF (the blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace, also known as integrated steel plants) and EAF (the electric arc furnace). The BF + BOF process uses a lot of natural resources (iron ore is a feedstock for steel production) and fossil fuels. As a result, these steel mills have a significantly negative impact on the environment. In turn, EAF technology is characterised by very low direct emissions and very high indirect emissions. The raw material for steel production is steel scrap, the processing of which is highly energy-consuming. This paper analyses the energy intensity of steel production in Poland as a function of investments made in the steel industry in the years 2000–2019. Statistical data on steel production in the EAF process in Poland (which represents an approximately 50% share of the steel produced, as the rest is produced utilising the BF + BOF process) was used. Slight fluctuations are caused by the periodic switching of technology for economic or technical reasons. The hypothesis stating that there is a relationship between the volume of steel production utilising the EAF process and the energy consumption of the process, which is influenced by investments, was formulated. Econometric modelling was used as the research method and three models were constructed: (1) a two-factor power model; (2) a linear two-factor model; and (3) a linear one-factor model. Our findings show that the correlation is negative, that is, along with the increase in technological investments in electric steel plants in Poland, a decrease in the energy consumption of steel produced in electric furnaces was noted during the analysed period.

scholarly journals Driving investments in ore beneficiation and scrap upgrading to meet an increased demand from the direct reduction-EAF route

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rutger Gyllenram ◽  
Niloofar Arzpeyma ◽  
Wenjing Wei ◽  
Pär G. Jönsson
Keyword(s):  
Iron Ore ◽  
Direct Reduction ◽  
Steel Production ◽  
Silica Content ◽  
Basic Oxygen Furnace ◽  
Ore Pellets ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Major Transition ◽  
Conservative Estimation ◽  
The Cost

AbstractThe pressure on the steel industry to reduce its carbon footprint has led to discussions to replace coke as the main reductant for iron ore and turn to natural gas, bio-syngas or hydrogen. Such a major transition from the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace route, to the direct reduction-electric arc furnace route, for steel production would drastically increase the demand for both suitable iron ore pellets and high-quality scrap. The value for an EAF plant to reduce the SiO2 content in DRI by 2 percentage points and the dirt content of scrap by 0.3 percentage points Si was estimated by using the optimization and calculation tool RAWMATMIX®. Three plant types were studied: (i) an integrated plant using internal scrap, (ii) a plant using equal amounts of scrap and DRI and (iii) a plant using a smaller fraction of DRI in relation to the scrap amount. Also, the slag volume for each plant type was studied. Finally, the cost for upgrading was estimated based on using mainly heuristic values. A conservative estimation of the benefit of decreasing the silica content in DRI from 4 to 2% is 20 USD/t DRI or 15 USD/t DR pellets and a conservative figure for the benefit of decreasing the dirt in scrap by 0.3 percentage points Si is 9 USD/t scrap. An estimate on the costs for the necessary ore beneficiation is 2.5 USD/t pellet concentrate and for a scrap upgrade, it is 1-2 USD/t scrap.

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