Challenges and opportunities for the steel industry

It is important to evaluate the environmental impact of steel production. Several countries have imposed environmental safety regulations to restrict the amount of GHG (especially Co2) emitted by industrial sectors. This puts pressure on steel producers to come up with new processes or techniques to produce high quality steel. At the same time reducing CO2 emissions and limiting energy consumption.

Ultra – Low CO2 Steelmaking (ULCOS), a consortium made up of 48 European companies and 15 European organizations, is working on a research and development project. Focused on finding opportunities to produce steel using techniques that have at least a 50% reduction in Co2 emissions.

Four concepts for quality steel production:

1. Carbon capture and storage (CCS)

With CCS technology, 90% of the Co2 that is emitted is captured and prevented from being released into the atmosphere. Instead, the captured Co is compressed by high pressure. Being transformed into a liquid and injected into a place of rock formation to be permanently stored underground. Although this seems, in theory, to be a very effective way of preventing Co2 emissions, there could be problems with finding a large space of land to store the emitted Co2.

2. HIsarna technology

The HIsarna technology for iron production is based on a reactor in which iron ore is injected in the upper part. The ore is liquefied at high temperature and dripped into the bottom of the reactor where powdered coal is injected.

This process requires less coal use. And, therefore, it reduces the amount of CO2 emissions and energy consumption. Since May 2011, a pilot project using this technology has been operating in the Tata Steel factory in Ijmuiden, Holland.

The economic and environmental benefits of HIsarna technology:

– it is observed that operational costs have been reduced compared to the costs of applying the traditional method;

– energy savings of up to 20% are observed;

– low quality raw materials can be used in this process.

3. Electrolysis

Replacing BOF technology with an electrolysis method can prevent millions of tons of CO2 emissions. As a common electrolysis method, iron ore is dissolved in a solvent at high temperature and current is passed through it to cause ionization. The iron is then deposited near the electrode in the reactor by this method, thus producing iron in a completely different way. This project is still in the preliminary stages of the laboratory.

4. The use of hydrogen instead of carbon

The use of hydrogen instead of coal on the conventional BOF route is an effective way of eliminating CO2 emissions. Hydrogen is an excellent reducing agent and by replacing carbon with hydrogen, there is a high potential for reducing GHG emissions. Hydrogen reduces iron oxide to iron, thus emitting water vapor instead of Co2.

Conclusion

Manufacturers invest in several research and development projects to discover new ways of manufacturing steel, with the main objective of reducing emissions. Although these pilot projects are in the initial stages, the efforts made to preserve the environment are expected to bear fruit.

Article source: https://ww2.frost.com/frost-perspectives/challenges-and-opportunities-steel-industry/