• Xie, Dongsheng
• Haque, Nawshad
• Jahanshahi, Sharif
• Norgate, Terry
• Deev, Alex
• Mathieson, John
• Pan, Yuhua
• Ridgeway, Phillip
• Zulli, Paul

Abstract

This paper provides a summary of the progress made over the 8 years of an R&D program that focused on the development of know-how and processes that could result in substantial reduction in net CO2 emission by the steel industry. The processes that were developed covered introduction of renewable carbon and energy sources as well as minimising waste heat from processes. The current status of each of the processes and application areas is provided. The use of biomass-derived fuels and reductants in the ironmaking and steelmaking industry provides a sustainable option for reducing net CO2 emissions at a lower capital cost and technological risk than other breakthrough technologies under development. A key focus of this program has been to partially substitute these fossil-based fuels with renewable carbon (charcoal) from sustainable sources such as plantations of biomass species or forest wastes. Raw biomass is unsuitable for applications in ironmaking and steelmaking and should be converted into charcoal (char) through a pyrolysis process before use. A new pyrolysis process which operates continuously and autogenously has been developed and piloted. The biomass-derived chars and hydrocarbon fuels have great potential in lowering the net CO2 emissions of integrated (BF-BOF route) steel plants. Life cycle assessment has quantified the potential reduction in net CO2 emissions and covers cradle to gate, including plantation, harvesting, transport, pyrolysis and use of chars and bio-oil products. The properties of chars produced by biomass pyrolysis can be tailored to each of the several applications proposed (sintering solid fuel, cokemaking blend component, blast furnace tuyere injectant, liquid steel recarburiser, etc.), thus resulting in optimal performance and greater value-in-use of the char. Our economic analysis has made allowance for such value-in-use in applications, particularly as a replacement for BF pulverised coal injection. This analysis shows that key factors influencing the economics are the net cost of producing charcoal from biomass, selection of pyrolysis technology, value of the pyrolysis by-products, as well as the value-in-use for the charcoal. Dry slag granulation (DSG) has the potential to make a fundamental change in slag treatment and deliver a more sustainable alternative compared with the conventional water granulation process. The DSG process not only saves valuable water resources and reduces sulphurous emissions, but it may also recover a large amount of the high-grade heat in molten slag so to reduce greenhouse gas emission. CSIRO has been working on the development of a novel DSG process, integrated with heat recovery, since 2002 and has made significant progress in process design and optimisation based on process modelling, laboratory investigations, extensive pilot plant trials and characterisation of the solidified product granules.

Topics

• pyrolysis
• impedance spectroscopy
• Carbon
• steel
• sintering