Brief Analysis of Low-Carbon Frontier Technologies
Brief Analysis of Low-Carbon Frontier Technologies
At present, blast furnace-converter long process steelmaking still occupies a dominant position in steelmaking enterprises in my country. Generally speaking, the traditional blast furnace process requires 350 kg of coke and 150 kg of pulverized coal to produce 1 ton of pig iron. Due to the use of fossil energy, large amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are emitted during the process of ironmaking and steelmaking. Therefore, low-carbon metallurgical technology is considered to be an important starting point for carbon emission reduction in the steel industry in the future.
At present, low-carbon metallurgical projects that are considered to be more promising include the Japanese COURSE50 plan, the Swedish SSAB company's breakthrough hydrogen ironmaking technology (HYBRIT) project, the European ultra-low carbon dioxide emission steelmaking process ULCOS project, and the German Carbon2Chem project. Low-carbon ironmaking is the core, exploring the path of low-carbon ironmaking industrialization, and realizing energy-saving, emission-reduction, and high-efficiency green development.
The COURSE50 project in Japan has developed a hydrogen reduction ironmaking method that uses hydrogen instead of coke as a reducing agent to reduce carbon emissions from blast furnaces. It is expected that the carbon reduction target achieved through the development and application of this technology is 10%. The small-scale experimental blast furnace built at Nippon Steel's Sumikin Junjin Plant in 2015 was used to carry out blast furnace gas upgrading hydrogen-rich coke and blast furnace tuyere injection tests, and then the furnace body disassembly study was conducted to confirm partial hydrogen reduction using hydrogen as a reducing agent The ironmaking method can make the carbon dioxide emission value close to the desired emission reduction target.
The European ULCOS project has studied the top gas circulation process (TGR-BF) in the low-carbon blast furnace ironmaking technology. The process has three main features: one is to use pure oxygen instead of traditional preheated air (that is, full oxygen injection); the other is to separate, capture and store carbon dioxide; and the third is to use the recycled carbon monoxide cycle as a reducing agent to reduce coke Usage amount. The test results show that the TGR-BF process has the characteristics of easy operation, good safety, high efficiency and strong stability. Among them, part of the top gas after carbon dioxide is heated to 1200 degrees Celsius, oxygen and pulverized coal are mixed into the furnace through the hearth tuyere, and the top gas after carbon dioxide is heated to 900 degrees Celsius, from the appropriate position of the furnace body Injection has the best emission reduction effect, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 26%, and is determined to be the first choice for the next industrial-scale blast furnace test.
Based on the ULCOS project, the HYBRIT project will study the direct reduction process using hydrogen, which is produced using non-fossil energy. Hydrogen reacts with pellets to produce direct reduced iron (DRI), which is charged into an electric furnace with scrap steel, or made into hot briquette iron for storage or sale. The core of the HYBRIT project is to upgrade technology and reduce costs, so that hydrogen smelting steel is economically competitive with traditional coke iron smelting. Both coke and hydrogen can be used as reducing agents to remove impurities in iron ore. The carbon dioxide emissions in the traditional steel smelting process account for 90% of the industry. For example, if hydrogen is used to replace coke, the hydrogen will react with the oxygen in the iron ore to generate water vapor, achieving zero carbon emissions.
Different from the above-mentioned technologies to reduce carbon emissions, the Carbon2Chem project uses chemical raw materials contained in the exhaust gas of steel mills, such as carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen in the form of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, to produce synthetic gas containing carbon and hydrogen, and then It is used in the production of various primary chemical products such as ammonia, methanol, polymers and higher alcohols to replace the current fossil raw materials such as natural gas and coal. Therefore, Carbon2Chem can not only convert the carbon dioxide in the exhaust gas of steel mills, but also save the use of carbon resources in the production of such synthetic gas. In September 2018, ThyssenKrupp's Car-bon2Chem project successfully converted steel mill exhaust gas into synthetic fuel and produced the first batch of methanol. In January 2019, ThyssenKrupp successfully used steel mill exhaust gas to produce ammonia, which was the first time in the world. ThyssenKrupp announced that there are currently about 50 steel mills in the world that meet the conditions for the introduction of the Carbon2Chem project, and have begun to establish contacts with interested parties around the world to discuss the application of the technology to other carbon dioxide-intensive industries.
At present, blast furnace-converter long process steelmaking still occupies a dominant position in steelmaking enterprises in my country. Generally speaking, the traditional blast furnace process requires 350 kg of coke and 150 kg of pulverized coal to produce 1 ton of pig iron. Due to the use of fossil energy, large amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are emitted during the process of ironmaking and steelmaking. Therefore, low-carbon metallurgical technology is considered to be an important starting point for carbon emission reduction in the steel industry in the future.
At present, low-carbon metallurgical projects that are considered to be more promising include the Japanese COURSE50 plan, the Swedish SSAB company's breakthrough hydrogen ironmaking technology (HYBRIT) project, the European ultra-low carbon dioxide emission steelmaking process ULCOS project, and the German Carbon2Chem project. Low-carbon ironmaking is the core, exploring the path of low-carbon ironmaking industrialization, and realizing energy-saving, emission-reduction, and high-efficiency green development.
The COURSE50 project in Japan has developed a hydrogen reduction ironmaking method that uses hydrogen instead of coke as a reducing agent to reduce carbon emissions from blast furnaces. It is expected that the carbon reduction target achieved through the development and application of this technology is 10%. The small-scale experimental blast furnace built at Nippon Steel's Sumikin Junjin Plant in 2015 was used to carry out blast furnace gas upgrading hydrogen-rich coke and blast furnace tuyere injection tests, and then the furnace body disassembly study was conducted to confirm partial hydrogen reduction using hydrogen as a reducing agent The ironmaking method can make the carbon dioxide emission value close to the desired emission reduction target.
The European ULCOS project has studied the top gas circulation process (TGR-BF) in the low-carbon blast furnace ironmaking technology. The process has three main features: one is to use pure oxygen instead of traditional preheated air (that is, full oxygen injection); the other is to separate, capture and store carbon dioxide; and the third is to use the recycled carbon monoxide cycle as a reducing agent to reduce coke Usage amount. The test results show that the TGR-BF process has the characteristics of easy operation, good safety, high efficiency and strong stability. Among them, part of the top gas after carbon dioxide is heated to 1200 degrees Celsius, oxygen and pulverized coal are mixed into the furnace through the hearth tuyere, and the top gas after carbon dioxide is heated to 900 degrees Celsius, from the appropriate position of the furnace body Injection has the best emission reduction effect, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 26%, and is determined to be the first choice for the next industrial-scale blast furnace test.
Based on the ULCOS project, the HYBRIT project will study the direct reduction process using hydrogen, which is produced using non-fossil energy. Hydrogen reacts with pellets to produce direct reduced iron (DRI), which is charged into an electric furnace with scrap steel, or made into hot briquette iron for storage or sale. The core of the HYBRIT project is to upgrade technology and reduce costs, so that hydrogen smelting steel is economically competitive with traditional coke iron smelting. Both coke and hydrogen can be used as reducing agents to remove impurities in iron ore. The carbon dioxide emissions in the traditional steel smelting process account for 90% of the industry. For example, if hydrogen is used to replace coke, the hydrogen will react with the oxygen in the iron ore to generate water vapor, achieving zero carbon emissions.
Different from the above-mentioned technologies to reduce carbon emissions, the Carbon2Chem project uses chemical raw materials contained in the exhaust gas of steel mills, such as carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen in the form of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, to produce synthetic gas containing carbon and hydrogen, and then It is used in the production of various primary chemical products such as ammonia, methanol, polymers and higher alcohols to replace the current fossil raw materials such as natural gas and coal. Therefore, Carbon2Chem can not only convert the carbon dioxide in the exhaust gas of steel mills, but also save the use of carbon resources in the production of such synthetic gas. In September 2018, ThyssenKrupp's Car-bon2Chem project successfully converted steel mill exhaust gas into synthetic fuel and produced the first batch of methanol. In January 2019, ThyssenKrupp successfully used steel mill exhaust gas to produce ammonia, which was the first time in the world. ThyssenKrupp announced that there are currently about 50 steel mills in the world that meet the conditions for the introduction of the Carbon2Chem project, and have begun to establish contacts with interested parties around the world to discuss the application of the technology to other carbon dioxide-intensive industries.
