Biomass as blast furnace injectant – Considering availability, pretreatment and deployment in the Swedish steel industry

Abstract

a b s t r a c tWe have investigated and modeled the injection of biomass into blast furnaces (BF), in place of pulverized coal (PC) from fossil sources. This is the easiest way to reduce CO 2 emissions, beyond efficiencyimprovements. The considered biomass is either pelletized, torrefied or pyrolyzed. It gives us three cases where we have calculated the maximum replacement ratio for each. It was found that charcoal from pyrolysis can fully replace PC, while torrefied material and pelletized wood can replace 22.8% and 20.0% respectively, by weight.Our energy and mass balance model (MASMOD), with metallurgical sub-models for each zone, further indicates that (1) more Blast Furnace Gas (BFG) will be generated resulting in reduced fuel consumption in an integrated plant, (2) lower need of limestone can be expected, (3) lower amount of generated slag as well, and (4) reduced fuel consumption for heating the hot blast is anticipated. Overall, substantial energy savings are possible, which is one of the main findings in this paper.Due to the high usage of PC in Sweden, large amounts of biomass is required if full substitution by charcoal is pursued (6.19 TWh/y). But according to our study, it is likely available in the long term for the blast furnace designated M3 (located in Luleå).Finally, over a year with almost fully used production capacity (2008 used as reference), a 28.1% reduction in on-site emissions is possible by using charcoal. Torrefied material and wood pellets can reduce the emissions by 6.4% and 5.7% respectively. The complete replacement of PC in BF M3 can reduce 17.3% of the total emissions from the Swedish steel industry.

Novel Approach Towards Biomass Lignin Utilization in Ironmaking Blast Furnace

“…Intensive work is being done to mitigate the CO 2 emissions in steel industry by partial substitution of fossil fuels (coal and coke) with renewable source of energy such as biomass. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] One of biomass materials which could be used as binder for briquettes and reducing agent in blast furnace is lignin. Lignin is considered as the second most abundant renewable biomass on the earth after cellulose and it represents about 30% of the total raw biomass.…”

Clean, efficient, affordable and reliable energy for a sustainable future

“…Wang et al [30] injected pelletized, torrefied or pyrolyzed biomass into blast furnaces in place of pulverized coal, and noted their replacements could be up to 100%, 22.8% and 20.0%, respectively.…”

Self-Reduction Behavior of Bio-Coal Containing Iron Ore Composites

“…Coke and coal as main reducing agents in the BF are the main contributors to CO 2 emitted during iron and steel making. The European Union (EU) has set a target to cut 80% of the CO 2 of fossil carbon, by 2050 [3]. In several studies the possible decrease in fossil CO 2 emissions by using biomass is reported [4][5][6].…”