COURSE50 (ultimate reduction of CO 2 in the steelmaking process through innovative technology for Cool Earth 50) aims to capture, separate, and recover CO 2 from blast furnace gas. From a practical realization viewpoint, three points are important. The first is energy consumption to regenerate the absorbent, second is the energy cost of the heat for regeneration, and third is the facility cost. The advantage afforded by the COURSE50 approach in relation to the CO 2 capture process is the utilization of unused waste heat from the steel mills. Energy consumption to regenerate the absorbent is determined mainly by three factors: the regeneration reaction determined primarily by the structure of the chemical absorbent, the energy required to heat that volume of absorption liquid, which is affected by the absorption rate of the agent, and the heat loss from the processes. The most influential factor is the energy required for the regeneration reaction. We discovered high-performance absorbents with the advantages of high absorption rates, high cyclic capacities, and low heats of reaction, and we then compared these with monoethanolamine (MEA) and N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA). The newly discovered absorbents performed well in terms of absorption rates and cyclic capacities. Among these absorbents, some showed lower heats of reaction than MDEA. These results provide a basic guideline for the discovery of potential amine-based absorbents that may lead to the development of new absorbent systems for CO 2 capture.Keywords CO 2 emissions mitigation Á Steelworks Á Separation and recovery of CO 2 from blast furnace gas Á Unused exhaust heat in steelworks
Preface OverviewWe have executed technology development through an innovative R&D program, the COURSE50 project [1,2]. This project, which commenced in fiscal 2008, aims to mitigate CO 2 emissions from integrated steel plants. Figure 1 presents an outline of the COURSE50 project and the two major areas of research.One area is the development of technology to reduce CO 2 emissions from blast furnaces, involving (1) reaction control technology to reduce iron ore by using hydrogen, (2) reforming technology for coke oven gas (COG) that increases the amount of hydrogen produce, and (3) technology to manufacture high-strength and high-reactivity coke for hydrogen-reduction blast furnaces.The other area is the development of technology to capture CO 2 from blast furnace gas (BFG) through chemical absorption and physical adsorption methods using unused waste heat in the steelworks. The final objective is