Cost Effective CO2 Reduction in the Iron & Steel Industry by Means of the SEWGS Technology: STEPWISE Project

Abstract

In the STEPWISE project, the Sorption Enhanced Water-Gas Shift (SEWGS) CO2 capture technology is brought to TRL6 by means of design, construction, operation and modelling a pilot installation in the Iron and Steel industry using actual Blast Furnace Gas (BFG). This advanced CO2 removal technology makes use of regenerative solid adsorbents. The STEPWISE project represents the essential demonstration step within the research, development and demonstration trajectory of the SEWGS technology. This project will further reduce the risks associated with scaling up of the technology. The pilot has been constructed and the initial pilot campaigns have been performed. Major achievements are the demonstration of sorbent production at tonnage scale, robust operation of the pre-shift section at lowered steam conditions, and SEWGS performance at >90% H2S removal efficiency and >90% CO2 capture rate at 90% product purity. Emphasis is currently on 2nd pilot campaign to complete the techno-economic analysis and the life-cycle- assessment studies, costing of a full-size installation and the business plan. The preliminary technical evaluation illustrates that the SPECCA coefficient, illustrating the energy requirement for capture, is below 2 which is around 30% lower than the amine-based case. The LCA indicates that all impact parameters are lower for the STEPWISE cases compared to post combustion amine scrubbing reference case.