Abstract
Production of iron and steel releases seven percent of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Incremental changes in present primary steel production technologies would not be sufficient to meet the emission reduction targets. Replacing coke, used in the blast furnaces as a reducing agent, with hydrogen produced from water electrolysis has the potential to reduce emissions from iron and steel production substantially. Mass and energy flow model based on an open-source software (Python) has been developed in this work to explore the feasibility of using hydrogen direct reduction of iron ore (HDRI) coupled with electric arc furnace (EAF) for carbon-free steel production. Modeling results show that HDRI-EAF technology could reduce specific emissions from steel production in the EU by more than 35 % , at present grid emission levels (295 kgCO2/MWh). The energy consumption for 1 ton of liquid steel (tls) production through the HDRI-EAF route was found to be 3.72 MWh, which is slightly more than the 3.48 MWh required for steel production through the blast furnace (BF) basic oxygen furnace route (BOF). Pellet making and steel finishing processes have not been considered. Sensitivity analysis revealed that electrolyzer efficiency is the most important factor affecting the system energy consumption, while the grid emission factor is strongly correlated with the overall system emissions.
Highlights
Anthropogenic climate change is one of society’s greatest challenges
hydrogen direct reduction of iron ore (HDRI)-electric arc furnace (EAF) based steel production is a viable alternative to blast furnace (BF)-basic oxygen furnace route (BOF) based steel production, but adoption of the technology would depend on the future cost of electrolyzers and electricity
Sensitivity analysis revealed that electrolyzer efficiency is the most important factor affecting the system energy consumption, while the grid emission factor is strongly correlated with the overall system emissions
Summary
Anthropogenic climate change is one of society’s greatest challenges. Decarbonization of all sectors of the energy system is essential to mitigate climate change. The industrial sector consumes one-third of the primary energy resources and releases one-quarter of the energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, it has not received as much attention from researchers and policy-makers as other demand sectors like electricity generation, buildings and transport etc. The non-homogeneity of industrial plants and the use of fossil fuels as feedstock makes it difficult to find effective strategies to decarbonize industries. Are referred to as energy-intensive industries (EII) because they use energy resources as primary raw material. Energy efficiency has played a major role in reducing the industrial sector’s energy intensity and emissions. Incremental changes in current industrial production technologies would not reach the emission reduction goals needed to avoid catastrophic effects of anthropogenic climate change [1,2]
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