HIsarna, a Low CO2 Ironmaking Process

Johan van Boggelen, Tata Steel RD&T

January 10 2012

Cleveland Institution of Engineers, Middlesbrough, UK

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• Need for Step Change

• ULCOS Blast Furnace

• HIsarna

• Future Strategy

Outline

3

The Sustainability Challenge

Growth Sustainability

World steel consumption

will double by 2050

Ambition to cut CO2 emissions

by 50 % in 2050

4

Business Challenges in Europe

Fast growth

Asia, Latin America, Middle EastMature markets

Europe, North America

Global climate change

Scarcity of prime raw materials Competition on price and quality

CO2 emission rights EU-ETS, license to operate

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Need for a Step Change

• Integrated steel plants amongst the largest point sources of CO2

• Highly visible to government and public

• Legislation in developed countries (Europe, North America, Japan)

pushing for ever lower constraints

• Obligation to make a significant contribution

• Bad news: Continuous improvement: too little, too late.

• Good news: majority of CO2 emissions is related to ironmaking

• Focus on ironmaking

6

ULCOS Programme

• Ultra LowCO2 Steelmaking

• Consortium of European steel companies

• Aim:

To decrease the specific CO2 emitted by the steel industry

by 50% in 2050

• Started in 2004

• Initial budget: 60 M€, increase to 70 M€

• Numerous ideas to reach objective

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Ironmaking: Options for Step Change

• Recycling of CO from Blast Furnace top gas

• Capture and storage of CO2

• Use of Biomass

• Substitution of carbon reductant by H2

• Use of Carbon-lean DRI, HBI, LRI

• Use of Carbon-lean electricity

Four technologies selected for further development

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2 technologies most relevant for Tata Steel

� Blast Furnace top-gas recycling

� Smelting reduction (HIsarna)

� Advanced direct reduction (ULCORED)

� Iron ore electrolysis (ULCOWIN)

Selected high potential technologies

ULCOS Blast Furnace

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• CO2 removal from top gas

• Reheating of CO/H2 gas

• Re-injection of CO/H2

• Use of pure Oxygen

• Storage of CO2 possible

The ULCOS Blast Furnace: Concept

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Flow sheets

Gas

cleaning

CO2 400 Nm3/t

CO2

scrubber

Oxygen

PCI

Gas

heater

Coke Top gas

(CO, CO2, H2, N2)

Re-injection

Gas net

(N2 purge)

CO, H2, N2

V4900 °°°°C

1250 °°°°C

V3

1250 °°°°C

XV1900 °°°°C

25 °°°°C

Expected C-savings

25 % 24 % 21 %

Gas

cleaning

CO2 400 Nm3/t

CO2

scrubber

Oxygen

PCI

Gas

heater

Coke Top gas

(CO, CO2, H2, N2)

Re-injection

Gas net

(N2 purge)

CO, H2, N2

V4900 °°°°C

1250 °°°°C

V4900 °°°°C

1250 °°°°C

V3

1250 °°°°C

XV3

1250 °°°°C

XV1900 °°°°C

25 °°°°C

V1900 °°°°C

25 °°°°C

Expected C-savings

25 % 24 % 21 %

Expected C-savings

25 % 24 % 21 %

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Expected Benefits ULCOS-BF

• 25 % less carbon usage

• 50 % CO2 reduction if CO2 storage is applied

• 35 % coke rate reduction

• Productivity increase (to be determined)

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LKAB’s Experimental Blast Furnaceat MEFOS Luleå, Sweden

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CO2 capture (VPSA) near the EBF

BF gas compressorGas holder tail gas

Absorber vessels

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Conclusions ULCOS Blast Furnace

• EBF successfully operated with the new ULCOS BF process

• No safety issue has been recorded with the new process

• The EBF and VPSA operations were smooth with good results

• Carbon savings were up to 24 %

• The VPSA plant was able to remove CO2 efficiently from BF top gas

• For the steelmaking site, with the application of CO2 capture and

storage a saving of 60% is possible

• Campaigns showed that conventional burden material can be used

• The EBF campaigns can be considered as a great success

HIsarna

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HIsarna versus blast furnace route

Iron ore

coal

coke

sinter

Liquid iron

Blast furnace

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HIsarna versus blast furnace route

Iron ore

coal

coke

sinter

Liquid iron

Blast furnace

Direct use of coal and ore

No coking and agglomeration

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HIsarna technology

The HIsarna technology combines:

• Cyclone Converter Furnace (CCF) pre-reduction technology

• HIsmelt final reduction technology

HIsmelt

iron oreiron ore

oxygenoxygen

iron oreiron ore

oxygenoxygen

CCF

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HIsarna technology

The HIsarna technology combines:

• Cyclone Converter Furnace (CCF) pre-reduction technology

• HIsmelt final reduction technology

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HIsarna process fundamentals

• SRV gas enters the cyclone from below

• Injected O2 combust part of the gas

• Fine ore reacts with CO and H2

• Coal is partly gasified with O2

• Carbon (from coal) reacts with iron oxides

• Carburized metal collects in the SRV

• Gas is partly post combusted with O2

Off gas

Ore

Smelter gasPre-reducedore

SlagHot metal

Coal

Pre-reduction stage

(Melting cyclone)

Final reduction stage

(SRV)

O2

O2

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Key features

Post combustion

Utilisation of the heat of post combustion

(CO � CO2) is essential for the process

The heat of post combustion is captured by the

slag splash that circulates through the freeboard

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Key features

Post combustion Ratio (PCR)

Utilisation of the heat of post combustion

(CO � CO2) is essential for the process

The heat of post combustion is captured by the

slag splash that circulates through the freeboard

PCR = 50-60 %

PCR > 90 %

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Key features

Coal injection technology

Coal injection supplies the carbon and creates

intense mixing

Coal injection generates the splash required

for heat transfer efficiency

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Key features

Melting and partial reduction of fine iron ores

The cyclone product is a molten iron oxide(20 % pre-reduced)

The fines are separated from the gas by

centrifugal flow of the gas

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Expected benefits of HIsarna

• 20 % reduction of CO2 per ton steel product

• Well suited for CO2 storage (nitrogen-free off gas)

• 80 % reduction with CO2 storage

• Substantial reduction of other emissions (dust, NOx, SOx, CO)

• Use of biomass possible

• Increased flexibility raw material usage

• Ores with P, Zn, alkalines, S

• Steam coals and coals with high ash

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Objectives pilot plant

• Test new and innovative

combination of the two reactors

• Determine key process

parameters

• Collect data for economic analysis

• Collect environmental data

• Collect engineering data

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Pilot plant construction

• The HIsarna pilot plant was designed by

the ULCOS partners and HIsmelt

• The plant was constructed by Tata Steel

IJmuiden Engineering and Project

department

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Cold commissioningJanuary 2011

Pilot Plant Construction Phase

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The first campaign (A)

• The plant was operated from April 18 to June 11, 2011

• The team:

• Tata Steel Operations

• Tata Steel Research

• ULCOS partners

• Rio Tinto

• 4 start-ups took place

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Overview of Campaign A

• The first start-up (A-1) was not successful

• Several improvements were made after test A-1

• The next 3 start-up’s were successfully carried out

Week 16 Week 17 Week 18 Week 19 Week 20 Week 21 Week 22 Week 23

April-18 April-25 May-2 May-9 May-16 May-23 May-30 June-6

Heat-Up

Test A-1

Plant improvements

Test A-2

Test A-3

Test A-4

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First metal tap at 20/05/2011 (Test A-2)

Forehearth runner

HIsarna plant

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Results first HIsarna campaign

• After many “teething problems” the plant and all its

support systems were finally operational

• 3 successful start-ups were carried out

• 60 % of the injection capacity was achieved

• Available data indicates that process works as expected

but more operating hours are needed to prove this

• The number of operating hours was below expectation -

Continuation foreseen second half of 2012

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Forward plan

Pilot plant experiments

2010 2011 2012 2013

Construction pilot plant

Commissioning

Campaigns A.

B.

C.

Demonstration scale: 2014-2018

Commercial scale: 2020?

Strategic Outlook

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Time scale

2004

2009

20102011

2012

2007

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• Coal (carbon) based technologies

+ Brownfield (BF-TGR, HIsarna) / Greenfield (HIsarna)

+ Efficient reductant

+ Good energy carrier

– Carbon capture, transportation & storage technology & infrastructure

• Hydrogen (carbon-free) based technologies

– More expensive than coal

– Less favourable energy carrier than coal

– Green hydrogen technology & infrastructure

+ Potential long term option for 100% CO2-free steel

• Electricity based technologies

– Green power generation

– Technology in its infancy stage

+ Potential long term option for 100% CO2-free steel

Strategic Options from

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Will HIsarna beat the blast furnace?

• HIsarna

• Campaigns until 2014.

• Design, engineering and operation of demonstration scale: 2014-2018

• Commercialisation > 2020

• Demonstration scale ULCOS-BF

• Commercial scale BF operation 2012-2018

• Retro-fitted blast furnaces

• Including CO2 capture, transportation and storage (until 2025)

• Keeping both options open

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Summary & Outlook

• Long-term horizon (2050) changing to near-term (2020)

• Sustainability of steel in Europe heavily influenced by

• Costs of raw materials, energy and CO2

• Plant longevity, configuration planning

• Flexibility

• CO2 not the only driver for innovation

• Need for speed & perseverance

• Way of working:

• Pre-competitive collaboration

• Sharing costs, risks and benefits

• Turn pressure into an advantage

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Thank you for your attention