[Blog 7] Power to X routes for the decarbonization of ironmaking
Decarbonization of energy-intensive industries is a strategic objective addressed in European, national and regional policies to accomplish the ambitious target posed in the European Green Deal (2020): to reach a Europe climate neutral in 2050. Iron and Steel industry is one of the biggest CO2 emitters, accounting for the 7-9% of the global emissions, as well as an economic sector embedded in strategic value chains that involve 330.000 direct employs in the EU. The current policies together with the significant rise of the price of electricity (above 200 €/MWh), natural gas (159 €/MWh) and European Union Allowances (near 80 €/tCO2), are fostering the interest of the sector in the development of low-emission technologies.
The current main steel manufacturing routes are (1) blast furnace combined with basic oxygen furnaces (BF-BOF) and (2) electric arc furnace route (EAF). The former, with production share above 70%, is based on the reduction of iron ores with coke in a blast furnace at temperatures beyond 2000 ºC. BF-BOF is highly energy- and carbon-intensive, resulting in net energy comsumptions of 21-23 GJ per ton of crude steel (GJ/tCS) and specific emissions of 2200 kgCO2/tCS. The EAF route, which almost cover the remaining 30% of the world steel production, uses electricity as primary source of energy. Given that the main raw material in EAF route is ferreous scrap (up to 70%), the energy consumption and CO2 emisions are significantly lower, 2.1-5.2 GJ/tCS and 330-470 kgCO2/tCS, respectively. However, since the global steel demand cannot be covered through recycled scrap, the BF-BOF route will maintain its dominance in the market. Besides, blast furnaces will only phased-out at relining, which tipically takes places every 20-35 years, or up to 40 years for newly commisioned plants. Thus, at least 20% of today’s blast furnaces will still be in operation by year 2050.
Aiming for solutions that substantially reduce CO2 emissions while providing additional benefits, Power to X (PtX) stands out as a promising candidate. The Power to X concept includes all those processes that converts renewable electricity into valuable products, using an electrolysis stage to obtain either the final product or an intermediate product. In the case of the Iron and Steel industry, it can be performed electrolysis of iron oxides to directly dissociate the O2 and Fe (Power to Iron), electrolysis of the emitted CO2 to obtain syngas (Power to Syngas) or electrolysis of water to produce H2 (Power to Hydrogen). Moreover, both the syngas and the hydrogen can be used in a methanation process to obtain methane (Power to Methane), and the three of them are useful as reducing agents in the blast furnace to diminish the coke consumption. Additionally, the hydrogen can be used in a methanol synthesis process to consume the top gas emitted by the blast furnace.
The key of applying Power to X to the Iron and Steel industry is that, whatever the route used, there is always a benefit accompanying the additional energy consumption, contrarily to what happens in the case of conventional carbon capture. In most cases, the benefit is the reduction of fuel input, which is actually substituted by renewable energy either directly (as in Power to Steel and Power to Hydrogen) or indirectly through a carbon closed loop (as in Power to Syngas and Power to Methane). The other potential benefit is the production of valuable products for sale, as in Power to Methanol.
Project info
1 April 2021 – 30 June 2023
Total budget: 188,442.24 €
Spain
• University of Zaragoza
Japan
• Waseda University (Nakagaki Lab)
Austria
• K1-MET GmbH
General coordinator
M. Bailera (mbailera@unizar.es)
University of Zaragoza
Further information: cordis.europa.eu
[1] A review on CO2 mitigation in the Iron and Steel industry through Power to X processes. M Bailera, P Lisbona, B Peña, LM Romeo. Journal of CO2 Utilization, Volume 46, 1 April 2021, Pages 101456.
[2] CO2 recycling in the Iron and Steel Industry via Power-to-Gas and Oxy-Fuel Combustion. J Perpiñán, M Bailera, LM Romeo, B Peña, V Eveloy. Energies, Volume 14, 29 October 2021, Pages 7090.
[3] Revisiting the Rist diagram for predicting operating conditions in blast furnaces with multiple injections. M Bailera, T Nakagaki, R Kataoka. Open Research Europe, Volume 1:141, 29 November 2021.
[4] Synthetic natural gas production in a 1 kW reactor using Ni–Ce/Al2O3 and Ru–Ce/Al2O3: Kinetics, catalyst degradation and process design. M Bailera, P Lisbona, B Peña, A Alarcón, J Guilera, J Perpiñán, LM Romeo. Energy, Volume 256, 1 October 2022, Pages 124720.
[1] The global warming paradox of the colder winters
[2] Decarbonization of the industry: why electrification is not enough
[3] What is Power to Gas?
[4] How does it look a methanation plant? (laboratory at Unizar)
[5] Why the reutilization of CO2 must be smart?
[6] How does it work a Blast Furnace?
[7] Power to X routes for the decarbonization of ironmaking
[8] How does it look a blast furnace simulation? (Aspen Plus software)
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 887077.
Project info
1 April 2021 – 30 June 2023
Total budget: 188,442.24 €
Spain
• University of Zaragoza Japan
• Waseda University (Nakagaki Lab) Austria
• K1-MET GmbH
General coordinator
M. Bailera (mbailera@unizar.es)
University of Zaragoza
Further information: cordis.europa.eu
[1] A review on CO2 mitigation in the Iron and Steel industry through Power to X processes. M Bailera, P Lisbona, B Peña, LM Romeo. Journal of CO2 Utilization, Volume 46, 1 April 2021, Pages 101456.
[2] CO2 recycling in the Iron and Steel Industry via Power-to-Gas and Oxy-Fuel Combustion. J Perpiñán, M Bailera, LM Romeo, B Peña, V Eveloy. Energies, Volume 14, 29 October 2021, Pages 7090.
[3] Revisiting the Rist diagram for predicting operating conditions in blast furnaces with multiple injections. M Bailera, T Nakagaki, R Kataoka. Open Research Europe, Volume 1:141, 29 November 2021.
[4] Synthetic natural gas production in a 1 kW reactor using Ni–Ce/Al2O3 and Ru–Ce/Al2O3: Kinetics, catalyst degradation and process design. M Bailera, P Lisbona, B Peña, A Alarcón, J Guilera, J Perpiñán, LM Romeo. Energy, Volume 256, 1 October 2022, Pages 124720.
[1] The global warming paradox of the colder winters
[2] Decarbonization of the industry: why electrification is not enough
[3] What is Power to Gas?
[4] How does it look a methanation plant? (laboratory at Unizar)
[5] Why the reutilization of CO2 must be smart?
[6] How does it work a Blast Furnace?
[7] Power to X routes for the decarbonization of ironmaking
[8] How does it look a blast furnace simulation? (Aspen Plus software)
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 887077.