Today climate change is becoming a critical situation and to be able to comply with the paris agreement in which it is expected to increase by 1.5 degrees of the earth temperature by 2050, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Four sectors are the most energy-intensive: cement industry, iron industry, ammonia production and petrochemical production. The iron industry alone accounts for 7% of global emissions and is therefore the central theme of this thesis. The project concerns the development of a process involving the implementation of an electrified reformer within an iron production process known as "direct reduction of iron". In particular, the MIDREX process is considered one of the world’s leading technology providers. This process is already an advance on the traditional blast furnace because it does not bring the iron ore to melt to reduce it and obtain metallic iron. Direct reduction takes place in a shaft furnace where the reducing gas is sent at 950°C countercurrent to the iron ore and reduces it by keeping it solid. Subsequent techno-economic analysis shows that the price per ton of DRI is most affected by the cost of methane, CO2 emissions and electricity. In countries where the latter is very cheap, such as northern Europe, the electrified process is more cost-effective than the conventional process. Whereas in countries like China or India where the cost of emissions is low and the cost of electricity is very high, the traditional process is more convenient. However, it is expected that soon the price per ton of CO2 emitted will increase enormously, in order to face the climate emergency, and green technologies will be preferred. This process is therefore a good starting point for future developments in this field.
Integration of an electrically-heated reformer in the DRI production
GASPARINI, ANNA
2023/2024
Abstract
Today climate change is becoming a critical situation and to be able to comply with the paris agreement in which it is expected to increase by 1.5 degrees of the earth temperature by 2050, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Four sectors are the most energy-intensive: cement industry, iron industry, ammonia production and petrochemical production. The iron industry alone accounts for 7% of global emissions and is therefore the central theme of this thesis. The project concerns the development of a process involving the implementation of an electrified reformer within an iron production process known as "direct reduction of iron". In particular, the MIDREX process is considered one of the world’s leading technology providers. This process is already an advance on the traditional blast furnace because it does not bring the iron ore to melt to reduce it and obtain metallic iron. Direct reduction takes place in a shaft furnace where the reducing gas is sent at 950°C countercurrent to the iron ore and reduces it by keeping it solid. Subsequent techno-economic analysis shows that the price per ton of DRI is most affected by the cost of methane, CO2 emissions and electricity. In countries where the latter is very cheap, such as northern Europe, the electrified process is more cost-effective than the conventional process. Whereas in countries like China or India where the cost of emissions is low and the cost of electricity is very high, the traditional process is more convenient. However, it is expected that soon the price per ton of CO2 emitted will increase enormously, in order to face the climate emergency, and green technologies will be preferred. This process is therefore a good starting point for future developments in this field.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/78079