Project Status: Complete
Project Participants: CSIRO, BlueScope Steel, OneSteel
Project Leader: Michael Somerville (CSIRO)
This project aimed to identify, evaluate and demonstrate specific opportunities for the use of biomass in integrated steel making and electric arc furnaces (mini mills) and assist with their possible implementation in the operations of OneSteel and BlueScope Steel. This work was also part of the contribution of the Australian steel industry to the WorldSteel Association’s CO2 Breakthrough Program. By consolidating the information on biomass use in iron and steel making from the open literature with information from the companies’ internal reports and on-site plant reviews, the project has identified and prioritised specific opportunities for OneSteel and BlueScope Steel. Parallel experimental investigations aim to demonstrate the technical feasibility of using biomass in high priority specific applications.
The key accomplishment for the 2008/09 year was the pilot demonstration of charcoal use in steelmaking at the OneSteel Sydney Steel Mill. This occurred during steel recarburisation plant trials which were held during June 2009 encouraging further work on developing an economic sourcing route, and improvements in density and moisture content control. A review of pyrolysis technology was completed which included recommendations on the key research and development required for an order of magnitude increase in scale for a technology suitable to supply the steel industry with sustainable carbon.
Reviews and desktop studies were also conducted on biomass resources in south eastern Australia and on the techno-economics of biomass collection and transformation to charcoal. An experimental investigation into the kinetics of pyrolysis was also undertaken using a Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) apparatus to calculate pyrolysis activation energies. Pilot scale combustion tests were performed on a range of biochars and high volatile coal to characterise the performance of the biochars as injected fuel into blast furnaces. Final reports for TGA investigations, the recarburisation trial and charcoal combustion activities are being compiled.