ArcelorMittal Poland has started further works that will increase the energy efficiency of steel plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza. The company plans to recover energy from blast furnace no. 2 waste gases and reuse it in its installations. The investment, which will cost over PLN 100 million, will allow to reduce the consumption of natural gas and coke, and most importantly - it will reduce CO2 emissions by 56,000 tons per year.
Blast furnace no. 2 is currently undergoing a comprehensive modernization worth over PLN 720 million. The shutdown of the installation was used to start another important investment - the installation of a special heat exchanger that will allow for the recovery of waste heat generated when heating the wind of blast furnace into the interior of the blast furnace.
The wind of blast furnace is heated in four heaters using blast furnace gas and small amounts of coke oven gas. The waste gases that are generated in this process reach a temperature of up to 350o C. Currently, the heat generated in this way is irretrievably lost. In order to recover part of it ArcelorMittal Poland will install a special heat exchanger that will recover part of the energy and will allow to heat the stream of air and gas directed to the heaters and heat the wind of blast furnace to a temperature of 1200o C!
Exchangers for gas and air with a total weight of about 130 tons will operate in the most effective "heat pipes" technology, where the heat carrier will be water. Thanks to the process of alternating evaporation and condensation no additional energy will be required for the heat recovery process. This reduces operating costs.
The investment will allow for:
- reduction of coke gas dosed to heaters by 140 GWh per year
- reduction of coke consumption in the blast furnace by approx. 10 tonnes per year
- reduction of approx. 56 thousand. tons of CO2 per year. To illustrate - to neutralize the emission of 1 tonne of CO2 it is necessary to plant 5 trees. This project is the equivalent of planting over 11,000 trees
Such heat exchangers are already successfully operating at ArcelorMittal's Tubarao steel plants in Brazil and Taranto in Italy. The investment for ArcelorMittal Poland will be made by E.ON Polska.
- The modernization of blast furnace no. 2 which is currently underway is record-breaking considering both the budget and the huge scope of work. During the modernization, we are introducing solutions that will allow us to implement the heat recovery project - explains Grzegorz Maracha, director of Primary at ArcelorMittal Poland. - This project will improve the energy efficiency of our plant which is crucial for ensuring the security of energy supplies and increasing the competitiveness of our company - he adds.
In the first stage of the investment, e.g. connections to the exchanger on gas and air pipelines. The second stage will consist in installing and connecting the heat exchanger to blast furnace no. 2. The investment worth over PLN 100 million is to be completed by the end of 2024.
- The reuse of waste products is extremely important for the functioning of a sustainable economy. Steel itself is a material that is 100% recyclable, which is why we try to make maximum use of by-products in our production processes and by giving them a second life, save natural resources - emphasizes Wojciech Koszuta, CEO of ArcelorMittal Poland. – It is also a step towards the decarbonisation of the industry – he adds.
The investment worth over PLN 100 million is to be ready by the end of 2024.
