Operating method of a network of plants

Abstract

A method of operating a network of plants comprising a blast furnace, a direct reduction furnace, a CO2 conversion unit wherein blast furnace top gas is subjected to a CO2 conversion step to produce a liquid carbon product which is injected into the direct reduction furnace.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. A method of operating a network of plants comprising: producing hot metal and a blast furnace top gas in a blast furnace; charging oxidized iron to a direct reduction furnace to be reduced by a reducing gas to produce direct reduced iron, the direct reduction furnace comprising a reduction zone, a transition zone and a cooling zone; subjecting the blast furnace top gas to a CO2 conversion step in a CO2 conversion unit to produce a liquid carbon product; and injecting the liquid carbon product into the direct reduction furnace.

14. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the liquid carbon product is injected at least into the transition zone of the direct reduction furnace.

15. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the liquid carbon product is injected at least into the cooling zone of the direct reduction furnace.

16. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the liquid carbon product is injected in the transition zone and in the cooling zone of the direct reduction furnace.

17. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the liquid carbon product is a biofuel.

18. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the liquid carbon product is liquid alcohol.

19. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the liquid carbon product is liquid hydrocarbon.

20. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the reducing gas comprises more than 50% in volume of hydrogen.

21. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the reducing gas comprises more than 99% in volume of hydrogen.

22. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the network of plants further comprises a coke oven producing coke and a coke oven gas, the coke oven gas being mixed with blast furnace gas to be turned into the liquid carbon product.

23. The method as recited in claim 13 further comprising producing liquid steel and a steelmaking gas in a steelmaking plant, the steelmaking gas being mixed with blast furnace gas to be turned into the liquid carbon product.

24. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the CO2 conversion step comprises a biological transformation step.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge clearly from the description of it that is given below by way of an indication and which is in no way restrictive, with reference to the appended figures in which:

[0028] FIG. 1 illustrates a network of plant to which a method according to the invention may be applied

[0029] Elements in the figures are illustration and may not have been drawn to scale.

[0030] FIG. 1 illustrates a network of plants to which a method according to the invention may be applied. This network of plants comprises a direct reduction or shaft furnace 1 and a blast furnace 2 and a CO2 conversion unit 6. It may also optionally comprise a coke plant 4, a steelmaking plant 3, such as a basic oxygen furnace, and a plant 9 to produce hydrogen, such as an electrolysis plant.

[0031] The direct reduction furnace 1 is charged at its top with oxidized iron 10 in form of ore or pellets. Said oxidized iron 10 travels through the shaft by gravity, through a reduction section located in the upper part of the shaft, a transition section located in the midpart of the shaft and a cooling section located at the bottom. It is reduced into the furnace 1 by a reducing gas 11 injected into the furnace and flowing counter-current from oxidized iron. Reduced iron 12 exits the bottom of the furnace 1 for further processing, such as briquetting before being used in subsequent steelmaking steps. Reducing gas 11 after having reduced iron exits at the top of the furnace as a top reduction gas 20 (TRG).

[0032] A cooling gas 26 is captured out of the cooling zone, subjected to a cleaning step into a cleaning device 30, such as a scrubber, compressed in a compressor 31 and then sent back to the cooling zone of the shaft 1.

[0033] The blast furnace 2 produces hot metal, or pig iron and emits a blast furnace gas (BFG) 41. The basic oxygen furnace 3, or more generally the steelmaking furnace, produce steel out of hot metal and emits a steelmaking gas (BOFG) 42. The coke oven plant 4 produces coke from coal and emits a coke oven gas (COG) 43.

[0034] Average composition of the different gases is summarized in table 1compositions being expressed in % v:

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 CO CO2 H2 H2O CH4 N2 TRG 15-25 12-20 35-55 15-25 3-8 1-4 BFG 19-27 15-25 1-8 45-60 BOFG 55-65 14-16 3-5 0-1 14-16 COG 3-6 1-5 36-62 16-27 1-6 [0035] The hydrogen production plant 9 produces a flux of hydrogen 40. It may be a water or steam electrolysis plant. It is preferably operated using CO.sub.2 neutral electricity which includes notably electricity from renewable source which is defined as energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, including sources like sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. In some embodiments, the use of electricity coming from nuclear sources can be used as it is not emitting CO.sub.2 to be produced.

[0036] In the method according to the invention, the blast furnace gas 41, optionally mixed with steelmaking gas 42 and/or coke oven gas 43 is sent to the CO.sub.2 conversion unit 6 where it is subjected to a CO.sub.2 conversion step to be turned into a liquid carbon product 44.

[0037] This liquid carbon product 44 may be an alcohol, such as methanol or ethanol, or a hydrocarbon, such as methane. In a preferred embodiment, the CO.sub.2 conversion step includes a biological transformation step, such as fermentation with bacteria or algae to produce a biofuel. In another embodiment it may include hydrogenation and Fischer-Tropsch reactions.

[0038] The CO.sub.2 conversion unit comprises all elements allowing to transform the BFG and or the mixture of BFG/BOFG/COG into a suitable gas for the conversion into the liquid carbon product. These elements will of course vary according to the liquid carbon product and are well known from the man skilled in the art of the respective conversion technology.

[0039] Thus produced liquid carbon product 44 is then at least partly injected into the shaft 1. It may be injected together with the reducing gas 11 as illustrated by stream 44D or separately in the reduction zone (not illustrated). It may also be injected in the transition zone, as illustrated by stream 44A and/or in the cooling zone, as illustrated by streams 44B and 44C. It may be injected alone 44B or in combination 44C with the cooling gas 13. All those injection locations may be combined with one another.

[0040] Once injected into the shaft, the carbon-bearing liquid 44 is cracked by the heat released by hot DRI, this producing a reducing gas and carburizing the DRI product to increase its carbon content. Moreover, the vaporization enthalpy further contributes to the DRI cooling.

[0041] The injection of this liquid is made to increase the carbon content of the Direct Reduced Iron to a range from 0.5 to 3 wt. %, preferably from 1 to 2 wt. % which allows getting a Direct Reduced Iron that can be easily handled and that keeps a good combustion potential for its future use.

[0042] In a preferred embodiment, the reducing gas 11 comprises at least 50% v of hydrogen, and more preferentially more than 99% v of H.sub.2. An H.sub.2 stream 40 may be supplied to produce said reducing gas 11 by a dedicated H.sub.2 production plant 9, such as an electrolysis plant. It may be a water or steam electrolysis plant. It is preferably operated using CO.sub.2 neutral electricity which includes notably electricity from renewable source which is defined as energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, including sources like sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. In some embodiments, the use of electricity coming from nuclear sources can be used as it is not emitting CO.sub.2 to be produced.

[0043] In another embodiment, H.sub.2 stream 40 may be mixed with part of the top reduction gas 20 to form the reducing gas 11. When operated with natural gas the top reduction gas 20 usually comprises from 15 to 25% v of CO, from 12 to 20% v of CO2, from 35 to 55% v of H2, from 15 to 25% v of H2O, from 1 to 4% of N2. It has a temperature from 250 to 500? C. When pure hydrogen is used as reducing gas, the composition of said top reduction gas will be rather composed of 40 to 80% v of H2, 20-50% v of H2O and some possible gas impurities coming from seal system of the shaft or present in the hydrogen stream 40. When the H2 amount in the reducing gas varies and the liquid carbon product 44 is injected, the top gas 20 will have an intermediate composition between the two previously described cases.

[0044] All the different embodiments previously described may be combined with one another.

[0045] The method according to the invention allows to operate the network of plants with a better efficiency and reduced carbon footprint as CO2 from blast furnace is captured and transformed and product of such transformation is reused within the network of plants, allowing notably to avoid the use of external carbon source to be supplied to the direct reduction shaft.