Decarbonisation of carbon-intensive industries (Iron and Steel Industries) through Power to gas and Oxy-fuel combustion

ended

The project presents a novel concept that combines Power to Gas (PtG energy storage) and oxy-fuel combustion (carbon capture) to decarbonise carbon-intensive industries (iron/steel as case study). PtG consumes renewable electricity to produce H2 (stored energy) and O2 (byproduct). This O2 is fed in the oxy-fuel furnace in the iron industry to attain a high concentrated CO2 stream, thus avoiding the energy penalization of requiring an air separation unit. Besides, the stored H2 and the captured CO2 are combined via methanation to produce synthetic natural gas to be used in the industry or distributed through the gas network. The overall objective of the project is to reach TRL 2 in the novel PtG–Oxy-fuel–Iron/Steel concept through the following research objectives: 1) To design, simulate and optimize the integrated layout of the novel concept, 2) To assess the maximum CO2 abatement under a proper operational strategy adapted to the industry and the availability of the renewable energy resource, and 3) To compare the concept with iron/steel industries operating with conventional CCS, under economic and life-cycle analyses. The training covers 1) simulation of energy intensive industries, 2) market and industrial criteria and constrains for adopting new technologies, 3) life-cycle assessment and 4) horizontal skills through a wide-ranging programme of activities. These objectives will be reached through a mobility period in Waseda University supervised by Prof. Nakagaki (over 20 years of experience in the topic and 71 patents in collaboration with industry) and a secondment to K1-MET (Austrian Competence Centre for Advanced Metallurgy, driven by the Austrian steel industry). The project is relevant for MSCA due the extensive planned training aimed to gain skills and maturity as researcher, and also because the proposed concept allows recycling CO2 in carbon-intensive industries whose emission-causing processes cannot be replaced with direct electrification.