【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】1374–2023: The First Million-Ton-Class Hydrogen-Based Vertical Furnace Cooling Gas Compressor

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On December 23, 2023, the first million-ton-scale hydrogen-based shaft furnace project in China, built by China Baowu with core mechanical equipment provided by SHENGU Group, was successfully commissioned in Zhanjiang, Guangdong. This is the largest shaft furnace in China to use multiple gas sources and achieve full hydrogen-based industrial production of direct reduced iron, marking another exemplary and significant step forward in the green and low-carbon transformation of China’s steel industry, and it will further drive changes in traditional steel metallurgy processes. The SV20-M single-stage cantilever gear-driven cooling air compressor used in the 1 million tons per year cold direct reduced iron plant of this project was developed by Shengli Gear Co., Ltd. This unit features a single-layer layout and an integrated skid-mounted structure. While meeting the user’s requirements regarding the integrity, adaptability, and reliability of the hydrogen-based shaft furnace direct reduction system for compressors, safe and effective operation under all four operating conditions has been achieved. On December 13, the unit completed a successful one-time mechanical trial run at the customer’s site, laying a solid foundation for the smooth commissioning of the project. It is understood that the million-ton-class hydrogen-based shaft furnace, which was put into operation following this ignition, began construction on February 15, 2022. Its main components include the shaft furnace itself, systems for loading and unloading materials, a product cooling system, a gas circulation system, systems for feeding raw materials and discharging finished products, as well as supporting systems for pellet supply, energy and auxiliary services, and information technology. For the first time, self-developed refractory materials and China’s highest-height vertical conveyor belt machine, with a height of 112 meters, were used in this facility. Unlike the conventional international methods that use natural gas to produce reducing process gases, this project employs the world’s first \"Hydrogen Metallurgy Electrosmelting Process\" (HyRESP). It is estimated that once the project is operational, it will enable the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by over 500,000 tons per year, compared to the iron production volume achieved through traditional blast furnace ironmaking processes on a similar scale.