【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】Million-ton-class Hydrogen-based Vertical Furnace Projects from 1991 to 2023
Thread Content
Ten years of rapid development in chemical processing equipment – praise for China’s prosperity and strength. This is just a starting point; more participation will make things even more lively. HaiChuan becomes even better with you all; we welcome everyone to join in the forum discussions. Happy May Day! A safe and prosperous Red May *********************************************On December 23, 2021, as part of the ceremonies to mark China Baowu’s first \"Company Day,\" the groundbreaking ceremony for the million-ton hydrogen-based shaft furnace project at Baosteel Zhanjiang’s fully hydrogen-based, zero-carbon green demonstration factory was held at Baosteel Zhanjiang on Donghai Island. This project will result in the creation of China’s first self-integrated million-ton-scale shaft furnace, as well as the world’s first shaft furnace that uses direct hydrogenation for reduction processes. It will enhance China Baowu’s competitiveness in terms of carbon emission reduction, and it will provide experience for the subsequent independent development of full-hydrogen smelting technologies. This will lead to the creation of low-carbon metallurgical processes with the group’s own intellectual property rights, which is of great significance for future green and low-carbon development.
On the morning of March 8, 2023, the main body of the million-ton hydrogen-based shaft furnace for Baosteel Zhanjiang’s zero-carbon steel production demonstration plant was delivered to Zhanjiang and successfully unloaded at Baosteel’s heavy equipment dock, marking the official start of the equipment installation phase for this hydrogen-based shaft furnace. The Zhanjiang maritime authorities provide supervision and support services for ships carrying vertical kilns, ensuring the safety of their sea transportation and unloading operations. For this shipment of large-scale equipment, a total of 4 hydrogen-based shaft furnace units were dispatched from Qidong, Jiangsu, with a combined weight of 375 tons; the heaviest individual unit weighed over 150 tons. It is reported that this project is the first million-ton-class hydrogen-based shaft furnace in China, with a total investment of 1.89 billion yuan. The main facilities include the shaft furnace itself, the loading and unloading system for the furnace, the product cooling system, the gas circulation system, as well as the systems for feeding raw materials and discharging finished products. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. Once in operation, it will enable the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by over 500,000 tons per year compared to traditional blast furnace ironmaking processes of similar scale, which holds pioneering significance for helping the steel industry achieve its \"dual carbon\" goals.
At 10:08 a.m. on April 1, the final section of the furnace shell for China’s first million-ton-class hydrogen-based shaft furnace was lifted into place. After one hour of lifting by a 900-ton crawler crane, this section of the furnace shell was brought to a height of 82.3 meters within the shaft furnace tower, where it was successfully installed. This marks the complete completion of the furnace shell installation for Baosteel’s Zhanjiang Steel hydrogen-based shaft furnace, and it signals that the construction of this hydrogen-based shaft furnace has entered a critical phase focused on the installation of the furnace roof structure. The furnace shell of the hydrogen-based shaft furnace is divided into 5 sections; the first section was lifted into place on December 23, 2022, while the second, third, and fourth sections were lifted in mid-to-late March of this year. The fifth section, which has been lifted this time, is the final one – it is approximately 12.6 meters high and weighs around 78.5 tons.
On April 27, the final section of the steel structure at the top of China’s first million-ton hydrogen-based shaft furnace was lifted into place. After a lifting process that lasted over an hour, it was successfully installed at a height of 121.1 meters on the shaft furnace tower, marking the completion of the construction of the 126-meter-high steel structure of this hydrogen-based shaft furnace. The hydrogen-based shaft furnace is a \"carbon reduction miracle\" for Zhanjiang Iron & Steel of Baosteel Co., Ltd. The shaft furnace tower constitutes the core structural part of this \"carbon reduction miracle\" DRI manufacturing facility; its steel structure reaches a height of 126 meters, with a maximum lifting capacity of 168 tons.
At 10:08 a.m. on April 1, the final section of the furnace shell for China’s first million-ton-class hydrogen-based shaft furnace was lifted into place. After one hour of lifting by a 900-ton crawler crane, this section of the furnace shell was brought to a height of 82.3 meters within the shaft furnace tower, where it was successfully installed. This marks the complete completion of the furnace shell installation for Baosteel’s Zhanjiang Steel hydrogen-based shaft furnace, and it signals that the construction of this hydrogen-based shaft furnace has entered a critical phase focused on the installation of the furnace roof structure.
The five-section furnace shell of the hydrogen-based shaft furnace constitutes the body of the shaft furnace; under normal operating conditions, the internal temperature can reach 1050°C, classifying it as a high-temperature and high-pressure vessel. The reducing gas and the raw pellet ore come into contact in reverse order within the shaft furnace and react with each other; through processes such as heating, reduction, and carburization, the pellets are ultimately converted into direct reduced iron of satisfactory quality.