【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Technology】169-2023: China Baowu’s Commercial Demonstration Project for the 2500-cubic-meter HyCROF Blast Furnace

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Ten years of rapid development in chemical technology – 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 here; we welcome everyone to join in the forum discussions. It’s hot in July, so be careful to prevent fires. --------------------------------------------- Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel is one of China Baowu’s steel production bases. In 2014, the national steel industry underwent capacity reduction, and this 400-cubic-meter old blast furnace at Bayi Steel stopped producing iron. Considering the factory’s environmental requirements, it was not demolished at that time but was used for processing waste from the steel plant. To achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals set by our country, with the strategic planning and strong support of Baowu, Bagegang Company has established an industrial-scale low-carbon metallurgy testing platform based on HyCROF – a hydrogen-enriched carbon-cycling oxygen blast furnace – using 400 cubic meter-class blast furnaces. After seven years of exploration and three years of experimental research on industrial production, this R&D project has now mastered key technologies such as high-temperature safe gas heating technology, metallurgical gas decarburization technology, high-temperature decarburized gas/hydrogen-enriched gas combined injection technology, and full-oxygen smelting technology. It has completed the entire process of the Hydrogen-Carbon Cycle Oxygen Blast Furnace (HyCROF) process, achieving safe and stable operation of self-circulating injection of gas at 1200°C under full-oxygen smelting conditions as well as hydrogen-enriched smelting experiments. As a result, interim goals have been reached, including a 30% reduction in fossil fuel consumption and a 21% reduction in carbon emissions. After achieving phased results in technological innovation and production practices for hydrogen-rich carbon-circulating oxygen blast furnaces of the 400 cubic meter scale, the innovative research and development achievements obtained from the test platform will be transferred to BAGANG’s 2500 cubic meter blast furnace for commercial demonstration and broader application. In the early hours of June 6, 2023, Blast Furnace A with a capacity of 2,500 cubic meters at Bayi Steel Company was officially shut down, marking the start of the renovation work on this facility. The expected goal of the HyCROF commercial demonstration project is to achieve a 40% increase in the blast furnace utilization rate compared to the previous level, a 30% reduction in the proportion of solid fuels used, and an overall reduction of over 21% in the carbon emissions per unit of molten iron. This project aims to provide a commercial model for the low-carbon transformation of large and medium-sized blast furnaces. This project not only builds on the technical achievements of the existing HyCROF testing platform, but also further optimizes and improves the key process equipment technologies related to decarbonization and gas heating. As a result, overall energy consumption and production efficiency will increase further; compared with traditional blast furnaces, HyCROF will exhibit significant competitive advantages. At present, all preparatory work is complete. July 15, 2023. Baowu Low-Carbon Metallurgy Test Platform (HyCROF): More good news comes from the high-temperature blast furnaces using a hydrogen-enriched carbon cycle. Test data show that the daily production of these furnaces has remained above 1,900 tons, with an average utilization rate of 5.0 t/m3, thus setting new records once again. Meanwhile, the hydrogen-enriched carbon cycle blast furnace has remained in a low-cost operation range, with the cost per ton of iron reduced by around 150 yuan compared to earlier periods, laying a solid foundation for further cost reductions in the future.