The outputs from the DISIPO project are 9 open-access research articles, 3 conference contributions, 3 press releases, and 2 participations in radio live emissions. Moreover, a logo for the project was created and a webpage was launched (
https://mbailera.es/research/disipo/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)).
The researcher was trained by Prof. Nakagaki (Waseda University) on simulating a blast furnace for ironmaking. The researcher was able to replicate the original Aspen Plus simulation of the Prof. Nakagaki’s research group. After this, Prof. Nakagaki provided the researcher with their original simulation and confidential operation data for a final comparison of minor details. The researcher adapted the base case simulation to O2-enriched atmospheres and, ultimately, to oxy-fuel regime. To do so, the researcher had to learn the Rist operating line methodology. The researcher revised all the original work of Rist (written between 1963 and 1967) and elaborated a revised version of the methodology. This was published as a research article in Open Research Europe. This revised Rist methodology was implemented in the Aspen Plus simulation to properly determine the operating conditions of the blast furnace when operating with O2-enriched atmospheres and when integrating Power to Gas.
Additionally, the Rist model was extended, comprising the generalization of the original Rist methodology in order to add new features to the methodology. These features were considered to be necessary to evaluate the new PtG integration proposals. The new features added the possibility of considering: (i) injections of gases at any part of the blast furnace (instead of only at the tuyeres), and (ii) injections of gases that are partially oxidized before entering the blast furnace. This new methodology, called as “extended operating line” was accepted for publication in ISIJ international.
Once the model was elaborated, the researcher analyzed and compared many different integrations for the iron and steel industry, comprising top gas recycling, oxygen blast furnaces, power to gas, and biomass resource. The best configuration provided 58% CO2 reduction, with an specific energy consumption of 9.8 MJ/kgCO2. Furthermore, the novel proposal provided more energy in the form of BFG, for downstream processes than the conventional air-blown blast furnaces.
The researcher was in contact with JFE Steel (second largest Japanese steel manufacturer) through members of Prof. Nakagaki’s research group, what allowed to validate the simulations. Moreover, the researcher visited the JFE steel Chiba steelmaking plant (located on the east coastal industrial zone of Tokyo) on 21st June 2022, and he also visited the Voestalpine steelmaking plant in Linz, Austria on 5th September 2022. These insights helped the researcher to establish reasonable scenarios for the implementation of the PtG technology, in terms of proper operating conditions, end-use of the synthetic natural gas, space limitations, etc.
