Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INITIATE (Innovative industrial transformation of the steel and chemical industries of Europe)
Período documentado: 2022-05-01 hasta 2023-10-31
Steel and fertilizer markets will grow in the decades to come and simultaneously need to transform to CO2 neutrality. These two sectors are responsible for 30% of all industrial carbon emission and >4% of annual global GDP.
The INITIATE industrial symbiosis approach directly contributes to reduce emission, energy and raw material use. It shows that carbon capture, re-use and storage are sustained on the value generated through production of added value products such as NH3 and Urea. The project aims at a 30% decrease of primary energy use, a 40% decrease of raw material demand and up to 90% reduction in the direct CO2 emissions. The project also contributes toward preserving jobs in both sectors, while making Europe more independent and robust in view of increasing feedstock prices and trade uncertainties. Additional benefits are the provision of grid balancing services through flexibly using green H2 and by providing CO2 for circular use, accelerating the transition towards locally closed loop and integrated renewable energy systems.
To reach these goals, the INITIATE project will take all necessary steps to provide the basis for the roll-out of a 1st commercial size demonstrator at 50 kt/y Urea in the basis of basic oxygen furnace gas (BOFG). The operational reliability of the technological innovations is demonstrated in a pilot plant at TRL-7. Additionally, the energy, economic and environmental advantages are assessed via the verification of the key-performance indicators of the concept and the comparison with a reference case w/o CO2 removal and base case using amine based CO2 removal technology. Next, a bankable design of the First-Of-A-Kind (FOAK) commercial plant is made to convert BOFG to AdBlue® and/or another NH3 based product. Site identification and selection is performed, while the development of a long-term implementation plan ensures the successful deployment beyond the FOAK plant. The synergies on local and European scale are identified, considering industrial infrastructures and other symbiotic systems. As part of the implementation plan, stakeholder alignment and licensing strategies are developed to ensure successful future deployment.
The INITIATE industrial symbiosis approach directly contributes to reduce emission, energy and raw material use. It shows that carbon capture, re-use and storage are sustained on the value generated through production of added value products such as NH3 and Urea. The project aims at a 30% decrease of primary energy use, a 40% decrease of raw material demand and up to 90% reduction in the direct CO2 emissions. The project also contributes toward preserving jobs in both sectors, while making Europe more independent and robust in view of increasing feedstock prices and trade uncertainties. Additional benefits are the provision of grid balancing services through flexibly using green H2 and by providing CO2 for circular use, accelerating the transition towards locally closed loop and integrated renewable energy systems.
To reach these goals, the INITIATE project will take all necessary steps to provide the basis for the roll-out of a 1st commercial size demonstrator at 50 kt/y Urea in the basis of basic oxygen furnace gas (BOFG). The operational reliability of the technological innovations is demonstrated in a pilot plant at TRL-7. Additionally, the energy, economic and environmental advantages are assessed via the verification of the key-performance indicators of the concept and the comparison with a reference case w/o CO2 removal and base case using amine based CO2 removal technology. Next, a bankable design of the First-Of-A-Kind (FOAK) commercial plant is made to convert BOFG to AdBlue® and/or another NH3 based product. Site identification and selection is performed, while the development of a long-term implementation plan ensures the successful deployment beyond the FOAK plant. The synergies on local and European scale are identified, considering industrial infrastructures and other symbiotic systems. As part of the implementation plan, stakeholder alignment and licensing strategies are developed to ensure successful future deployment.
The project structure represents the whole value chain for technology roll-out. The basis is 2 key technologies, being the sorption enhanced water-gas shift (SEWGS) process and the sub-stoichiometric NH3 conversion loop, together with their functional materials. Functional materials have been validated and selected, accounting for the BOFG dynamics and contaminant types and levels. This analysis allows transferability of the concept to other locations having different BOFG compositions. The industrial production of the functional materials has started, while recycle options for spent materials are being developed.
Efficient conversion of BOFG from the SSAB plant in Sweden into ammonia is validated at TRL-7 in the pilot plant at 1.4 tNH3/d scale. Detailed engineering of the pilot plant is ready and procurement and construction has started. A redesign is successfully completed, dealing with the increased costs induced by the recent inflation. The reduction in scope and fund redistribution are captured in a project amendment. Pilot operation is foreseen in the 3rd reporting period.
To effectively deal with the inherent BOFG composition dynamics, advanced control strategies are under development. Both physical as well as fast computation machine learning dynamic models are under construction. They also allow assessment of the INITIATE plant behavior for specific BOFG dynamics associated with other sites. The system assessment focusses on the small scale implementation, using BOFG for NH3/Urea production at 224 tNH3/d, and large scale, using BFG+BOFG for 1500 tNH3/d. A CO2 avoidance potential of up to 80% compared to the non-symbiotic base case was reached. For the reference case using amine based CO2 capture technology, this value peaks at 30% CO2 avoidance. This illustrates the potential of the INITIATE concept. The life-cycle assessment is ongoing.
For the realization of the FOAK commercial plant, the identification and evaluation of the most promising site location has been performed and discussions with the involved parties are on-going. A long term implementation plan has been drafted and is currently under review. For a shortlist of product-market combinations the shared ambitions, physical flows and corresponding volumes, value network, effect of policies, and delta business cases were evaluated. The biggest cost and value drivers and uncertainties for these cases were established. These insights were translated into a roadmap covering three time horizons: ultimate potential, the key pathways and the first markets to start. This roadmap will be handed over to the exploitation team for execution.
The project concept, as well as the key results are continuously communicated and disseminated via the website, through conference contributions, lectures, workshops and trainings. The 1st INITIATE summer school trained a group of 35 PhDs, MSc students and young professionals in techno-economic and life-cycle modelling of energy systems in combination with CO2 capture and re-use. The learnings have since been incorporated into the curriculum at Politecnico di Milano.
Efficient conversion of BOFG from the SSAB plant in Sweden into ammonia is validated at TRL-7 in the pilot plant at 1.4 tNH3/d scale. Detailed engineering of the pilot plant is ready and procurement and construction has started. A redesign is successfully completed, dealing with the increased costs induced by the recent inflation. The reduction in scope and fund redistribution are captured in a project amendment. Pilot operation is foreseen in the 3rd reporting period.
To effectively deal with the inherent BOFG composition dynamics, advanced control strategies are under development. Both physical as well as fast computation machine learning dynamic models are under construction. They also allow assessment of the INITIATE plant behavior for specific BOFG dynamics associated with other sites. The system assessment focusses on the small scale implementation, using BOFG for NH3/Urea production at 224 tNH3/d, and large scale, using BFG+BOFG for 1500 tNH3/d. A CO2 avoidance potential of up to 80% compared to the non-symbiotic base case was reached. For the reference case using amine based CO2 capture technology, this value peaks at 30% CO2 avoidance. This illustrates the potential of the INITIATE concept. The life-cycle assessment is ongoing.
For the realization of the FOAK commercial plant, the identification and evaluation of the most promising site location has been performed and discussions with the involved parties are on-going. A long term implementation plan has been drafted and is currently under review. For a shortlist of product-market combinations the shared ambitions, physical flows and corresponding volumes, value network, effect of policies, and delta business cases were evaluated. The biggest cost and value drivers and uncertainties for these cases were established. These insights were translated into a roadmap covering three time horizons: ultimate potential, the key pathways and the first markets to start. This roadmap will be handed over to the exploitation team for execution.
The project concept, as well as the key results are continuously communicated and disseminated via the website, through conference contributions, lectures, workshops and trainings. The 1st INITIATE summer school trained a group of 35 PhDs, MSc students and young professionals in techno-economic and life-cycle modelling of energy systems in combination with CO2 capture and re-use. The learnings have since been incorporated into the curriculum at Politecnico di Milano.
The INITIATE concept utilizes the energy in steel gases to produce NH3 and Urea. It allows the penetration of renewable energy and flexibility towards the grid via i) dynamic H2 supplementation to the C-rich BFG by electrolysers, and ii) power generation from temporal stored NH3 product. NG as feedstock for NH3/Urea production is eliminated by utilizing the steel plant originating gasses. The captured CO2 is partially reused for Urea production, while the remaining CO2 is available for other re-use cases or sequestration. The project takes all required steps to realize a full scale INITIATE FOAK plant as follow-up. This is a combination of the technology validation in WP3 and WP4, quantification of the benefits in terms of techno-economic and life-cycle assessments in WP5 and site selection and definition of the implementation plan in WP6. All these activities significantly progressed in this 2nd project period. Pilot validation is foreseen in the next period.
System modelling indicates negative Specific Energy Consumption for CO2 Avoided (SPECCA) numbers for both the small (BOFG to NH3/Urea) and large scale (BOFG+BFG to NH3/Urea) in case of low CO2 intensity electricity mix, i.e. <140 and 25 kg/MWh respectively. A negative SPECCA means a lower primary energy use than the base case. CO2 avoidance rates of to up to 80% are reached compared to the non-symbiotic base case. The on-going life cycle analysis indicates that amine and degradation products emissions of the base case CO2 capture technology are inherently avoided in the INITIATE concept as it uses a solid regenerable adsorbent. Moreover, the production, use and disposal of the sorbent is less environmentally impactful compared to the solvent case. Additionally, CO2 sorbent recycling is under investigation.
The implementation plan is under development and illustrates the optimum roll-out strategies and approaches. It highlights that the challenges are foremost related to non-technical aspects such as CO2 pricing via the ETS and CBAM mechanisms and CO2 transport and sequestration regulations and requirements. This plan will be handed over to the exploitation team for execution.
System modelling indicates negative Specific Energy Consumption for CO2 Avoided (SPECCA) numbers for both the small (BOFG to NH3/Urea) and large scale (BOFG+BFG to NH3/Urea) in case of low CO2 intensity electricity mix, i.e. <140 and 25 kg/MWh respectively. A negative SPECCA means a lower primary energy use than the base case. CO2 avoidance rates of to up to 80% are reached compared to the non-symbiotic base case. The on-going life cycle analysis indicates that amine and degradation products emissions of the base case CO2 capture technology are inherently avoided in the INITIATE concept as it uses a solid regenerable adsorbent. Moreover, the production, use and disposal of the sorbent is less environmentally impactful compared to the solvent case. Additionally, CO2 sorbent recycling is under investigation.
The implementation plan is under development and illustrates the optimum roll-out strategies and approaches. It highlights that the challenges are foremost related to non-technical aspects such as CO2 pricing via the ETS and CBAM mechanisms and CO2 transport and sequestration regulations and requirements. This plan will be handed over to the exploitation team for execution.