Injection of solid biomass products into the blast furnace and its potential effects on an integrated steel plant

This study is to investigate different types of biomass products' injection into the blast furnace (BF) to replace pulverized coal injection (PCI). The biomass products covered in the study are charcoal, torrefied material and wood pellets on the basis of Swedish forests. The modelling work has been performed in a specialized BF model. The modelling results show that charcoal has the significant effects on the BF operation. PCI can be replaced fully by charcoal, and only limited amount of torrefied material and wood pellets can be injected into BF. For the studied BF, the annual CO2 emission reduction potential from the replaced amount of PCI when injecting charcoal, torrefied material and wood pellets are about 1140 kton, 260 kton and 230 kton, respectively. In addition, a possible energy saving can be achieved for charcoal injection. A slightly higher P content in the hot metal may occur when injecting torrefied material. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.