Highlights of Recent Advances in Refractories for Iron and Steel Industry in China

Recently procured outstanding achievements in iron and steel industry in China are presented by data or facts in steel output, energy consumption, technical and economical indicators and advanced technologies that are being adopted. The latest achievements in refractonries for this biggest user industry are reviewed, covering new refractories for CDQ coke oven, BF hearth, AOD Lining, long life tundish, SEN for clean steel making and regenerative reheating furnace . The reciprocal relationship is obvious that the rapid development of iron and steel industry has given an impetus to the advance of refractories industry, which in return has contributed greatly to the former.

Current Situation and Prospect of High Performance Refractories for Iron and Steel Industry in China

The development,physicochemical properties and application effectiveness of new high performance refractory products used in iron and steel industry in recent years are summarizedThe new products include carbon-containing oxides,non-oxides,functional refractories,low cement and ultra-low cement castables etc.It is pointed out that quality of refractory products needs to be improved and high performance varieties be developed.Meanwhile,research should be done on composite materials and composite structures,equipment techniques and optimization control of refractory production should be strengthened as well.

Ma'anshan,a Window on China's Iron and Steel Industry

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Multi-process and multi-pollutant control technology for ultra-low emissions in the iron and steel industry

The iron and steel industry is not only an important foundation of the national economy,but also the largest source of industrial air pollution.Due to the current status of emissions in the iron and steel industry,ultra-low pollutant emission control technology has been researched and developed.Liquid-phase proportion control technology has been developed for magnesian fluxed pellets,and a blast furnace smelting demonstration project has been established to use a high proportion of fluxed pellets(80%)for the first time in China to realize source emission reduction of SO_(2)and NO_(x).Based on the characteristics of high NO_(x)concentrations and the coexistence of multiple pollutants in coke oven flue gas,low-NO_(x)combustion coupled with multi-pollutant cooperative control technology with activated carbon was developed to achieve efficient removal of multiple pollutants and resource utilization of sulfur.Based on the characteristics of co-existing multiple pollutants in pellet flue gas,selective non-catalytic reduction(SNCR)coupled with ozone oxidation and spray drying adsorption(SDA)was developed,which significantly reduces the operating cost of the system.In the light of the high humidity and high alkalinity in flue gas,filter materials with high humidity resistance and corrosion resistance were manufactured,and an integrated pre-charged bag dust collector device was developed,which realized ultralow emission of fine particles and reduced filtration resistance and energy consumption in the system.Through source emission reduction,process control and end-treatment technologies,five demonstration projects were built,providing a full set of technical solutions for ultra-low emissions of dust,SO_(2),NO_(x),SO_(3),mercury and other pollutants,and offering technical support for the green development of the iron and steel industry.

Target the neglected VOCs emission from iron and steel industry in China for air quality improvement

Recent years have witnessed significant improvement in China’s air quality.Strict environmental protection measures have led to significant decreases in sulfur dioxide(SO2),nitrogen oxides(NOx),and particulate matter(PM)emissions since 2013.But there is no denying that the air quality in 135 cities is inferior to reaching the Ambient Air Quality Standards(GB 3095–2012)in 2020.In terms of temporal,geographic,and historical aspects,we have analyzed the potential connections between China’s air quality and the iron and steel industry.The non-target volatile organic compounds(VOCs)emissions from iron and steel industry,especially from the iron ore sinter process,may be an underappreciated index imposing a negative effect on the surrounding areas of China.Therefore,we appeal the authorities to pay more attention on VOCs emission from the iron and steel industry and establish new environmental standards.And different iron steel flue gas pollutants will be eliminated concurrently with the promotion and application of new technology.

Current situation of carbon emissions and countermeasures in China's ironmaking industry

The iron and steel industry(ISI) involves high energy consumption and high pollution. ISI in China, a leading country in the ISI,consumed 15% of the country’s total energy and produced more than 50% of the global ISI’s carbon emissions. Therefore, in the context of global low-carbon economy and emission reduction requirements, low-carbon smelting technology in the ISI has attracted increasingly more attention in China. This review summarizes the current status of carbon emissions and energy consumption in China’s ISI and discusses the development status and prospects of low-carbon ironmaking technology. The main route to effectively reducing carbon emissions is to develop a gas-based direct reduction process and replace sintering with pelletizing, both of which focus on developing pelletizing technology. However,the challenge of pelletizing process development is to obtain high-quality iron concentrates. Consequently, the present paper also summarizes the development status of China’s mineral processing technology, including fine-grained mineral processing technology, magnetization roasting technology, and flotation collector application. This paper aims to provide a theoretical basis for the low-carbon development of China’s ISI in terms of a dressing–smelting combination.

Low-carbon transition of iron and steel industry in China:Carbon intensity, economic growth and policy intervention

As the biggest iron and steel producer in the world and one of the highest CO2 emission sectors, China’s iron and steel industry is undergoing a low-carbon transition accompanied by remarkable technological progress and investment adjustment, in response to the macroeconomic climate and policy intervention. Many drivers of the CO2 emissions of the iron and steel industry have been explored, but the relationships between CO2 abatement,investment and technological expenditure, and their connections with the economic growth and governmental policies in China, have not been conjointly and empirically examined. We proposed a concise conceptual model and an econometric model to investigate this crucial question. The results of regression, Granger causality test and impulse response analysis indicated that technological expenditure can significantly reduce CO2 emissions, and that investment expansion showed a negative impact on CO2 emission reduction. It was also argued with empirical evidence that a good economic situation favored CO2 abatement in China’s iron and steel industry, while achieving CO2 emission reduction in this industrial sector did not necessarily threaten economic growth.This shed light on the dispute over balancing emission cutting and economic growth.Regarding the policy aspects, the year 2000 was found to be an important turning point for policy evolution and the development of the iron and steel industry in China. The subsequent command and control policies had a significant, positive effect on CO2 abatement.

MILP Model for Plant-Wide Optimal By-Product Gas Scheduling in Iron and Steel Industry

The scheduling of by-product gases in by-product gas system,cogeneration system and production system is studied.All gas-consuming users are divided into three kinds according to their different characters and then a distribution model is built.A dynamic mixed integer linear programming（MILP）model for multiperiod optimization of by-product gas is performed to optimize by-product gas distribution to achieve total cost reduction.Case study shows that 6.2% operation cost is reduced by using the proposed model.

A Green Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model for Optimization of Byproduct Gases in Iron and Steel Industry

Byproduct gas is an important secondary energy in iron and steel industry, and its optimization is vital to cost reduction. With the development of iron and steel industry to be more eco-friendly, it is necessary to construct an integrated optimized system, taking economics, energy consumption and environment into consideration. Therefore, the environmental cost caused by pollutants discharge should be factored in total cost when optimizing byproduct gas distribution. A green mixed integer linear programming （MILP） model for the optimization of byproduct gases was established to reduce total cost, including both operation cost and environmental cost. The operation cost included penalty for gas deviation, costs of fuel and water consumption, holder booster trip penalty, and so forth; while the environmental cost consisted of penalties for both direct and indirect pollutants discharge. Case study showed that the proposed model brought an optimum solution and 2.2% of the total cost could be reduced compared with previous one.

Short-term Scheduling of Steam Power System in Iron and Steel Industry under Time-of-use Power Price

A generalized formulation for short-term scheduling of steam power system in iron and steel industry under the time-of-use（TOU）power price was presented,with minimization of total operational cost including fuel cost,equipment maintenance cost and the charge of exchange power with main grid.The model took into account the varying nature of surplus byproduct gas flows,several practical technical constraints and the impact of TOU power price.All major types of utility equipments,involving boilers,steam turbines,combined heat and power（CHP）units,and waste heat and energy recovery generators（WHERG）,were separately modeled using thermodynamic balance equations and regression method.In order to solve this complex nonlinear optimization model,a new improved particle swarm optimization（IPSO）algorithm was proposed by incorporating time-variant parameters,a selfadaptive mutation scheme and efficient constraint handling strategies.Finally,a case study for a real industrial example was used for illustrating the model and validating the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Investigating the Impact of Capacity Utilization on Carbon Dioxide Emission: Evidence from China's Iron and Steel Industry

In recent years, China’s industrialization and urbanization have deepened, and the economy has grown considerably. But at the same time, they have also brought about many environmental problems. As a pillar of the national economy, the iron and steel(IS) industry is one of the most emitting and energy-consuming sub-sectors of the industrial sector. It is also one of the industries with the most severe overcapacity problem in China. In this paper, we explore the impact of capacity utilization on carbon dioxide emission based on panel data of China’s iron and steel industry from 2005 to 2014. We also tested the heterogeneity in different regions and different sub-samples. Results show that capacity utilization and carbon dioxide emission are positively correlated. However, the impact of capacity utilization on carbon dioxide emission differs when considering regional heterogeneity. Results in all three regions show a positive relationship between capacity utilization and carbon dioxide emission,but the impact intensity is strongest in the western region, followed by the eastern and central regions.Moreover, capacity utilization impacts carbon dioxide emission by influencing firm numbers in the iron and steel industry and energy consumption. Further analysis shows that there exists a threshold effect in different stages of energy consumption and energy structure. Finally, some findings and practical policy recommendations are provided.

An Analysis of Energy and Environment Efficiency of China＇s Iron and Steel Industry

Due to heavy energy consumption and low technical efficiency, China＇s iron and steel industry is trapped in the dilemma ＂large but not strong＂. This situation not only exerts enormous pressure on energy security but also on increased carbon emission and environmental pollution. The contribution of this study is to calculate the energy and environment efficiency of China＇s iron and steel industry and to analyze the factors affecting this efficiency. An index of energy and environment efficiency is introduced based on Directional Slacks-based Distance Measure Model. This index is adopted to measure the energy and environment efficiency of China＇s iron and steel industry using 2,382 firm observations during 2001 to 2005. In addition, Hierarchy Linear Model （HLM） is applied to analyze the factors which can influence the efficiency with both firm-level and province-level data. The conclusions are as follows： The energy and environment efficiency of China＇s iron and steel industry did not have a significant change during the research period. A firm＇s age, size, ownership, product category and the economy of its province have significant influence on its energy and environment efficiency.

Maanshan Iron and Steel Design Institute under the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry

Founded in July 1962.Maanshan Iron and Steel DesignInstitute is an important design institute directly under theMinistry of Metallurgical Industry,and a state Class A designinstitute registered in World Bank and Asia DevelopmentBank,also a member unit of China International ConsultantsCompany and China Metallurgical Construction GroupCompany.It boasts a staff of 1.500,including 1,200 engineeringand technical people(400 senior engineers included).It has 22research offices,such as iron-smelting,steel making,steel-rolling,mining,dressing and sintering,34 engineering designfaculties,has well-equipped electronic computer stations,experimenting labs and printing factories,and has divisions inShanghai and Zhuhai. The institute is engaged in the engineering design,technical consultancy,supervision and general contract

Carbon dioxide emissions reduction technology and its application prospects in the steel industry

Fossil-fuel burning greenhouse gas induced global warming has been recognized as global environmental problems,reduce and ultimately control the energy production in the use of CO_2 emissions, global energy production will be a major challenge.As a highly intensive materials and energy,iron and steel enterprises,need to be invested to produce one ton of steel about two tons of material and 0.7 t of standard coal energy,and while producing two tons of CO_2.Therefore,reducing CO_2 emissions from iron and steel industry has become the focus of the global steel industry.This paper describes an integrated domestic and international measures to control carbon dioxide emissions research progress and future technology trends, with emphasis on the domestic steel industry emissions of carbon dioxide status of technology development and industrialization of implementation of the proposed on this basis,including dry quenching technology, gas,power generation,coal moisture control technology,blast furnace injection plastics technology,the use of coking process for treating municipal waste plastics technology,sintering heat generation,low pressure saturated steam for power generation,metallurgical slag heat recovery technology,coke oven gas hydrogen technology and the other key technologies energy saving technologies,including the development,promotion and popularization of the steel industry in China will be the CO_2 emission reduction technology direction and focus.At this stage,the Chinese steel industry can be improved the energy efficiency and recycling of waste heat and energy,reduce unit GDP,CO_2 emissions;but in the long run,should increase CO_2 capture and storage on the input of technology can possible effective control of the adverse effects of CO_2 emissions.

Environmental risks for application of iron and steel slags in soils in China: A review

Iron and steel slags are smelting wastes, mainly including blast furnace slag(BFS) and steel slag(SS) produced in the iron and steel industry. Utilization of iron and steel slags as resources for solving the problem of slag disposals has attracted much attention with increasing iron and steel smelting slags in China. Because the iron and steel slags contain calcium(Ca), magnesium(Mg), phosphorus(P), and silicon(Si), some have tried to use them as Si-and P-fertilizers, for producing Ca-Mg-P fertilizers, or as soil amendments in agriculture. However, in the iron metallurgical process, several pollutants in iron ores can inevitably transfer into iron and steel slags, resulting in the enrichment of pollutants both in BFS(mainly nickel(Ni), copper(Cu), mercury, zinc(Zn),cadmium(Cd), chromium(Cr), arsenic, lead, selenium, fluorine(F), and chlorine(Cl)) and in SS(mainly Ni, Cr, Cd, Zn, Cu, F, and Cl), in which some of pollutants(especially Cr, Ni, F, and Cl) exceed the limits of environmental quality standards for soils and groundwater. The elements of manganese, barium,and vanadium in iron and steel slags are higher than the background values of soil environment. In order to ensure soil health, food safety, and environmental quality, it is suggested that those industrial solid wastes, such as iron and steel slags, without any pretreatment for reducing harmful pollutants and with environmental safety risk, should not be allowed to use for soil remediation or conditioning directly in farmlands by solid waste disposal methods, to prevent pollutants from entering food chain and harming human health.

Optimization and Scheduling of Byproduct Gas System in Steel Plant

A mathematical model was proposed to optimize byproduct gas system and reduce the total cost. The scope and boundaries of the system were also discussed at the same time. Boilers and gasholders were buffer users to solve the fluctuation of byproduct gases. The priority of gasholders should be ranked the last. The allocation of surplus ga- ses among gasholders and boilers was also discussed to make full use of gases and realize zero emission targets. Case study shows that the proposed model made good use of byproduct gases and at least 7.8 ~//00 operation cost was re- duced, compared with real data in iron and steel industry.

The State-of-Art and Development Trends of HSLA Steels in China

During the last decade,the adjustment of product segments always is a very important task of iron industry,and upgrading of steel products has been impelled actively by Chinese iron and steel industry.With rapidly increasing of iron & steel production,a series of research achievements have been made in the technology area of high strengthtoughness steel,and also have been applied successfully in the actual production,e.g.the technology of fine grain and ultra-fine grain steels,the technology for the control of microalloying precipitates.Further,It is an important strategic goal of "Twelfth Five-year Plan" for Chinese iron and steel industry that the adjustment of steel product segments and meeting the requirements for upgrading of domestic and oversea equipment manufactory industry.Adopting HSLA steel with better performance,instead of plain steel,could save steel consumption largely,and also release pressures from resource,energy and environment.Without doubt,it is the only way to realize the sustained development of Chinese iron and steel industry by popularizing the application of HSLA steels vigorously.

Prediction of blast furnace gas generation based on data quality improvement strategy

The real-time energy flow data obtained in industrial production processes are usually of low quality.It is difficult to accurately predict the short-term energy flow profile by using these field data,which diminishes the effect of industrial big data and artificial intelligence in industrial energy system.The real-time data of blast furnace gas(BFG)generation collected in iron and steel sites are also of low quality.In order to tackle this problem,a three-stage data quality improvement strategy was proposed to predict the BFG generation.In the first stage,correlation principle was used to test the sample set.In the second stage,the original sample set was rectified and updated.In the third stage,Kalman filter was employed to eliminate the noise of the updated sample set.The method was verified by autoregressive integrated moving average model,back propagation neural network model and long short-term memory model.The results show that the prediction model based on the proposed three-stage data quality improvement method performs well.Long short-term memory model has the best prediction performance,with a mean absolute error of 17.85 m3/min,a mean absolute percentage error of 0.21%,and an R squared of 95.17%.