Performance and Cost Analysis of Pressure Swing Adsorption for Recovery of H2, CO, and CO2 from Steelworks Off-Gases

The conceptual design and techno-economic assessment of Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) for the recovery of H2, CO2, and CO from steel making Blast Furnace-Basic Oxygen Furnace and Coke Oven off-gases, major contributors to anthropogenic carbon emissions, are presented. Three PSA units are modeled on Aspen Adsorption V14, each utilising dedicated adsorbents and configurations tailored for the target gas. Model validation is successfully conducted by comparing breakthrough simulation results with experimental data. The simulation results demonstrate that the PSA systems effectively separate H2 (99.3% purity, 80% recovery), CO (98% purity, 87% recovery), and CO2 (96.9% purity, 75% recovery) from steelmaking off-gases. Meanwhile, the techno-economic assessment indicates that the PSA systems are economically viable, with competitive costs of £2768/tH2, £52.78/tCO, and £16.89/tCO2 captured, making them an effective solution for gas separation in the steel industry.