Application of CO2 Removal to Reduce Emissions in a Steel Plant

The steel industry is one of the major contributors to CO2 emissions due to its energy intensive processes. Steel plants operate by converting iron ore into steel through processes like the blast furnace method, resulting in substantial emissions, primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels and chemical reactions. In order to manage this challenge, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies play a pivotal role in mitigating emissions. These technologies capture CO2 at the source and prevent it from entering the atmosphere. This work takes into consideration a French steel plant, producing 6.6 million tons of steel annually, and aims at designing the process of chemical absorption with a 30 wt.% MonoEthanolAmine (MEA) aqueous solution by optimizing it to reduce the thermal requirement for regeneration. The parameters that have been optimized are the height of the absorption column, the lean loading, the height and the pressure of the regeneration column and the temperature of the solvent entering in the regeneration column. Then, an economic analysis and the comparison of this technology with another technology for the CO2 removal, the polymeric membrane method, has been carried out in order to understand the pros and the cons also taking into account the CO2 purity and the CO2 recovery ratio that can be achieved with the two technologies.