Biomass applications in iron and steel industry: An overview of challenges and opportunities

The iron and steel industry accounts for about 20% of the annual industrial energy utilization. The intensive fossil fuel consumption in steel industry is associated with CO2 emission. In the absence of economically feasible and efficient methods for capture and storage of enormous quantities of CO2 emissions from steel industry, the use of biomass products as a source of energy and reducing agents provides a promising alternative solution for green steel production. However, the biomass application in iron and steel industry is still limited and it suffers strong competition from fossil fuels. The challenges of biomass usage in steel industry are included technical and economic aspects which required synergy between steelmaking and bioenergy sectors. Although intensive work has been carried out separately, there is a lack of link between these two vital sectors. The present article provides a comprehensive review of recent research progresses which have been conducted on biomass upgrading and analysing the opportunities and obstacles for biomass implementation in iron and steel industry. In the first part, an overview on the energy consumption and CO2 emissions in different iron and steelmaking routes is clarified. Moreover, the potential approaches of biomass conversion processes and upgrading technologies are reviewed. In the second part, an attention has been paid to the utilization of torrefied/pyrolyzed biomass in the energy-intensive ironmaking processes. Biomass addition to coal blend during cokemaking and its influence on the product coke quality is discussed. The partial and complete substitution of coke breeze with biochar in sintering process and its influence on the product sinter quality is explained. The impact of charcoal top charging or injection into blast furnace has been elaborated. Benefits and limitations of biomass application in each process are thoroughly discussed. In the third part, an economic analysis of biomass implementation for low-carbon steel is addressed.