ORALS

The demand for iron and steel has been increasing in the context of progressive industrialization and urbanization. China’s steel output has topped the world since 1996, accounting for 56.5% of the world’s total steel output in 2020. The largest contributor to pollutant emissions is the sintering process in steel industry. Ultra-low emission policy for the Chinese steel industry states that emission concentrations of particulate matter, SO2 and NOx should not exceed 10, 35 and 50 mg/m3 respectively. Increasingly stringent pollutant emission standards pose a new challenge to the control of air pollutants in China’s iron and steel industry. Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost method is applied to quantified and compared the environmental and economic effects of three typical sintering flue gas ultra-low emission treatment technologies of the iron and steel industry in China. The key processes, key inputs that cause environmental impacts and economic cost are identified. The optimization scheme is proposed accordingly for the three technologies. The findings could provide a reference for the selection of future ultra-low emission technologies for the iron and steel industry and provide theoretical support and guidance for the government's decision-making and deployment of ultra-low emission retrofit in the iron and steel industry.