Alex Campos

Abstract:

The steel industry is known for the large amount of greenhouse gases emitted in the atmosphere in its processes, mainly for the burning of fossil fuels. The sector is responsible for about 10% of all CO2 emitted in the world, which 70% comes from the burning of coal and coke in the blast furnace. In the short term, we have as reality the use of electric steelworks, it means, the production of steel from scrap and other inputs. Electric steelworks are already commonly known and have the advantage that is not necessary burning fossil fuels. However, a high demand for electricity is necessary, which in some countries has a high cost, making the business unfeasible. The use of hydrogen in the production of primary iron has been studied and is pointed as an interesting alternative, although the cost of obtaining it and the forms of use need to be better defined making it a long-term possibility. Another possibility is the use of biomass in the processes, that has been studied and in some small blast furnaces it is used, mainly in Brazil. This is an alternative that can be envisioned in some countries once there is availability of these materials, requiring only some adaptations of processes for implementation. Therefore, this work comes with the purpose of showing some alternatives for the future of steel companies with the increase of emission restrictions, focusing mainly on a short to medium term solution that are biomasses.