GABRIELA ARAUJO GOIS

Abstract:

This work consists of a study of the application of different types of biomass in the steelmaking process, these are the biomasses: Macaúba, soy, corn, elephant grass, sugarcane bagasse and coffee husks, considering that Steelmaking is responsible for 5% of emissions of greenhouse gases (CH4 and CO2). There is an attempt to replace part of the coal in the steelmaking process with biomass, but it is not possible to eliminate it completely because carbon is important in the reduction stage of Blast Furnaces, in addition, biomass needs to undergo processes and treatments that give it the desired characteristics. Biomass is all organic matter used to produce energy, which can be added to coke or injected into blast furnaces. Brazil's biodiversity needs to be used by ours through the incorporation of agribusiness residues into the steel sector. But to improve the calorific potential and decrease the reactivity of the biomass, additives can be added, as well as tar, which act by reducing the porosity of the biomass. In addition, demineralization can be performed to remove the inorganic part of the biomass in order to decrease its reactivity. The pyrolysis of biomass consists of heating the organic material without the presence of oxygen, direct thermal decomposition occurring (500 to 900°C) because when the temperature increases, the volatiles are eliminated, leaving carbon. Torrefaction is carried out at lower temperatures than pyrolysis (around 300°C) and is a technique that reduces the costs of cogeneration power plant because the biomass in this process becomes friable and easy to handle, but the torrefaction problem is that it does not concentrate the fixed carbon content.