The Brazilian steel, iron ore, and cement producer, CSN, is using green hydrogen to feed the blast furnace number two of its Volta Redonda plant, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The process is based on technology developed by Portugal’s UTIS, already used by CSN in its Arcos cement plant and for the first time in the world, used in a steel plant.
The technology’s main objective is to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels by utilization of renewable hydrogen.
The system, called UC3, is used in the regenerators of the blast furnace to optimize the combustion process, bringing more stability to the process.
According to CSN director, Fabiam Franklin, the regenerators play a crucial role in recovering the energy of the gases generated during the pig iron production, improving the thermal efficiency and reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.
He added that so far it has been possible to increase the blowing temperature of the regenerators by seven percent, allowing for the reduction of coke usage by ton of pig iron produced, the increase productivity, and reduction of CO2 emissions.
