Speaking in a panel during the 33rd congress of the Brazilian steel institute IABr, this week in São Paulo, Albano Chagas Vieira, consultant for steel and mining issues at Prumo, the holding company that develops the Port of Açu, explained the development of one of the first projects aiming at the decarbonization of the steel industry in Brazil.
Vieira mentioned that four blast furnaces of large industries were evaluated, to develop an ideal model, that could be applied anywhere, even with limitations related to temperature and oxygen. As a result, the model shows that the introduction in the furnace of 20 percent of the total charge consisting of hot bracketed iron (HBI), would result in an equivalent reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
He added that such charge modification would also result in an increased productivity of the furnace, as the unit would produce a larger volume of pig iron, in relation to its total volume and to the time length of operation.
Vieira mentioned that the base for the study was the research he developed more than 20 years ago, destined to find out why two blast furnaces in the US were showing a far higher productivity, when compared to the sector average.
“At that time the CO2 emissions were not an important factor, but we found that the higher productivity at these two blast furnaces derived from the utilization of HBI, imported from Venezuela and Russia,” he said, adding that the development of a mega-hub in Brazil to produce HBI, such as the one in the Port of Açu, will add value to the iron ore and help the world steel industry in the reduction of its CO2 emissions.