Tata Steel UK, subsidiary of Indian steel producer Tata Steel, has announced a program of improvements at blast furnaces that will reduce the plant’s carbon footprint by about 160,000 mt of CO2 a year. That amount is equal to the annual emissions from nearly 100,000 cars or the energy used by around 50,000 households.
The two Port Talbot furnaces, which produce around 3.6 million mt of liquid iron annually, are powered by high pressure ‘hot blast’ air that is superheated to temperatures of more than 1,100°C.
“Stoves are absolutely critical to the running of our blast furnaces. Any loss of efficiency in heating the air means we either have to use more gas than is optimum, or we have to replace that lost energy by using more metallurgical coke to chemically reduce the iron ore inside the furnaces. This program of activity will make a significant difference to our carbon footprint, our energy costs and our operational stability and efficiency,” said Andrew McGregor, Tata Steel project manager.
The continuous improvement program of work in three of the seven stoves will upgrade the burners that generate heat, with two new units with the best available technology being installed.