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Minerals
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Bio-Coal for Metallurgical Processes
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Bio-Coal for Metallurgical Processes

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2021) | Viewed by 15361

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lena Sundqvist Öqvist

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Swerim AB, SE-971 25 Luleå, Sweden
Dr. Maria Lundgren

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Swerim AB, SE-971 25 Luleå, Sweden

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The metallurgical industry faces great challenges in reducing the fossil CO2 emissions related to production. This challenge can be met using bio-coal as an alternative to fossil coal in different applications related to the production processes. In many cases, large volumes of bio-coal of a specific quality have to be available to meet the demand, and this will require the use of different types of biomass sources for the production of bio-coal using pre-treatment methodologies through which desired qualities can be reached. Topics that will be included in the issue are as follows:

  • Pre-treatment methods for bio-coal
  • Impact of biomass characteristics on bio-coal quality
  • Bio-coal quality, possibilities, and limitations
  • Use of bio-coal as raw material in coke making
  • Applications with bio-coal for injection or addition in lumpy form into metallurgical processes
  • Applications with bio-coal in agglomerates

We are looking forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Lena Sundqvist Öqvist
Dr. Maria Lundgren
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bio-coal production
  • raw biomass
  • biomass residue
  • injection
  • bio-coke
  • bio-agglomerates
  • reducing agent
  • bio-coal quality

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 23950 KiB  
Article
Experiences of Bio-Coal Applications in the Blast Furnace Process—Opportunities and Limitations
by Lena Sundqvist Ökvist and Maria Lundgren
Minerals 2021, 11(8), 863; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11080863 - 10 Aug 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5243
Abstract
Metal production, and especially iron ore-based steel production, is characterized by high fossil CO2 emissions due of the use of coal and coke in the blast furnace. Steel companies around the world are striving to reduce the CO2 emissions in different [...] Read more.
Metal production, and especially iron ore-based steel production, is characterized by high fossil CO2 emissions due of the use of coal and coke in the blast furnace. Steel companies around the world are striving to reduce the CO2 emissions in different ways, e.g., by use of hydrogen in the blast furnace or by production of iron via direct reduction. To partially replace fossil coal and coke with climate neutral bio-coal products that are adapted for use in the metal industry, e.g., at the blast furnace, is a real and important opportunity to significantly lower the climate impact in a short-term perspective. Top-charging of bio-coal directly to the blast furnace is difficult due to its low strength but can be facilitated if bio-coal is added as an ingredient in coke or to the mix when producing residue briquettes. Bio-coal can also be injected into the lower part of the blast furnace and thereby replace a substantial part of the injected pulverized coal. Based on research work within Swerim, where the authors have been involved, this paper will describe the opportunities and limitations of using bio-coal as a replacement for fossil coal as part of coke, as a constituent in residue briquettes, or as replacement of part of the injected pulverized coal. Results from several projects studying these opportunities via technical scale, as well as pilot and industrial scale experiments and modelling will be presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Coal for Metallurgical Processes)
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17 pages, 5050 KiB  
Article
Effects of Briquetting and High Pyrolysis Temperature on Hydrolysis Lignin Char Properties and Reactivity in CO-CO2-N2 Conditions
by Aki Koskela, Anne Heikkilä, Davide Bergna, Justin Salminen and Timo Fabritius
Minerals 2021, 11(2), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020187 - 11 Feb 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2980
Abstract
Carbonaceous reductants for pyrometallurgical applications are usually obtained from fossil-based sources. The most important properties of the reductants greatly depend on the application and the feeding of the reductant into the process. However, the mechanical strength, calorific value, fixed carbon content, and reactivity [...] Read more.
Carbonaceous reductants for pyrometallurgical applications are usually obtained from fossil-based sources. The most important properties of the reductants greatly depend on the application and the feeding of the reductant into the process. However, the mechanical strength, calorific value, fixed carbon content, and reactivity of the reductant are the properties that usually define the applicability of the reductant for different processes. The reactivity of the biochars is usually high in comparison to metallurgical coke, which may restrict the applicability of the biochar in reduction processes. One cause of the higher reactivity is the higher surface area of the biochars, which can be suppressed with agglomeration treatment, e.g., briquetting. In this work, hydrolysis lignin was used for slow pyrolysis experiments to produce biochars. The biochars were pyrolyzed in briquetted form and in as-received form at various temperatures. The reactivity values of the biochars were tested in dynamic reactivity tests in a CO-CO2-N2 gas atmosphere at temperatures of up to 1350 °C. It was found that the yield of the hydrolysis lignin char only decreased by 3.36 wt% when the pyrolysis temperature was elevated from 600 to 1200 °C, while a decrease in yield of 4.88 wt% occurred when the pyrolysis temperature was elevated from 450 to 600 °C. The mass loss of hydrolysis lignin biochar in the reactivity experiment in CO-CO2-N2 atmosphere was significantly decreased from 79.41 wt% to 56.80 wt% when the hydrolysis lignin was briquetted before the slow pyrolysis process and the temperature of the pyrolysis process was elevated from 600 to 1200 °C. This means that the mass loss of the material was suppressed by 22.61 wt% due to the higher pyrolysis temperature and briquetting process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Coal for Metallurgical Processes)
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14 pages, 1596 KiB  
Article
Understanding of Blast Furnace Performance with Biomass Introduction
by Joel Orre, Lena Sundqvist Ökvist, Axel Bodén and Bo Björkman
Minerals 2021, 11(2), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020157 - 2 Feb 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5767
Abstract
The blast furnace still dominates the production and supply of metallic units for steelmaking. Coke and coal used in the blast furnace contribute substantially to CO2 emissions from the steel sector. Therefore, blast furnace operators are making great efforts to lower the [...] Read more.
The blast furnace still dominates the production and supply of metallic units for steelmaking. Coke and coal used in the blast furnace contribute substantially to CO2 emissions from the steel sector. Therefore, blast furnace operators are making great efforts to lower the fossil CO2 emissions and transition to fossil-free steelmaking. In previous studies the use of pre-treated biomass has been indicated to have great potential to significantly lower fossil CO2 emissions. Even negative CO2 emission can be achieved if biomass is used together with carbon capture and storage. Blast furnace conditions will change at substantial inputs of biomass but can be defined through model calculations when using a model calibrated with actual operational data to define the key blast furnace performance parameters. To understand the effect, the modelling results for different biomass cases are evaluated in detail and the overall performance is visualised in Rist- and carbon direct reduction rate (CDRR) diagrams. In this study injection of torrefied biomass or charcoal, top charging of charcoal as well as the use of a combination of both methods are evaluated in model calculations. It was found that significant impact on the blast furnace conditions by the injection of 142 kg/tHM of torrefied biomass could be counteracted by also top-charging 30 kg/tHM of charcoal. With combined use of the latter methods, CO2-emissions can be potentially reduced by up to 34% with moderate change in blast furnace conditions and limited investments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Coal for Metallurgical Processes)
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