Energy Research Programme
Background
The steel industry is an energy-intensive industry. It is, therefore, no surprise that energy research constitutes an important component of the industry’s joint research. Jernkontoret has, together with the steel companies and the Swedish Energy Agency, drawn up an energy research programme for the years 2006–2010 where the research contributes to retaining a competitive Swedish steel industry that produces the most energy-efficient products, measured in terms of kwh per SEK of value added.
Objective – Energy savings and
reduced carbon dioxide emissions
The goal of the energy research programme is to reduce the steel industry’s total energy consumption, the use of fossil fuels and emissions of carbon dioxide. The total energy savings that it is expected the programme will achieve amounts to about 1 TWh/year, which corresponds to 4.5–5% of the total energy demand. The potential for reduced carbon dioxide emissions as a consequence of energy savings is 375 ktonnes carbon dioxide/year. The preconditions are deemed to be good for achieving this goal within a ten-year period.
Financing
The energy research programme covers research for SEK 227.3 million over the five years. The Swedish Energy Agency is contributing SEK 61.5 million while the remainder is financed by participating companies in the form of cash investments and/or inputs in kind.
Projects
The research programme consists of eight research projects and one project for synthesis, follow-up and administration of the programme. The latter is carried out by Jernkontoret and shall inter alia result in a synthesis report for the programme.
Of these research projects, four fall within the metallurgical area:
- Lowest possible coke consumption in the blast furnace (1/10/2006 to 30/9/2010)
- Control and monitoring of slag formation in electric arc furnace (1/10/2006 to 30/9/2010)
- Energy-saving refining of pig iron (1/10/2006 t0 31/12/2010)
- Development of continuous casting ingot mould with cooling optimised characteristics for casting of crack susceptible steel (1/10/2006 to 30/6/2010)
And four within the area 0f heat treatment and forming:
- More energy-efficient operating strategy for rolling of advanced steel profiles (1/10/2006 to 29/12/2009)
- Energy-saving through faster reheating and annealing (1/10/2006 to 30/9/2010)
- Furnace control and overall process analysis (1/10/2006 to 30/3/2010)
- Reduced use of fossil energy in the steel industry through high-temperature gasification (1/10/2006 to 30/6/2011)
The research is carried out in the form of individual projects within Jernkontoret’s technical areas.
