In RETROFEED project, it is expected to use renewable feedstock for our demo-site partners in the steel sector FENO and SILCOTUB. The reason is that the electric arc furnace (EAF) used to melt the steel scrap has both a very high energy consumption and related environmental footprint. The energy is supplied by electrical source (electric arc) and by chemical source (methane burners, oxygen injectors and carbon injectors). Normally, natural gas, coal and oxygen are utilised as chemical source.
However, the consumption of natural gas (and consequently the CO2 emission) can be reduced by using biochar and plastic grains. For that, a new flexible burner has been dimensioned and designed in order to reach the same productivity of current CH4 burners, or even higher in order to further increase productivity and reduce electricity consumption. This new flexible burner can be fed by different residues from steel industry such as EAF powder coming from off gas duct, dried sludges coming from pickling acid neutralization and iron oxide coming from rolling mill scale, and also other residues coming from other industrial residues such as the granulated tires.