Integration of SMRs with Steel Industry

Sammanfattning: The steel industry is with its high emissions an important sector to transform from fossil-fueled to fossil-free. In recent years, the technology development has accelerated quickly regarding iron ore reduction using hydrogen produced from electrolysis within the EL-DRP-EAF steel production route. However, it is problematic that the energy supply for the majority of the efforts made within the green transition, steel production included, is to come from electricity. In this study it is investigated if it is possible to reduce the primary energy demand of the EL-DRP-EAF route by using direct heat integration of hot SMR steam into the process. A beneficial design of such a system is proposed and later on modeled in order to find out how much SMR steam that is needed to produce 1 ton of DRI. It is found that the primary energy demand can be reduced compared to other systems, with direct heat integration of hot SMR steam as what makes the difference. Though, the result is sensitive to somewhat unsimilar assumptions and system boundaries of the compared modelings. Lastly, scaling of the system result is performed based on the Swedish DRI production rate. As the energy demand is vast, the suggestion is made that the nearby located SMRs could be used for direct heat integration only, whilst the remaining energy demand in the form of electricity could be taken from the grid. That would allow for a mix of energy sources and still lead to the reduction in energy demand.