Performance, exergy, and environmental analysis of blast furnace top pressure turbine in an iron-steel factory

Abstract

The iron-steel industry, which has a large part of its energy consumption, strives to stay at the targeted level in the competition race and to hold on in the field in which it operates. For this purpose, production capacity turned to different energy saving methods due to the effort to reach the relevant standards and high quality low cost strategies, as well as energy prices are constantly variable and energy costs are high. In this study, the Blast Furnace Top Pressure Turbine system (TRT), which is one of the important energy saving methods of the iron and steel industry, was examined. Considering the importance of the TRT system, operating conditions, operating parameters, and factors affecting energy recovery, the effect of various operating parameters on the operation of the TRT system was evaluated. Considering the annual operating time of 8000 hours, the annual production amount is 42400000 kWh, the value in terms of tons of oil equivalent is 3640 toe, the investment cost of the plant in 2018 is $400000 and the annual savings amount is $2755900. The amount of carbon emission reduction due to this production amount was calculated as 10888 kgCO2/h on average, and this amount of carbon emission was prevented every year with the commissioning of the facility. When the cost and energy calculations related to the system are examined, the payback period of the project is calculated as approximately 0.15 years.