In the heart of China’s steel industry, a silent battle rages against an invisible foe: hydrochloric acid (HCl) lurking in blast furnace gas. This corrosive compound, a byproduct of the ironmaking process, wreaks havoc on pipelines, turbines, and catalysts, costing the industry millions in maintenance and lost efficiency. But a glimmer of hope emerges from the School of Energy and Environmental Engineering at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, where Dr. Gang Lu and his team have been delving into the complexities of HCl removal.
The blast furnace, a towering symbol of industrial might, is the workhorse of steel production. Yet, it’s also a prolific producer of HCl, which, when combined with moisture, forms a corrosive acid that eats away at infrastructure. “The harm caused by chlorine ions in blast furnace gas is significant,” Lu explains, “but altering the fundamental blast furnace ironmaking process is not a viable solution.”
Lu’s team has been exploring a multitude of strategies to mitigate this issue, each with its own set of challenges and trade-offs. Controlling chloride content in raw materials, for instance, is hampered by the constraints of available resources and production processes. Optimizing blast furnace operations, while beneficial, can lead to increased energy loss and reduced equipment lifespan.
One of the most promising avenues is the use of dry dechlorination technologies. These methods, which involve blowing dechlorinating agents through pipelines, offer a high degree of automation and flexibility. “Pipeline blowing dechlorination allows for precise control of the dechlorination effect,” Lu notes, “making it suitable for a variety of working conditions.”
However, the journey towards effective HCl removal is fraught with obstacles. Pipeline anticorrosion technologies, while helpful, are costly and not entirely effective. Top gas recovery turbine (TRT) scale inhibition technologies, meanwhile, can slow salt scaling but may lead to the formation of pharmaceutical scales over time.
The commercial impacts of this research are vast. Effective HCl removal could lead to significant savings in maintenance costs, increased equipment lifespan, and improved energy efficiency. Moreover, it could pave the way for cleaner use of blast furnace gas, supporting the sustainable development of the steel industry.
Looking ahead, Lu and his team propose several directions for future research. These include optimizing the performance of dechlorinating agents, reducing costs, and developing more environmentally friendly dechlorination technologies. Their work, published in the Journal of Engineering Sciences, offers a roadmap for tackling one of the steel industry’s most pressing challenges.
As the battle against HCl rages on, Lu’s research provides a beacon of hope. By shedding light on the complexities of HCl removal, he and his team are paving the way for a more sustainable, efficient, and profitable future for the steel industry. The road ahead is long, but with continued innovation and perseverance, victory is within reach.