Jingjiang Special Steel, located in the Jingjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jingjiang, Jiangsu province, has started trial production of China's first national demonstration project for electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking with near-zero carbon emissions.
One of the many processes required in EAF steelmaking, at Jingjiang Special Steel's plant. [Photo/WeChat account: jingjiangfabu]
The project uses green electricity and scrap steel as feedstock in a super EAF, achieving near-zero carbon dioxide emissions. Advanced technologies including continuous feeding, scrap preheating and waste heat recovery have shortened smelting cycles and raised efficiency. Compared with traditional blast furnace routes, the EAF process eliminates highly polluting steps such as sintering and coking.
The company has partnered with the University of Science and Technology Beijing to overcome key technological barriers in raw materials, energy, and processes. It has installed distributed solar and wind turbines and built Jiangsu's largest user-side energy storage station, forming an integrated micro-grid that provides a stable green power supply for the furnace.
The storage station can store up to 240,000 kWh of electricity, enough to meet the daily needs of about 25,000 households. It is expected to increase green power consumption by about 160 million kWh annually, saving 21,000 metric tons of standard coal and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by about 50,000 tons a year.
Once fully operational, the project aims to cut carbon emissions per ton of steel to below 150 kg, with the ultimate target below 120 kg — a reduction of more than 90 percent from conventional methods.