7 Development of Low Carbon Technology in China’s Iron …
233
7.2.1.3 Recycling and Reuse of Steel
A well-structured recovery, recycling and reuse system of iron and steel shall be put
in place with more support granted for the recycling industry and for technological
development in steel scrap, such as short process steelmaking.
7.2.2 Production Side—Higher Energy Efficiency
from Technical Improvement
There are two approaches to enhance the overall energy efficiency of iron and steel
industry: the first, R&D of energy-saving and emission reduction technologies on the
technical level; the second, organizational improvement in iron and steel production
on the management level.
7.2.2.1 Technical Level
Major approaches on the technical level are listed in Table 7.3, which are employed in
different technical procedures to optimize the long and short processes: (1) enhance
the gas circulation, product and waste flows; (2) improve charging of materials,
such as injection of pulverized coal; (3) optimize the furnace design and process
control; (4) recover more energy through adopting coke drying quenching, top gas
recovery turbine, thin strip continuous casting; (5) recovery and reuse of residual
gas/heat in each process. In fact, the expanding market has aroused the awareness
of technological development for iron and steel industry, in which several rounds of
technological upgrade have taken place. For the past 30 years since 1980, especially
during the 1980s and 1990s, a series of key technological upgrade have occurred,
such as BOF substituting open hearth furnace, continuous casting substituting ingot
casting, one-time heating substituting multiple-time heating during rolling, etc., with
notable progress. A cost/benefit analysis and identification of priorities are needed
for these new technological options for the future low-carbon development of iron
and steel industry.
7.2.2.2 Management Level
On the management level, managerial science is applied in organizing resource allocation and iron and steel production to cope with the challenges of low concentration,
insufficient specialization, high cost and subsequently excessive production capacity
in the industry as described in 7.1.1. This cannot be achieved without the hardware and software support in “power system” in the table above. In recent years,
with the Industry 4.0 Strategy as stated in Made in China 2025, i.e. IT-empowered
233
7.2.1.3 Recycling and Reuse of Steel
A well-structured recovery, recycling and reuse system of iron and steel shall be put
in place with more support granted for the recycling industry and for technological
development in steel scrap, such as short process steelmaking.
7.2.2 Production Side—Higher Energy Efficiency
from Technical Improvement
There are two approaches to enhance the overall energy efficiency of iron and steel
industry: the first, R&D of energy-saving and emission reduction technologies on the
technical level; the second, organizational improvement in iron and steel production
on the management level.
7.2.2.1 Technical Level
Major approaches on the technical level are listed in Table 7.3, which are employed in
different technical procedures to optimize the long and short processes: (1) enhance
the gas circulation, product and waste flows; (2) improve charging of materials,
such as injection of pulverized coal; (3) optimize the furnace design and process
control; (4) recover more energy through adopting coke drying quenching, top gas
recovery turbine, thin strip continuous casting; (5) recovery and reuse of residual
gas/heat in each process. In fact, the expanding market has aroused the awareness
of technological development for iron and steel industry, in which several rounds of
technological upgrade have taken place. For the past 30 years since 1980, especially
during the 1980s and 1990s, a series of key technological upgrade have occurred,
such as BOF substituting open hearth furnace, continuous casting substituting ingot
casting, one-time heating substituting multiple-time heating during rolling, etc., with
notable progress. A cost/benefit analysis and identification of priorities are needed
for these new technological options for the future low-carbon development of iron
and steel industry.
7.2.2.2 Management Level
On the management level, managerial science is applied in organizing resource allocation and iron and steel production to cope with the challenges of low concentration,
insufficient specialization, high cost and subsequently excessive production capacity
in the industry as described in 7.1.1. This cannot be achieved without the hardware and software support in “power system” in the table above. In recent years,
with the Industry 4.0 Strategy as stated in Made in China 2025, i.e. IT-empowered