Retrofitting equipment for efficient use of variable feedstock in metal making processes

Project Information

REVaMP

Grant agreement ID: 869882

DOI

10.3030/869882

Project closed

EC signature date 22 August 2019

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced manufacturing and processing

Total cost

€ 9 903 478,25

EU contribution

€ 7 928 015,88

Coordinated by

VDEH-BETRIEBSFORSCHUNGSINSTITUT GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - REVaMP (Retrofitting equipment for efficient use of variable feedstock in metal making processes)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In the European process industries large amounts of energy and resources are used. Especially in metal making processes, metallic scraps from end of life goods are recycled and used as secondary raw materials in the processes. However, the metal production facilities are facing an increasing variability in material and energy feedstock.
The main objective of REVaMP was to develop and apply novel retrofitting technologies, as sensors for scrap analysis, model-based process control and decision support tools, and a scrap preheating system, to cope with the varying conditions of the feedstock regarding materials and energy. This was demonstrated within three different use cases at five plants from the metal making industry.
Figure 1 gives an overview on the challenges and objectives for the metal making industries, the methods which were applied and the achieved results. The applied methods and tools are further broken down in Figure 2.
The following specific objectives have been achieved:
• A smart LIBS sensor system and two different set-ups of a neutron sensor were developed and successfully tested for characterisation of metal scrap regarding chemical composition in steel, aluminum and lead making plants
• A scrap preheating system for preheating of aluminium scrap has been developed as pilot plant. Although the scheduled operation with waste derived fuel could not be tested within the project, a concept for industrial application of such a scrap preheater was set up.
• Software tools for feedstock characterisation were developed and applied for optimization of the charge material mix.
• Model-based monitoring systems to supervise the process behaviour and to detect anomalies, and control systems to optimise the processes for energy and material efficient metal production were industrially applied and tested.
Finally an evaluation of the retrofitting solutions in terms of economic and ecological benefits as well as the cross-sectorial applicability in other process industries was performed. The dissemination and exploitation of the project results was performed via publications in scientific journals and at technical conferences, via presentations at industrial fairs and in several workshops.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Within the project, several retrofitting tools were developed, prepared for installation and finally tested at the industrial metal making plants in the three different use cases.
Several sensors for material characterisation and a scrap preheating system were engineered and set up. They were tested and applied at the industrial plants as follows:
• a so-called Large Sample neutron activation Sensor based on the PGNAA principle was applied for bulk analysis of aluminium chips transported through a pipe. The sensor showed good accuracy for most of the relevant elements in aluminium scrap.
• a so-called Truck Sensor based on the PNFTA principle using a switchable neutron generator was applied for bulk analysis of different kinds of steel scrap in a large container. The sensor showed promising results regarding the bulk analysis of relevant elements in steel scrap.
• a smart LIBS sensor for surface chemical analysis of metal scrap was tested on site for analysis of aluminium scrap and lead recycling material transported on a conveyor belt, and of steel scrap in a large container. All applications of the sensor were successful, providing rather accurate results on the composition of the different metal materials for most of the relevant elements.
• a multi-measurement system called Alu-Q® for determining simultaneously the quality of liquid aluminium alloys with respect to material density, inclusions analysis and mechanical analysis.
• an aluminium scrap preheating system which was supposed to use waste derived fuels (WDF) was installed at an instrumented pilot rotary furnace in an aluminium refining plant. Scrap preheating trials were performed based on natural gas, to evaluate the energy saving potential.
Furthermore, model-based process monitoring and control tools as well as decision support systems for optimisation of charge and alloy material mixes were applied at the different melting furnaces in steelmaking, aluminium refining and lead making
To conclude the modelling work, a Material Flow Analysis, which also served as basis for a Life Cycle Analyses (LCA) within the final evaluation work, was defined and elaborated for the industrial plants of the three different use cases.
The results of the project were disseminated via 8 publications in scientific and technical journals and 15 presentations at scientific and technical conferences. Furthermore, a final exploitation workshop was organized, to present the project results to the stakeholders of the process industry. The exploitable results were also presented at in total 6 exhibitions and industrial fairs.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Important steps for a significant progress beyond the state of the art have been performed, especially regarding the successful industrial application of novel sensors, two types of neutron activation and a smart LIBS sensor, for in-line analysis of the metal scrap composition. These sensors provide the basis for a more thorough and reliable analysis of scrap properties, to increase the value in use also of low-quality scrap types and thus to enhance circularity of metal making processes. Also, the industrial test of model-based decision support and process control systems for the different metal melting processes is an important step forward to the digitalisation of these processes, enabling a more efficient use of energy and resources which leads to relevant savings. Finally, the novel Alu-Q© multi-measurement system allows a near real-time assessment of important quality parameters of aluminium melts. All these sensors and software tools are subject of exploiation activities of the respective partners.
The project results provide the following impact for the involved metal making industries:
• the energy efficiency of the involved processes increased on the average by 8.54% for the ensemble of REVaMPed solutions.
• the improvements in resource efficiency strongly vary with the use cases. The achieved values are in the lower range of 1 % for the steelmaking processes, and reach more than 10 % for aluminum production and 5% for lead production.
• The CO2 emissions were reduced for electric steelmaking by 5.9 %, for aluminium refining by 2%, and for lead production by 8.7 %.
• Reduced OPEX costs and increased productivity are closely connected with the increased use of low-quality scrap and a reduction of out-of-spec production by a better control of the charge material properties. Achieved saving values range vary from 2,43 €/t for oxygen steelmaking, 6,57 €/t for lead production and 16,76 €/ t for electric steelmaking. For aluminium refining OPEX savings lie around 2%.
• For all use cases, the payback period of the retrofitting solutions is well below five years.
The socio-economic impact lies in the reduction of CO2 emissions of the energy intensive metal making processes. In addition, the social impact in terms of acceptance of the retrofitting solutions by the different users in the plants was confirmed by the evaluation of a questionnaire.
Finally, the cross-sectorial transferability of the retrofitting solutions was assessed, indicating that many of them can be transferred to other branches of the process industry with only small adaptations.

Figure 1: Overview on objectives, methods and expected results of the REVaMP project

Figure 2: Overview on retrofitting tools and applied methods in the REVaMP project