Sulzer to provide the distillation equipment for the waste gas to ethanol plant of ArcelorMittal in Belgium
Type of post: NEWS.
Last June, ArcelorMittal began the construction of a new
installation to convert carbon-containing gas from its blast furnaces into
bioethanol at its site in Ghent (Belgium). It is the first plant of its kind on
an industrial scale in Europe (the world first is already running in China: “LanzaTech
and Shougang Group announce the start-up of the world’s first commercial waste
gas to ethanol plant”, 9/6/2018) and once completed, the annual production
of bioethanol would reach around 80 Ml. Commissioning and start-up are expected
by mid-2020.
The technology in the gas conversion process has been developed by LanzaTech,
with whom ArcelorMittal has entered a long-term partnership. The scale-up of such
technology in the new facility has obtained funding from various sources,
including the European Union's Horizon 2020 program through the project Steelanol. This CCU concept has the potential to
revolutionise blast furnace carbon emissions capture and support the
decarbonisation of the transport sector. If fully deployed, it could entail the
production of 2.5 Mtons of bioethanol in Europe with emission reductions of 65%
compared to fossil fuels and at a competitive cost.
Figure 1. Sulzer to provide the distillation equipment for the waste gas to
ethanol plant of ArcelorMittal in Belgium (taken from the press release)
The construction is currently ongoing. The
first foundation pile of the plant (first of 1,800) has been driven into the
ground few days ago. And, the industrial supplies are being purchased. In this sense,
Sulzer has
just announced that it has appointed by ArcelorMittal to provide advanced distillation
equipment. Sulzer proposed and designed a first-of-its-kind solution that
simplifies the process and the equipment necessary, whilst creating closed
loops that can re-use key resources and dramatically reduce energy usage.
Press release: “Sulzer
helps turn carbon emissions into biofuels at the ArcelorMittal Gent plant”,
8/1/2019.