Vale and Pala state government held a celebration on April 6 to celebrate the commencement of the construction of the first tecnored commercial operation plant in Malaba, a city in the southeast of Pala state, Brazil. Tecnored, an innovative technology, can help the iron and steel industry decarbonize by using biomass instead of metallurgical coal to produce green pig iron and reducing carbon emissions by up to 100%. Pig iron can be used to produce steel.
The annual production capacity of green pig iron in the new plant will initially reach 250000 tons, and it may reach 500000 tons in the future. The plant is planned to be put into operation in 2025, with an estimated investment of about 1.6 billion reais.
“The construction of tecnored commercial operation plant is an important step in the transformation of the mining industry. It will help the process chain become more and more sustainable. Tecnored project is of great significance to vale and the region where the project is located. It will improve regional competitiveness and help the region achieve sustainable development.” Eduardo Bartolomeo, Vale’s chief executive, said.
Tecnored commercial chemical plant is located on the original site of karajas pig iron plant in Malaba industrial zone. According to the project progress and engineering research, 2000 jobs are expected to be created in the peak period of the project in the construction stage, and 400 direct and indirect jobs may be created in the operation stage.
About tecnored Technology
Tecnored furnace is much smaller than traditional blast furnace, and its range of raw materials can be very wide, from iron ore powder, steel-making slag to ore dam sludge.
In terms of fuel, tenored furnace can use carbonized biomass, such as bagasse and Eucalyptus. Tecnored technology makes raw fuels into compacts (small compact blocks), and then puts them into the furnace to produce green pig iron. Tecnored furnaces can also use metallurgical coal as fuel. Since tecnored technology is used for large-scale operation for the first time, fossil fuels will be used in the initial operation of the new plant in order to evaluate the operation performance.
“We will gradually replace coal with carbonized biomass until we reach the goal of 100% use of biomass.” Mr. Leonardo Caputo, CEO of tecnored, said. Flexibility in fuel selection will reduce tecnored’s operating costs by up to 15% compared with traditional blast furnaces.
Tecnored technology has been developed for 35 years. It eliminates the coking and sintering links in the early stage of steel production, both of which emit a large amount of greenhouse gases.
Since the use of tecnored furnace does not require coking and sintering, the investment of Xingang plant can save up to 15%. In addition, the tecnored plant is self-sufficient in energy efficiency, and all gases produced in the smelting process are reused, some of which are used for cogeneration. It can be used not only as raw material in the smelting process, but also as by-product in the cement industry.
Vale currently has a demonstration plant with a rated annual capacity of 75000 tons in pindamoniyangaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The company carries out technical development in the plant and tests its technical and economic feasibility.
“Scope III” emission reduction
The commercial operation of tecnored plant in Malaba reflects Vale’s efforts to provide technical solutions to steel plant customers to help them decarbonize their production process.
In 2020, Vale announced the goal of reducing the net emissions of “scope III” by 15% by 2035, of which up to 25% will be achieved through high-quality product portfolio and innovative technology schemes including smelting green pig iron. Emissions from the steel industry currently account for 94% of Vale’s “scope III” emissions.
Vale also announced another emission reduction target, that is, to achieve direct and indirect net zero emissions (“scope I” and “scope II”) by 2050. The company will invest US $4 billion to US $6 billion and increase the restored and protected forest area by 500000 hectares in Brazil. Vale has been operating in Pala state for more than 40 years. The company has always supported the chicomendez Institute for biodiversity conservation (icmbio) to protect the six reserves in karagas region, which are called “karagas mosaic”. They cover a total of 800000 hectares of Amazon forest, which is five times the area of Sao Paulo and is equivalent to Wuhan in China.