Posted on 15 Sep 2021
Indian producer Tata Steel has commissioned a 5 t/d carbon capture facility at its 13mn t/yr Jamshedpur plant in India in a step towards decarbonising its operations.
The plant, with support from London-based CO2 capture technology firm Carbon Clean, will extract carbon directly from blast-furnace gas and have a semi-commercial use within the steel value chain, Tata said today. The carbon capture and utilisation facility will use amine-based technology and make the captured carbon available for on-site reuse. The depleted CO2 gas will be sent back to the gas network with increased calorific value. The company will reuse the captured carbon to promote a circular carbon economy.
The steel sector is one of the biggest carbon-emitting sources globally. Top producer China has been trying to rein in its steel output as part of efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
"We have taken this strategic step in our journey towards decarbonisation… For the sustainability of the steel industry globally and particularly in a growing country like India, it is essential that we find economical solutions for capturing and use of CO2 at scale," Tata Steel's chief executive officer and managing director TV Narendran said.
"The operational experience gathered from this 5 t/d CO2 capture plant will give us the required data and confidence to establish larger carbon capture plants in future. As the next step, we aim to establish scaled up facilities of CO2 capture integrated with utilisation avenues," Narendran added.
Tata Steel said it has adopted a two-pronged approach of carbon direct avoidance and CO2 capture and use towards achieving its decarbonisation goal.
"We are currently capturing 5 t/d of CO2 but following our successful demonstration, we plan to rapidly accelerate the number of carbon capture projects. Capturing CO2 from blast-furnace gas will not only decarbonise the steel plants but will also open avenues for [a] hydrogen economy," Carbon Clean's chief executive officer Aniruddha Sharma said.
Tata commissioned a 500,000 t/yr steel recycling plant at Rohtak in north India's Haryana state last month to boost raw material availability and reduce dependency on imports.
Indian private-sector producer JSW Steel last month set a target to cut its carbon emissions by 23pc in 2030 compared with last year, as part of a growing push to reduce steel sector emissions. Its sister company JSW Future Energy reached an agreement with Australia's Fortescue Future Industries in July to develop green hydrogen projects in India for use in steelmaking.
India has set a target to cut total emissions by 30-35pc below 2005 levels by 2030.
Source:Argus
