Steel’s Big Dog jumps into low carbon fuels: ArcelorMittal, LanzaTech, Primetals Technologies to construct $96M biofuel production facility
First plant will produce 14 million gallons per year by 2018; first production train online in 2017.
More plants to come? Up to 150 mgy potential in Europe, ArcelorMittal says; culmination of work since 2011.
In Belgium, ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, with LanzaTech and Primetals Technologies, announced a letter of intent to construct Europe’s first-ever commercial scale production facility to create bioethanol from waste gases produced during the steelmaking process.
Construction of the $96M million flagship pilot project, which will be located at ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Ghent, Belgium, is anticipated to commence later this year, with bioethanol production expected to start mid-2017. Construction will be in two phases, with phase one providing an initial capacity of 16,000 tons of ethanol per annum by mid-2017 and phase two, which will be completed in 2018, bringing the total capacity to 47,000 tons of ethanol per annum.
More about ArcelorMittal and Primetals
ArcelorMittal is the world’s leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 19 countries. The company is the leading supplier of steel in the automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging sectors. In 2014, ArcelorMittal had revenues of US$79.3 billion and crude steel production of 93.1 million tonnes, while own iron ore production reached 63.9 million tonnes. Primetals is a JV between Siemens and Mitsubishi.
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More plants, and a new low carbon fuel roll out company
This is the first commercial unit for ArcelorMittal but the plan is to roll it out in Europe and globally at their steel mills. ArcelorMittal, which has been working on this project since 2011, has signed a long-term partnership agreement with LanzaTech. Hence, once construction of the Ghent flagship plant is complete and the commercial viability of the project is proven, the intention is to construct further plants across ArcelorMittal’s operations. If scaled up to its full potential in Europe, the technology could enable the production of around 500,000 tons of bioethanol a year. ArcelorMittal produces two times as much steel as their number 2 competitor.
As the production of bioethanol is a new activity, ArcelorMittal intends to set up a dedicated company for the roll out of this technology with dedicated financial partners. Financing will be sought from a number of different sources. A total of €10.2 million has been secured under the EU’s 2020 Horizon programme for research and development and talks are currently taking place with potential equity and debt partners. Primetals Technologies will be responsible for part of the engineering, automation, key equipment and commissioning.
Background on carbon recycling and steel manufacture
Approximately 50 per cent of the carbon used in the chemistry of steelmaking leaves the process as carbon monoxide. Today, this waste gas stream is combusted as carbon dioxide and either flared or used to heat and power the steel mill. In either case, the carbon monoxide is combusted and the resulting CO2s emitted. LanzaTech’s technology, however, recycles the waste gases and ferments them with a proprietary microbe to produce bioethanol. Every ton of bioethanol produced, displaces 5.2 barrels of gasoline as well as reducing ArcelorMittal’s CO2 emissions by 2.3 tons.
The Ghent facility ArcelorMittal is putting the unit into is fully integrated and the CO is used for power/heat; they are not flaring. What ArcelorMittal is seeking to further optimize their energy use — and reduce carbon emissions through combustion — and avoid all the GHG, particulates, NOx and SOx associated with gasoline production that is displaced by ethanol.
Further, as more energy from the grid comes from renewables, putting more CO into fuels and chemicals vs power will work on reducing the global carbon footprint — instead of setting up a situation where, for example, CO-based power competes with solar or wind.
LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren told The Digest, “There is going to be a need to reduce carbon and that need will drive the need to recycle carbon when possible. So our technology fits that niche. Every atom of carbon that gets recycled into ethanol means a C atom which doesn’t need to come from a fresh fossil source. In addition, if we put carbon into a chemical, we effectively sequester it without having to bury it. Think ethanol going into ethylene and then polyethylene; think waste carbon also going into butadiene and that into carpets, tires etc. So we sequester in a durable good.”
The 47,000 ton ethanol/annum project, sufficient to fuel half a million cars with ethanol blended gasoline, will demonstrate the added value of recycling waste streams, not only by reducing emissions at source, hence reducing ArcelorMittal’s direct carbon footprint, but by keeping fossil fuels in the ground through the production of commodity chemicals and fuels that would otherwise be made from oil.
The resulting bioethanol can cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 80 per cent compared with conventional fossil fuels. It will predominantly be used in gasoline blending, but it can also be further processed into other products such as drop-in jet fuel.
Reaction from stakeholders
“This partnership is an example of how we are looking at all potential opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions and support a transition to a lower carbon economy,” said Carl De Maré, Vice President, Innovation, ArcelorMittal. “Steel is produced through a chemical process that results in high levels of waste gases being emitted; this new technology will enable us to convert some of these waste gases into fuels that deliver significant environmental benefits when compared to conventional fossil fuels. It is a further example of why our carbon footprint should be viewed on a life cycle analysis basis, given steel is 100% recyclable and the material impact we make on reducing the carbon footprint of our customers through product innovation.”
“ArcelorMittal and Primetals Technologies have consistently stayed on the cutting edge of innovation in the steel industry and have demonstrated their commitment to reducing their carbon emissions,” said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. “We are tremendously excited to announce this partnership and our first production facility in Europe at a time when it is abundantly clear that we need all solutions and the commitment of large corporations, cities and countries around the world, to help us stay within our 2 degree carbon budget and keep fossil reserves in the ground.”
“We are excited to be a partner in this leap-frog project with LanzaTech and ArcelorMittal. Once in operation, it will become a game changer within the industry and a benchmark for low-carbon footprint steelmaking”, said Karl Purkarthofer, Senior Vice President of Primetals Technologies.
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