The Figure shows the site of CERI's waste heat recovery project. (Figure provided by CERI) 

Helping Steel Companies "Turn Waste Heat into Treasure" 

The iron and steel industry is a typical energy-intensive industry, and the waste heat of flue gas generated during BOF smelting was once regarded as useless energy that was difficult to recover. The traditional wet dust removal process not only causes a large amount of waste heat at medium and low temperatures, but also the high water content and low calorific value of coal gas will increase energy consumption and environmental pollution. CERI has completely changed this situation with its flameproof medium and low temperature waste heat recovery technology for BOF flue gas. 

In response to the industry pain point that flue gas waste heat below 800°C is difficult to effectively recover, the company's technical team independently developed an "active explosion-proof + passive explosion venting" technology system. Through core devices such as high-temperature spark capture and wide-channel convection heat exchange, it achieved safe recovery of total waste heat from BOF flue gas, reduced the outlet flue gas temperature from 800°C to 180°C, increased the steam recovery per ton of steel by more than 55%, and increased the steam delivered from the BOF by 40%~60%, helping steel companies completely bid farewell to the "high water consumption and high maintenance cost" problems of traditional wet processes. 

In the Jianlong Xilin Iron and Steel Demonstration Project, this technology recycled 5.56 kg of dry ash per ton of steel, increased steam volume by more than 40%, and directly created a revenue of RMB 10 to 15 per ton of steel; reduced energy consumption by 5 kg of standard coal per ton of steel, and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 13.3 kg, which was equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 130,000 tons for a ten-million-ton steel plant every year. This technology won the first prize of 2024 Metallurgical Science and Technology Award. 

Build a "Zero Waste" Ecological Chain 

Green transformation is not only a technological upgrade, but also a reconstruction of the resource efficiency of the entire industrial chain. Taking BOF dust treatment as a breakthrough, CERI has built a three-in-one circulation system of "energy efficiency improvement, pollution control and resource regeneration". 

Traditional BOF smoke contains heavy metals and has complex particle composition, which makes it expensive to deal with and easy to cause secondary pollution. CERI realizes full dry recovery of smoke through dry dust removal and large-particle ash capture technology, and the ash is directly sent to the BOF for reuse, which can reduce the amount of solid waste generated by tens of thousands of tons per year. In addition, the company's technical team has innovatively developed micro-diameter particle separation technology to efficiently extract metals from dust and convert them into high-value-added raw materials, truly turning "waste" into "resources". 

In response to the pain point of large water consumption in the iron and steel industry, the company's technical team deeply coupled the waste heat recovery system with water-saving processes. Through saturated steam power generation technology, not only the problem of low-temperature corrosion was solved, but also the process water consumption was significantly reduced, helping steel companies to significantly increase their annual water savings. This technology meets the requirements of "full process governance" in the Opinions on Promoting the Implementation of Ultra-low Emissions in the Iron and Steel Industry, helping the industry to reduce water use and recycle wastewater. 

Build a "Low-carbon Thermal Metaverse" 

Against the backdrop of the intersection of digital economy and the "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" goals, CERI promotes the upgrading of green technology by intelligent means. 

The company's technical team promotes the deep integration of technology and intelligence, injects an automation control system coupled with BOF flue gas waste heat recovery technology, creates a "one-stop digital service platform", and realizes energy management, pollution monitoring, and intelligent production processes; through the Internet of Things and AI algorithms, thousands of sets of data such as BOF flue gas temperature, pressure, and composition are analyzed in real time to dynamically optimize waste heat recovery efficiency; using digitalization as a link, the company promote the coordinated development of "technology-industry-region" and deeply implement the development strategy of "on-site circular market".