PyroGenesis announces completion of coke-oven gas valorization and H2 production project for Tata Steel
PyroGenesis Inc., a high-tech company that designs, develops, manufactures and commercializes advanced all-electric plasma processes and sustainable solutions to support heavy industry in their energy transition, emission reduction, commodity security, and waste remediation efforts, announces that its subsidiary, Pyro Green-Gas Inc., has completed the previously announced $9.3-MM coke-oven gas valorization (via purification, desulphurization, and heavy hydrocarbon removal) and hydrogen (H2) production project for Tata Steel, one of the world’s largest diversified steel producers.
Pyro Green-Gas was contracted to supply coke-oven gas purification solutions and H2 production processes, to extract H2 and other toxic gases from the blast furnace process, then separate, clean, and process the gases to render H2 to a 99.999% purity level. With today’s announcement, the project has been completed, and the systems developed by Pyro Green-Gas are in continuous 24 hr/d operation at the Tata steel facility in Kalinganagar India. The newly reformed H2 produced by the system is being reused by other applications at the facility, improving production efficiency and environmental outcomes. The project contributes to Tata’s circular production goals, as well as to their cost reduction programs.
Blast furnaces utilize coking coal, or coke, as part of the process to transform iron ore into steel. Coke acts as both a fuel to generate the intense heat required for smelting and as a reducing agent to remove oxygen from the iron ore. The gas released during the coke production process, known as coke-oven gas or “COG”, is a toxic mix of human carcinogens comprised of approximately 54% H2 with the balance consisting of methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, tar, naphthalene, and other hydrocarbons which must be separated and removed before the H2 can be cleaned, reformed and reused. PyroGenesis’ subsidiary Pyro Green-Gas has decades of experience designing and installing technology solutions for these purposes.
“With more than 1,400 blast furnaces in existence across 477 plants in 55 countries, and with (as of September 2023) 70% of planned new global steel projects intending to use blast furnaces, the need for effective COG cleaning and valorization solutions in the steel industry is likely to continue for decades,” noted Pascal. “The systems that we have installed at the Tata Steel Kalinganagar facility are purifying 32,000 cubic meters of coke-oven gas per hour while extracting 620 cubic meters of ready-to-use H2 per hour. This represents just a fraction of the potential impact our technologies can have as more steel plants embrace the concept of COG valorization.”
PyroGenesis development of coke oven gas cleaning solutions are part of the company’s three-columned solution ecosystem that aligns with economic drivers that are key to global heavy industry. Coke oven gas cleaning solutions are part of the company’s energy transition and emissions reduction vertical where gas cleaning and conversion technologies, and fuel switching to PyroGenesis’ electric-powered plasma torches, helps heavy industry reduce energy costs, fossil fuel use, and emissions. The other verticals are waste remediation and commodity security and optimization.
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