Material and energy flows of the iron and steel industry: Status quo, challenges and perspectives

TLDR

Integrated analysis of material and energy flows in the iron and steel industry has attracted interest from multiple stakeholders, yet a comprehensive overview of these flows remains lacking. This study aims to fill that gap by providing an overview of steel production routes and outlining challenges and future research directions for material and energy flow integration. The authors review 80 selected publications, model and schedule material and energy flows, and construct a map illustrating the potential for integrating these flows across iron and steel sites.

Abstract

Integrated analysis and optimization of material and energy flows in the iron and steel industry have drawn considerable interest from steelmakers, energy engineers, policymakers, financial firms, and academic researchers. Numerous publications in this area have identified their great potential to bring significant benefits and innovation. Although much technical work has been done to analyze and optimize material and energy flows, there is a lack of overview of material and energy flows of the iron and steel industry. To fill this gap, this work first provides an overview of different steel production routes. Next, the modelling, scheduling and interrelation regarding material and energy flows in the iron and steel industry are presented by thoroughly reviewing the existing literature. This study selects eighty publications on the material and energy flows of steelworks, from which a map of the potential of integrating material and energy flows for iron and steel sites is constructed. The paper discusses the challenges to be overcome and the future directions of material and energy flow research in the iron and steel industry, including the fundamental understandings of flow mechanisms, the dynamic material and energy flow scheduling and optimization, the synergy between material and energy flows, flexible production processes and flexible energy systems, smart steel manufacturing and smart energy systems, and revolutionary steelmaking routes and technologies.