Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research paper

Thermodynamic optimization opportunities for the recovery and

utilization of residual energy and heat in China's iron and steel
industry: A case study
Lingen Chen a, b, c, *, Bo Yang a, b, c, Xun Shen a, b, c, Zhihui Xie a, b, c, Fengrui Sun a, b, c
a
Institute of Thermal Science and Power Engineering, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, PR China
b
Military Key Laboratory for Naval Ship Power Engineering, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, PR China
c
College of Power Engineering, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan 430033, PR China

h i g h l i g h t s

Material flows and energy flows in iron and steel industry are introduced.

Recovery and utilization of residual energy and heat plays an important role.

A case study of hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat recovery is presented.

Thermodynamic optimization for the system is performed.

Energy saving, profit, and CO2 emission reduction improvements are obvious.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Analyses and optimizations of material flows and energy flows in iron and steel industry in the world are
Received 26 September 2014 introduced in this paper. It is found that the recovery and utilization of residual energy and heat (RUREH)
Accepted 9 April 2015 plays an important role for energy saving and CO2 emission reduction no matter what method is used.
Available online 22 April 2015
Although the energy cascade utilization principle is carried out, the efficiency of RUREH in China's iron
and steel industry (CISI) is only about 30%e50%, while the international advanced level is higher than
Keywords:
90%, such as USA, Japan, Sweden, etc. An important reason for the low efficiency of RUREH in CISI is that
Thermodynamics optimization
someone ignores the thermodynamic optimization opportunities for the energy recovery or utilization
Ironmaking
Steelmaking
equipment, such as electricity production via waste heat boiler, sintering ore sensible heat recovery, heat
Production process transfer through heat exchangers, etc. A case study of hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat recovery and
China's iron steel industry utilization is presented to illustrate the viewpoint above. The results show that before the heat
Case study conductance distribution optimization, the system can realize energy saving 76.2 kgce/h, profit
68.9 yuan/h, and CO2 emission reduction 187.2 kg/h. While after the heat conductance distribution
optimization, the system can realize energy saving 88.8 kgce/h, profit 92.5 yuan/h, and CO2 emission
reduction 218.2 kg/h, which are, respectively, improved by 16.5%, 34.2% and 16.5% than those before
optimization. Thermodynamic optimization from the single equipment to the whole system of RUREH is
a vital part in the future energy conservation work in CISI.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction consumption and pollution emission. The energy consumption of

The iron and steel industry is not only one of the most important
economy sectors, but also a large component of energy
* Corresponding author. College of Power Engineering, Naval University of En-
gineering, Wuhan 430033, PR China. Tel.: þ86 27 83615046; fax: þ86 27 83638709.
E-mail addresses: lgchenna@yahoo.com, lingenchen@hotmail.com (L. Chen).
iron and steel industry accounts for 10%e15% of the total energy
consumption in the world, and the CO2 emission accounts for about
7% of the total anthropogenic CO2 emission [1]. Thus, the iron and
steel industry is an important study object of energy saving and
emission reduction [2e8]. Analyses and optimizations of material
flows and energy flows in iron and steel industry in the world will
be introduced in this paper. Then, the state of the arts of recovery
and utilization of residual energy and heat (RUREH) in China's iron

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.04.026
1359-4311/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
152 L. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160
Nomenclature
BF blast furnace
BFG blast furnace gas
BOF basic oxygen furnace
BOFG basic oxygen furnace gas
Ci heat leak coefficient of absorption refrigeration cycle
(kW/K)
cp average isobaric specific heat [kJ/(Nm3 K)]
CCPP combined cycle power plant
CDQ coke dry quenching
CHP combined heat and power
CISI China's iron and steel industry
COG coke oven gas
E effectiveness of heat exchanger
EAF electric arc furnace
I irreversibility factor of absorption refrigeration cycle
n distribution ratio of heat rejection between absorber
and condenser
Q heat transfer rate (kW)
Ra cooling load of absorption refrigeration cycle (kW)
RUREH recovery and utilization of residual energy and heat
T temperature (K)
TRT top pressure recovery turbine
U heat conductance (kW/K)
u heat conductance distribution
and steel industry (CISI) will be described. Thermodynamic opti-
mization opportunities for RUREH in CISI will be discussed. And a
case study of hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat recovery and
utilization will be presented.
2. General state of RUREH in the world iron and steel industry
Many researchers have performed analyses and optimizations of
materials flows and energy flows in iron and steel industry via
various methods, and have proposed effective ways for energy
saving and emission reduction.
Costa et al. [9] and Michaelis et al. [10] carried out exergy ana-
lyses for different steel production routes (conventional integrated,
semi-integrated and new integrated with smelt reduction). The
exergy consumption, exergy losses and exergy efficiencies of every
subsystem and overall plant were calculated and compared. The
results showed that for all types of steel plants, energy saving
methods were the most important alternatives to reduce exergy
losses and increase exergy efficiencies. It has been suggested that
use of byproducts in other economic sectors, decreasing air and
water emissions, and recycling of solid wastes should remain
fundamental tasks to improve the overall efficiency and to reduce
environmental pollution.
Ryman and Larsson [11] and Wang et al. [12,13] presented multi-
objective optimization models based on mixed integer linear pro-
gramming, which could be used to evaluate CO2 emission, energy
consumption and conversion cost for the integrated steel plants.
The results demonstrated that the benefits could be gained by using
a system-oriented analysis approach compared with the optimi-
zation of each process separately. The residual energy and heat
recovery (coke oven gas (COG), blast furnace (BF) gas (BFG) and
basic oxygen furnace (BOF) gas (BOFG)) could contribute to help the
steel plant to meet the emission trading allowance and future
emission reduction commitments. Furthermore, the possibility of
applying the model for a specific integrated steel plant (Swedish
steelmaker SSAB Tunnplat AB) had been discussed.
V volume flow rate (Nm3/s)
Z energy saving rate (kgce/h)
Greek symbols
εc coefficient of performance of compressed air
refrigerator
4a sale price per unit refrigeration (yuan/kJ)
4K sale price per unit heating (yuan/kJ)
4m operation and maintenance cost price per unit heat
transfer (yuan/kJ)
hp efficiency of coal burning electricity plant
tg ratio of generator working fluid temperature to
environment temperature
P profit rate (yuan/h)
Subscripts
a absorber
bfg blast furnace gas
c condenser
e evaporator
fg hot blast stove flue gas
g generator
max maximum
T total
0 environment
Malmstrom [14] investigated the potential of using waste en-
ergy from the steel production at SSAB Strip Products Division in
Lulea. The energy and exergy analyses were applied in order to
study the quantity and quality of different waste energy flows, such
as cooling water, flue gas, slag, etc. The total heat loss and the
theoretical upper limit when converting the waste energy into
electricity were calculated. Meanwhile the technologies of using
waste heat in other ways were discussed, such as district heating
system, organic Rankine cycle, and Kalina cycle.
Johansson and Soderstrom [15] pointed out that, for both inte-
grated and scrap-based steel plants, a number of options and op-
portunities were available to utilize energy efficiently and reduce
CO2 emission. The options were evaluated from a system
perspective, and specific methods with high compatibility and
probability for near future implementation were reported for
Swedish integrated steel plants, such as coke dry quenching (CDQ)
with sensible heat recovery, process gases for combined heat and
power (CHP) production and top pressure recovery turbine (TRT).
Tanaka [16] used two methods (the European Union Emission
Trading Scheme and a method developed by the Japanese Iron and
Steel Federation) to calculate CO2 emission and to investigate the
effect of the accounting method on the assessment of energy
saving. The results showed that the energy saving and CO2 emission
for a given mill were found to differ from 5% to 15% and 4% to 14%,
respectively, by using different calculation methods. Methodologies
that evaluated CO2 emission only may not fully account for energy
saving efforts, such as waste heat recovery, generating power using
byproduct gas, etc. It was indicated that assessing over the entire
installation and assessing from an energy viewpoint in addition to
CO2 emission were essential to recognize and support continued
energy efficiency improvement.
Shigaki et al. [17] conducted exergy analysis of the steel pro-
duction and recycling in Japan. The exergy losses of the BF-BOF
route and electric arc furnace (EAF) route were calculated and
compared. The optimum ratio of EAF product to BF-BOF product
and that of scrap utilized in the EAF process to that utilized in the
 L. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160
BOF process were investigated. The results showed that the EAF
process was more desirable than the BF-BOF process from the
standpoint of the effective utilization of exergy, and the sensible
heat recovery was effective for the improvement of overall energy
efficiency.
Samajdar [18] introduced the energy consumption state of In-
dian steel industry and compared it with the level of developed
countries. It was pointed out that the reduction in specific energy
consumption in integrated steel plants had three dimensions:
minimisation of energy requirement, maximisation of energy uti-
lisation and minimisation of energy losses. To improve energy
utilization efficiency, the existing steel plants should focus on
better operation management in maintaining continuous process
flow and better technology management with adoption of new
energy efficient technologies, such as sinter waste heat recovery,
TRT and hot blast stove waste heat recovery in BF, and reheating
furnace waste heat recovery in steel rolling.
Ostman et al. [19] investigated the system effect of scrap pre-
heating and surface cleaning on energy consumption and CO2
emission of a BF-BOF route. The analyses indicated that scrap sur-
face cleaning made it possible to use shredded scrap and automo-
tive shredder residue or other combustible waste to replace fossil
fuels. The implementation of surface cleaning and preheating led to
both increased possibilities for recycling of otherwise non-
recyclable materials and a more efficient energy use, simulta-
neously both cost and CO2 emission could be decreased.
Purwanto et al. [20] carried out exergy, CO2 emission and
economical analyses of the hydrogen production from high tem-
perature waste heat in Japan steel industry. The waste heat of
molten slag was chemically recovered by methane-steam reform-
ing. The results showed that the proposed heat recovery system
had a low exergy loss of only 12% as compared to the unrecovered
system. It also gave a cost benefit of total US$ 277 million based on
the annual steel production of 102 million tons. Meanwhile it could
contribute in reducing CO2 emission by replacing the amount of
energy consumed in the production of hydrogen in chemical
industry.
Mert et al. [21] performed exergy and exergoeconomic analyses
of a CHP plant driven by byproduct gas in an iron and steel factory
at Erdemir, Turkey. The mass, energy and exergy balances, exergy
destruction, exergy efficiency, energy efficiency and improvement
potential equations, and the cost equations for every component of
the plant were derived. The results showed that the highest
amount of exergy destruction occurred in combustion chamber due
to the irreversible combustion reaction and the large temperature
difference between the burning gas and the working fluid, which
also proved that the cost of combustion gas was much higher than
the cost of other products.
3. General state of RUREH in CISI
In the past two decades, CISI has made impressive progress and
China has been the largest iron and steel producer in the world
since 1996. Much research work about CISI has been developed.
Sun et al. [22] summarized the course, technical progresses, and
achievements of energy conservation of CISI during 1980e2010.
The e-p method which was proposed by Lu and Cai [23] (e is the
process energy consumption and p is the ratio of process produc-
tion to crude steel production, so the energy consumption per ton
P
of crude steel can be expressed as E ¼ ni¼1 ðei $pi Þ, where i repre-
sented the ith process) was adopted to analyse the influence factors
of energy consumption. The results showed that the energy con-
sumption per ton crude steel had been almost one half lower in the
past thirty years with 60% as direct energy conservation owing to
the reduction of process energy consumption. Some key energy
153
saving technologies were introduced such as waste heat recovery
and reusing technology, raw material and fuel pretreatment tech-
nology, high temperature air combustion, etc. Besides, it was
indicated that the key topic of the next 15 years' research on the
energy conservation of CISI was the synergistic operation of ma-
terial flows and energy flows, which could be achieved by the
comprehensive study on energy flow network optimization, such
as production, allocation, utilization, recovery, etc, according to the
energy quantity, quality, and user demand based on the first and
second laws of thermodynamics.
Sun et al. [24] studied theoretical minimum and actual specific
energy consumptions (SEC) of a typical steel manufacturing route
based on exergy analysis. The results showed that the actual SEC
was comprised of theoretical minimum SEC and additional SEC
derived from the irreversibility, which account for 25.88% and
74.12% of the actual SEC, respectively, and ironmaking process was
the largest contributor to additional SEC due to the wide temper-
ature differences. It also indicated that energy saving methods in
different processes or equipments should be taken in order to in-
crease their exergy efficiencies.
Guo and Fu [25] and Liu et al. [26] presented a survey of some
key issues associated with the development of CISI and described
current energy consumption situation. The results showed that
although CISI had made significant improvement in the past few
years, the average energy consumption per ton steel was about 20%
higher than the international advanced countries due to the low
energy utilization efficiency, the existence of some small scale and
decentralized industries, and the low recovery and utilization ef-
ficiency of secondary energy resources. Some important energy
saving methods for CISI were proposed, such as CDQ, TRT, the
recycling of flue gas, waste water and solid waste materials, and the
recovery and utilization of COG, BFG and BOFG.
Dong and Yin [27] studied the energy comprehensive utilization
of CISI based on industrial ecology theory, introduced the category,
quantity and quality of secondary energy (resident pressure, resi-
dent gas, resident heat), and proposed some technologies for sec-
ondary energy utilization, such as steam production through
resident heat recovery, combined cycle power plant (CCPP), and
TRT.
Chan et al. [28] performed on-site energy audits of 118 firms in
Taiwan's iron and steel industry during 2000e2008 and the total
energy saving potential and CO2 emission reduction were esti-
mated. Most notably, the energy conservation methods for furnace
use, such as adoption of recuperator, air preheating, and proper air
to fuel ratio, were studied in detail.
Liu et al. [29] used a mathematical programming method to set
up a dynamic mathematical optimization model of surplus gas
optimal allocation among the buffer users and steam optimal
production dispatching among the production equipment. The
electricity production (CHP, CCPP and TRT) analysis, steam pro-
duction analysis (sintering waste heat recovery and CDQ), and gas
distribution analysis (BFG, COG and BOFG) were carried out. The
results showed that the application of the optimization model
could effectively improve the accuracy of power network produc-
tion and make full use of primary energy and secondary energy,
which could effectively reduce the diffused gas and steam, and save
energy and production cost.
Ma et al. [30] investigated the current situation and status of
waste heat recovery and utilization of CISI from the quality, the
category and the source process. The analyses showed that the low
grade waste heat had essentially not been used and that the re-
covery rate of the coking and sintering process was relatively low.
The grade recovery and cascade utilization research should be
strengthened according to the quantity and temperature of waste
heat and user's demand.
154 L. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160
Ma et al. [31] studied the relationship between energy con-
sumption per ton steel and steam recovery and consumption and
proposed the expressions of steam consumption per ton steel and
energy consumption per steam supply. The results showed that the
demand of steam was the key factor influencing steam consump-
tion per ton steel, and the relationship between the sum of addi-
tional energy consumption of all links and the total energy
consumption per steam supply was proportional.
From the detailed introduction above, one can conclude that, in
iron and steel industry, the RUREH plays an important role for
energy saving and CO2 emission reduction no matter what method
is used to analyse and optimize material flows and energy flows.
The average energy consumption per ton steel in China is about 20%
higher than the international advanced levels although China is the
largest steel producer in the world. Although there are many rea-
sons for this, such as the dominant position of coal in the energy
consumption structure, the existence of some small-scale plants,
and the use of outdated equipment, the most important reason lies
in the low energy utilization efficiency, where the low efficiency of
RUREH accounts for a large part. The efficiency of RUREH in CISI is
about 30%e50%, while the international advanced level is higher
than 90% [32].
In the open published literature, there is little research about
how to improve the efficiency of RUREH from viewpoint of ther-
modynamic optimization. According to the general state of RUREH
in CISI, this paper will propose some suggestions from thermody-
namic optimization viewpoint and present a case study.
The BF-BOF route is the main production route in CISI due to the
fact that coal is the most important fuel. The BF-BOF route mainly
contains the processes of coking, sintering, ironmkaing in BF,
steelmaking in BOF, and steel rolling, which results in various kinds
of residual energy and heat. Table 1 lists the main residual energy
and heat and the corresponding recovery and utilization measures
in a typical BF-BOF route in CSI.
From Table 1, one can see that, except for BF slag and BOF slag
sensible heat, which are basically not recovered due to their solid
format and high temperature property, there exist mature recovery
and utilization methods for high grade residual energy and heat
(higher than 1000  C), such as coke sensible heat recovery through
CDQ for high pressure steam production, COG, BFG and BOFG
chemistry energy recovery through gas turbine power plant, CHP or
CCPP plant for electricity or heat production, and BFG residual
pressure recovery through TRT for electricity production. However,
the recovery and utilization rate of high grade residual energy and
Table 1
Information of main residual energy and heat in a typical BF-BOF route in CISI.
Process Main residual energy and heat
Coking ① Coke sensible heat (high grade)
② Coke oven flue gas sensible heat (low grade)
③ COG sensible heat (middle grade)
④ COG chemistry energy (high grade)
Sintering ① Sintering ore sensible heat (middle grade)
② Sintering flue gas sensible heat (low grade)
Ironmaking in BF ① BF slag sensible heat (high grade)
② BF cooling water sensible heat (low grade)
③ BFG sensible heat (low grade)
④ Hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat (middle grade)
⑤ BFG residual pressure (high grade)
⑥ BFG chemistry energy (high grade)
Steelmaking in BOF ① BOF slag sensible heat (high grade)
② BOFG sensible heat (high grade)
③ BOFG chemistry energy (high grade)
Steel rolling ① Heating furnace flue gas sensible heat (high grade)
② Heating furnace hearth sensible heat (high grade)
heat is 44.4% [30]. For middle grade residual energy and heat (be-
tween 250  C and 600  C), there also exist mature recovery and
utilization methods, but unlike high grade residual energy and heat
which are used to generate electricity or high pressure steam, most
of them are recovered to preheat or dry materials. Examples
include COG sensible heat recovery for drying coking coal, sintering
ore sensible heat recovery for low pressure steam production or hot
air sintering, and hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat recovery for
preheating gas. However, the recovery and utilization rate of mid-
dle grade residual energy and heat is 30.2% [30]. For low grade
residual energy and heat (lower than 200  C), there is almost no
recovery methods mainly duo to their low temperature property,
such as coke oven flue gas sensible heat, sintering flue gas sensible
heat, and BFG sensible heat. The recovery and utilization rate of low
grade residual energy and heat is only 1.59% [30]. Thermoelectric
devices are the proposed utilization methods in recent [33,34].
From the analyses above, it can be concluded that although the
energy grade recovery and cascade utilization principle is carried
out in RUREH of CISI, the efficiency of recovery and utilization for
high and middle grade residual energy and heat is still not very
high. In addition, the new technology development of recovery and
utilization for low grade residual energy and heat is a key point in
near future years in CISI.
4. Thermodynamic optimization opportunities for RUREH in
CISI
An important reason for the low efficiency of RUREH is that
someone ignores the thermodynamic optimization of the energy
recovery or utilization equipment. The following examples show
this point:
(1) Electricity production via waste heat boiler.
The amount of electricity production per unit time is the
product of the steam mass flow rate and the electricity production
capacity per unit steam. For steady flue gas whose temperature and
mass flow rate are fixed, when the designed temperature and
pressure of waste heat boiler are high, i.e. the electricity production
capacity per unit steam is strong, the steam mass flow rate will be
small; when the designed temperature and pressure are low, i.e.
the electricity production capacity per unit steam is weak,
the steam mass flow rate will be large. So, the thermodynamic
Recovery and utilization measures
① CDQ for steam production
② Basically no recovery
③ Preheating or drying coking coal for coal moisture control (CMC)
④ Combustion fuel for other process, gas turbine power plant, CHP
or CCPP plant, reducing agent, etc
① Air cooling through cooling machine for low pressure steam
production or hot air sintering
② Basically no recovery
① Basically no recovery
② Basically no recovery
③ Basically no recovery
④ Preheating or drying materials through heat exchanger
⑤ TRT for electricity production
⑥ Combustion fuel for other process, gas turbine power plant, CHP or CCPP plant, etc
① Basically no recovery
② Evaporative cooling flue for steam production
③ Combustion fuel for other process, gas turbine power plant, CHP or CCPP plant, etc
① Regenerator combustion technology or steam production through heat exchanger
② Evaporative cooling flue for steam production
 L. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160
parameters of the waste heat boiler can be optimized in order to
obtain maximum electricity production.
(2) Sintering ore sensible heat recovery [35].
The quantity and quality of recovered sensible heat are influ-
enced by the mass flow rate of cooling air and the height of sinter
layer. For steady sintering ore whose mass flow rate and temper-
ature are fixed, when the mass flow rate of cooling air increases, the
temperature of cooling air out of the cooling machine will decrease.
When the height of sinter layer increases, the temperature of
cooling air increases, and the mass flow rate of cooling air decreases
due to the increase of flow resistance. So the mass flow rate of
cooling air and the height of sinter layer can be optimized in order
to obtain the best recovery of sintering ore sensible heat.
(3) Gas turbine power plant, CHP or CCPP plant.
For steady residual gas (COG, BFG, BOFG or a mixture) whose
mass flow rate and heat value are fixed, the pressure ratio of gas
turbine, air to fuel ratio and heat to power ratio can be optimized in
order to obtain maximum power, heat or their combined effect.
(4) Heat transfer through heat exchangers.
When there are several heat exchangers simultaneously in
thermodynamic equipment, the heat conductance distributions
can be optimized under the fixed total heat conductance.
5. A case study of hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat
recovery and utilization
To illustrate the viewpoint above in detail while considering
that the recovery and utilization efficiency of middle and low grade
residual energy and heat is low in CISI, a case study of hot blast
stove flue gas sensible heat (middle grade) recovery and utilization
is presented in the following.
Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat
recovery and utilization. Firstly, the flue gas (temperature Tfg1)
Fig. 1. Flow chart of hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat recovery and utilization.
155
coming out of the hot blast stove passes through a generator of an
irreversible four heat reservoir absorption refrigerator, drives a
refrigeration cycle and supplies cooling load for the consumers
nearby. Then the flue gas (temperature Tfg2) coming out of the
generator is used to heating the BFG coming from gas holder whose
sensible heat and residual pressure have been recovered via TRT
(Assuming that the fuel of hot blast stove is BFG), and herein a
counter-flow heat exchanger is used. The inlet and outlet temper-
atures of BFG through the heat exchanger are Tbfg1 and Tbfg2,
respectively. Finally, the flue gas (temperature Tfg3) comes out of the
heat exchanger and enters into the environment. The components,
average isobaric specific heats, volume flow rates and correlative
temperatures of the BFG and the hot blast stove flue gas are shown
in Table 2 [36].
An absorption refrigerator [37e48] is composed of a generator, a
condenser, an evaporator and an absorber. There are four corre-
sponding heat reservoirs, and the temperature of the generator
heat reservoir (i.e. hot blast stove flue gas) is variable, from Tfg1 to
Tfg2, while the temperatures of the condenser, evaporator and
absorber heat reservoirs are constants, which are Tc, Te and Ta
respectively. The temperatures of the working fluid in the gener-
ator, condenser, evaporator and absorber are Tg0 , Tc0 , Te0 and Ta0
respectively. One has Tfg1 > Tfg2 > Tg0 , Tc0 > Tc , Te > Te0 , Ta0 > Ta . There
exists heat leakage Qi from the condenser and absorber reservoirs
to the cooling space, and the heat leakage coefficient is Ci. Power
input required by the solution pump in the system is negligible
compared to the heat input to the generator and is often neglected
in the analyses and optimizations of absorption refrigeration cycle.
The heat conductances (heat transfer area and heat transfer coef-
ficient product) of the generator, condenser, evaporator, absorber
and BFG preheater are Ug, Uc, Ue, Ua and Ubfg, respectively. Besides
heat resistance and heat leakage, there exist other irreversible
sources, such as the internal dissipation of the working fluid and
the adiabatic throttling process. According to the second law of
thermodynamics, an irreversible factor can be introduced to
describe the other irreversibilities:
   . . 0  
I ¼ Qa Ta0 þ Qc Tc0 Qg Tg þ Qe Te0 > 1 (1)
156 L. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160

Table 2
Components, average isobaric specific heats, volume flow rates and correlative temperatures of BFG and hot blast stove flue gas.

Parameter Gas

BFG Hot blast stove flue gas

Component (%) CO CO2 H2 CH4 N2 H2O(g) CO2 H2O(g) N2 O2

24.62 13.68 1.83 0.5 50.58 8.79 24.46 7.33 67.65 0.56

Average isobaric specific heat [kJ/(Nm3$K)] cpbfg ¼ 1.37 cpfg ¼ 1.45

Volume flow rate (Nm3/s) Vbfg ¼ 2.59 Vfg ¼ 4.1
Correlative temperature (K) Tbfg1 ¼ 308.15 Tfg1 ¼ 523.15

Assumed that the heat transfer obeys Newton's heat transfer Combining Equations (1),(4)e(7) and (10)e(12), one can obtain
law, according to the working fluid property and the heat the function relation between the cooling load Ra and the heat
exchanger theory, the heat transfer rates (Qg, Qbfg, Qc, Qe and Qa) transfer rate Qg that drives the refrigeration cycle:
which are exchanged in the generator, BFG preheater, condenser,  
evaporator and absorber, respectively, and the heat leakage rate Qi IQg IUe ðRa þ Qi Þ nUa Qg þ Ra þ Qi
þ   
can be expressed as, respectively: Tg0 Te Ue  Ra  Qi ðn þ 1ÞTa Ua þ n Qg þ Ra þ Qi
  (13)
Uc Qg þ R a þ Qi
     ¼0
Qg ¼ Cpfg Tfg1  Tfg2 ¼ Cpfg Eg Tfg1  Tg0 (2) ðn þ 1ÞTc Uc þ Qg þ Ra þ Qi
Energy saving rate and profit rate are chosen as the objectives to
   
investigate the performance of the hot blast stove flue gas sensible
Qbfg ¼ Cpbfg Tbfg2  Tbfg1 ¼ Cpfg Tfg2  Tfg3
heat recovery and utilization system. The compressed air refriger-
 
¼ Cpmin Ebfg Tfg2  Tbfg1 (3) ation which is consumed electricity and direct heating are selected
as the reference systems for the absorption refrigeration and
  BFG preheating, respectively. Assuming that the coefficient of per-
Qc ¼ Uc Tc0  Tc (4) formance of compressed air refrigerator is εc and the efficiency
of coal-burning electricity plant is hp, according to the energy
 
Qe ¼ Ue Te  Te0 (5) statistics method in CISI, 1 kgce(kg of standard coal
equivalent) ¼ 293.07  105 J, the energy saving rate Z (kgce/h) can
  be expressed as:
Qa ¼ Ua Ta0  Ta (6)
h .  i.
Z ¼ 3600000 Ra εc hp þ Qbfg 29307000 (14)
Qi ¼ Ci ðTa þ Tc  2Te Þ (7)
Assuming that the sale price per unit cooling load is 4a and the
where Cpfg ¼ cpfgVfg, Cpbfg ¼ cpbfgVbfg, Cpmin ¼ min(Cpbfg,Cpfg), and cpfg, sale price per unit heating load is 4K. The operation and mainte-
cpbfg, Vfg and Vbfg are the average isobaric specific heats and the nance cost is proportional to the sum of the five heat transfer rates
volume flow rates of the hot blast stove flue gas and the BFG, [49,50] and the price per unit heat transfer is 4m. Herein the in-
respectively. Eg and Ebfg are the effectivenesses of the generator and vestment cost is not considered and the profit rate P (yuan/h) can
the BFG preheater: be expressed as:
h  i
  P ¼ 3600 4a Ra þ 4K Qbfg  4m Qg þ Qc þ Qe þ Qa þ Qbfg
Eg ¼ 1  exp Ng (8)
(15)
h   i
1  exp  Nbfg 1  Cpmin Cpmax Matlab 7.1 is used to provide numerical calculation to study the
Ebfg ¼    h   i (9) energy saving rate and profit rate. Without special illustration, the
1  Cpmin Cpmax exp  Nbfg 1  Cpmin Cpmax values of related parameters are given as follows [37e51]:
Ta ¼ Tc ¼ T0 ¼ 298.15 K, Te ¼ 275 K, I ¼ 1.02, Ci ¼ 0.1 kW/K, n ¼ 1,
where Cpmax ¼ max(Cpbfg,Cpfg), Ng and Nbfg are the heat transfer unit tg ¼ Tg0 =T0 ¼ 1:42, εc ¼ 3.0, hp ¼ 0.3, 4a ¼ 0.08  103 yuan/kJ,
numbers of the generator and the BFG preheater: Ng ¼ Ug/Cpfg and 4K ¼ 0.05  103 yuan/kJ, 4m ¼ 0.01  103 yuan/kJ.
Nbfg ¼ Ubfg/Cpmin.
Defining parameter n to describe the distribution of the total (1) Case of fixed heat conductance
heat rejection between the absorber and the condenser in the
refrigeration cycle: Fig. 2 shows the characteristics of Z, P and Tbfg2 versus tg with
Ug ¼ Uc ¼ Ue ¼ Ua ¼ Ubfg ¼ 8 kW/K. It can be seen that Z, P and Tbfg2
n ¼ Qa =Qc (10) increase monotonously with tg. Especially, when tg ¼ 1.42 (i.e. the
generator working fluid temperature Tg0 is 423.37 K), the hot blast
The cooling load of the refrigeration cycle is:
stove flue gas sensible heat recovery and utilization system can
Ra ¼ Qe  Qi (11) realize energy saving 76.2 kgce/h and profit 68.9 yuan/h. Mean-
while the BFG preheating temperature can reach 419 K from
According to the first law of thermodynamics, one has: 308.15 K. According to the CO2 emission coefficient in China [52],
2.4567 kg/kgce, the system can realize CO2 emission reduction
Qg þ Qe  Qa  Qc ¼ 0 (12) 187.2 kg/h.
 L. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160
Fig. 2. Characteristics of Z, P and Tbfg2 versus tg.
(2) Case of heat conductance distribution optimization
In reality, the goal is to achieve maximum energy saving and
profit effects with finite resources. In this case, the five heat
conductance distributions can be optimized [53e57] under the
fixed total heat conductance, and the mathematical relations are as
follows:
Ug þ Uc þ Ue þ Ua þ Ubfg ¼ UT ¼ constant
 .
ug ¼ Ug UT ; uc ¼ Uc =UT ; ue ¼ Ue =UT ; ua ¼ Ua =UT ; ubfg ¼ Ubfg UT
where ug, uc, ue, ua and ubfg 2 (0,1), satisfying
ug þ uc þ ue þ ua þ ubfg ¼ 1.
Figs. 3 and 4 show the three-dimensional characteristics of Z and
P versus ua and uc, respectively, with ug ¼ 0.2, ubfg ¼ 0.2 and
UT ¼ 40 kW/K. It can be seen that two groups of optimal heat
conductance distributions exist ((ua)Z,(uc)Z) and ((ua)P,(uc)P) which
lead to a maximum energy saving rate Zmax and a maximum profit
rate Pmax, respectively. However, when the optimization are per-
formed simultaneously for ug, uc, ue, ua and ubfg, it is found that the
Fig. 3. Three-dimensional characteristic of Z versus ua and uc.
157
Fig. 4. Three-dimensional characteristic of P versus ua and uc.
optimal values of (ug)Z and (ug)P are lower than 0.03. For a mean-
ingful system design, ug ¼ 0.1 is set in the optimization.
Figs. 5e7 further show the characteristics of the maximum en-
ergy saving rate Zmax and the corresponding profit rate PZ, the
maximum profit rate Pmax and the corresponding energy saving
rate ZP, the two groups of optimal heat conductance distributions
(ua,uc,ue,ubfg)Z and (ua,uc,ue,ubfg)P, the cooling loads (Ra)Z and (Ra)P,
and the BFG preheating temperatures (Tbfg2)Z and (Tbfg2)P which
correspond to Zmax and Pmax, versus the irreversible factor I of
absorption refrigeration cycle, respectively. It can be seen from
(16)
Fig. 5 that with the increase of I, Zmax, ZP, Pmax and PZ decrease
monotonously, and one has Zmax > ZP and Pmax > PZ. Especially,
when I ¼ 1.02, the system can realize Zmax ¼ 88.8 kgce/h,
Pmax ¼ 92.5 yuan/h and CO2 emission reduction 218.2 kg/h, which
(17) are respectively improved by 16.5%, 34.2% and 16.5% than the re-
sults before optimization.
It can be seen from Fig. 6 that with the increase of I, (ubfg)Z and
(ubfg)P increase monotonously, (ue)Z and (ue)P decrease monoto-
nously, and one has (ubfg)Z > (ubfg)P and (ue)Z < (ue)P. Besides, the
calculation indicates that when n ¼ 1 and Ta ¼ Tc, the optimal heat
conductance distributions of absorber and condenser are the same,
i.e. (ua)Z ¼ (uc)Z and (ua)P ¼ (uc)P, which herein are marked as
(ua,uc)Z and (ua,uc)P, respectively. It also can be seen that (ua,uc)Z
and (ua,uc)P decrease slightly with I, and one has (ua,uc)Z < (ua,uc)P.
It can be concluded from Fig. 6 that the optimal heat conductance
Fig. 5. Characteristics of Zmax, ZP, Pmax and PZ versus I.
158 L. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160
Fig. 6. Characteristics of (ua,uc,ue,ubfg)Z and (ua,uc,ue,ubfg)P versus I.
distribution of BFG preheater is always the largest among all the
heat exchangers no matter the energy saving rate or the profit rate
is taken as the optimization objective.
It can be seen from Fig. 7 that with the increase of I, (Ra)Z and
(Ra)P decrease monotonously, (Tbfg2)Z and (Tbfg2)P increase
monotonously, and one has (Ra)P>(Ra)Z, (Tbfg2)Z > (Tbfg2)P, which
indicates that the larger cooling load can be obtained when taking
profit rate as the optimization objective, and the higher BFG pre-
heating temperature can be obtained when taking energy saving
rate as the optimization objective.
Figs. 8e10 further show the characteristics of Pmax, ZP,
(ua,uc,ue,ubfg)P, (Ra)P and (Tbfg2)P versus price ratio 4a/4m, respec-
tively. It can be seen that with the increase of 4a/4m, Pmax,
(ua,uc,ue)P and (Ra)P increase monotonously, (ubfg)P and (Tbfg2)P
decrease monotonously, and ZP first increases slightly and then
decreases slightly. This is because, when the price per unit heating
load 4K is fixed, the increase of 4a will lead to a larger benefit share
in the total profit rate, which thus leads to a lager heat conduc-
tance distribution of the refrigeration cycle and a larger cooling
load, so the heat conductance distribution of BFG preheater de-
creases and the BFG preheating temperature decreases. The vari-
ation trend of ZP is the result of comprehensive variation of (Ra)P
and (Tbfg2)P. Besides, the calculation indicates that when the price
per unit cooling load 4a is fixed, with the increase of 4K/4m, the
Fig. 7. Characteristics of (Ra)Z, (Ra)P, (Tbfg2)Z and (Tbfg2)P versus I.
Fig. 8. Characteristics of Pmax and ZP versus 4a/4m.
variation laws of (ua,uc,ue)P and (ubfg)P are contrary to that
mentioned above.
6. Conclusion
The analyses and optimizations of material flows and energy
flows in iron and steel industry are introduced in detail in this
paper. It is found that the RUREH plays an important role for energy
saving and CO2 emission reduction no matter what method is used.
The efficiency of RUREH in CISI is about 30%e50%, while the in-
ternational advanced level is higher than 90%, which partly ex-
plains why the average energy consumption per ton steel in China
is about 20% higher than the international advanced levels.
The first law and second law of thermodynamics have been the
directive principles in the RUREH of CISI. However, it is not enough.
An important reason for the low efficiency of RUREH in CISI is that
someone ignores the thermodynamic optimization opportunities
of the energy recovery or utilization equipment such as electricity
production via waste heat boiler, sintering ore sensible heat re-
covery, gas turbine power plant, CHP or CCPP plant.
A case study of hot blast stove flue gas sensible heat recovery
and utilization is presented. The flue gas first is used to drive an
absorption refrigeration cycle and then is used to preheat BFG.
Energy saving rate and profit rate are taken as the optimization
Fig. 9. Characteristics of (ua,uc,ue,ubfg)P versus 4a/4m.
 L. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 86 (2015) 151e160
Fig. 10. Characteristics of (Ra)P and (Tbfg2)P versus 4a/4m.
objectives to investigate the system performance. The results show
that before the heat conductance distribution optimization, the
system can realize energy saving 76.2 kgce/h, profit 68.9 yuan/h,
and CO2 emission reduction 187.2 kg/h. While after the heat
conductance distribution optimization, the system can realize en-
ergy saving 88.8 kgce/h, profit 92.5 yuan/h, and CO2 emission
reduction 218.2 kg/h, which are respectively improved by 16.5%,
34.2% and 16.5% than those before optimization. Meanwhile, under
the two objectives, the parameters which correspond to the
maximum energy saving rate and profit rate, such as the optimal
heat conductance distributions, the cooling load, and the BFG
preheating temperature, have displayed different variation laws
with the irreversibility of the system and the prices of cooling load
and heating load.
As new energy saving technologies in CISI become more popular
and applicable, it will be increasingly difficult to achieve energy
saving and CO2 emission reduction. However, the efficient RUREH
will possibly put the energy conservation work in CISI to a new
stage, where the thermodynamic optimization from the single
equipment to the whole system of the RUREH is an important
content, and much research about this point is waiting for
development.
Acknowledgements
This paper is supported by the National Key Basic Research and
Development Program of China (973) (Project No. 2012CB720405).
The authors wish to thank the reviewers for their careful, unbiased
and constructive suggestions, which led to this revised manuscript.
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