Tenaris’s mill in Veracruz, Mexico, has taken a significant step forward to contribute to the company’s 2030 decarbonization plan with the integration of a smart furnace model that uses predictive tools to analyze the metallic load of the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF).
The smart furnace model, developed by Tenaris’s R&D department, is an EAF web-based model that predicts metallic yield, energy and oxygen demand, electrode consumption, and anticipated CO2 emissions. The model integrates a scrap recipe optimization simulator that employs statistical data to determine the best mix of scrap types to achieve low residual element content in the steel produced, while minimizing the cost of the metallic charge. The reduction in CO2 emissions by 20pct was accomplished with only a three pct rise in electrical energy consumption and minimal impact on process yield, without sacrificing steel quality and process costs.
The main shift in the process was increasing the use of scrap, particularly new scrap types looking for low residual contents and reducing the use of pig iron which has a higher CO2 intensity. “The incorporation of the smart furnace technology allowed us to streamline this process as the model considers the cost of all raw materials and consumables, as well as Tenaris’s internal price for CO2 emissions (USD 80 USD per ton), enabling the company to internalize the cost of linked emissions in steel production,” explained Francisco Aguirre, Tenaris project lead.
This project contributes to Tenaris’s medium-term plan to reduce its CO2 emissions intensity per ton of steel by 30pct compared to its level in 2018 by 2030, considering scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
