Energy-saving and cost-reduction solution of biomass gasifier for steel plants

I. Project Background and Pain Points

A steel plant in Shandong previously relied on natural gas as the primary fuel for its billet heating process. It has long faced key challenges such as high fuel costs, heavy dependence on fossil energy, and increasing environmental pressure. The specific situation is as follows:

• Fuel consumption: Daily natural gas consumption reached 23,500 Nm³, with a unit price of 4 RMB/Nm³. The daily fuel cost was as high as 94,000 RMB. Over long-term operation, fuel costs accounted for a large proportion, directly squeezing profit margins.
• Single energy structure: Heavy reliance on natural gas made the plant highly sensitive to price fluctuations, resulting in unstable energy supply and increased operational uncertainty.
• Environmental and low-carbon pressure: Although natural gas is relatively clean, it still produces carbon emissions, which does not fully align with China’s “dual carbon” goals and the company’s green transformation needs.
• Cost optimization demand: With intensifying competition in the steel industry and shrinking profit margins, the company urgently needed a more efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly alternative fuel solution.

To address these challenges, the company introduced a biomass gasifier using wood chips as feedstock to replace natural gas for billet heating. After practical operation and verification, significant energy-saving and cost-reduction results were achieved. This solution summarizes the implementation path and benefits based on real application scenarios, providing reference for future optimization and similar steel plants.

II. Core Concept of the Solution

The core of this solution is a coordinated operation model of:

“Vertical low-temperature gasifier + three-stage gas cleaning system + existing natural gas heating system”

Using renewable biomass (wood chips) as raw material, the system converts solid biomass into combustible gas through efficient gasification. The produced gas is then deeply purified through a three-stage cleaning system to significantly improve its calorific value and purity.

Meanwhile, the original natural gas system is fully retained as a backup and supplementary energy source. In case of fluctuations or system abnormalities, operations can quickly switch back to natural gas without affecting production progress or billet heating requirements (such as preheating, heating, and soaking temperature standards).

This solution ultimately achieves four key objectives: