[en] Refractory materials are essential for sustaining high-temperature industrial processes, with the steel industry being the largest consumer. This study proposes a comprehensive life cycle assessment framework for refractories in the steel industry, addressing key methodological challenges, particularly those concerning various post-use refractory management strategies. Collecting inventory for refractory production is challenging due to confidentiality concerns and suppliers' reluctance to share information. To overcome this, an innovative method is developed to retrieve essential inventory data from the refractory's product definition. The framework is applied through a case study comparing two magnesia-carbon bricks used for steel ladle slag lining: one produced in China and the other in the Netherlands. Inventories for brick production are derived from the respective product definitions. Results reveal that the Netherlands brick performs better in climate change and acidification, while the Chinese brick shows lower impacts in other assessed categories. Electricity consumption during magnesia production and thermal energy demand for ladle heating are identified as the major environmental hotspots. Energy transition scenarios demonstrate the potential for significant improvements. Replacing national grid electricity and natural gas with renewable electricity and green hydrogen leads to more than 30 % reductions in most impact categories. Climate change impacts, for instance, decrease from 1.89 to 0.97 kg CO2 eq for the Chinese brick and from 1.67 to 0.77 kg CO2 eq for the Netherlands brick. Sensitivity analysis shows that magnesia production strongly influences environmental performance, while uncertainty associated with product-definition-derived data is generally minor.
Disciplines :
Chemical engineering
Author, co-author :
Jubayed, MD ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Chemical engineering ; Tata Steel Netherlands, Center of Expertise Refractories, Ceramic Research Centre, Ijmuiden, Netherlands
Klima, Kinga Malgorzata; Tata Steel Netherlands, Center of Expertise Refractories, Ceramic Research Centre, Ijmuiden, Netherlands
Rubel, Md; University of Coimbra, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbra, Portugal
Siebring, Rinus; Tata Steel Netherlands, Center of Expertise Refractories, Ceramic Research Centre, Ijmuiden, Netherlands
Léonard, Angélique ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Department of Chemical Engineering > PEPs - Products, Environment, and Processes
Language :
English
Title :
Environmental assessment of refractories in the steel industry: A comprehensive LCA framework with an innovative data retrieval approach
HE - 101072625 - CESAREF - Concerted European action on Sustainable Applications of REFractories
Funders :
European Union. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions EC - European Commission European Union
Funding text :
This research was funded by the European Commission #8217;s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under the CESAREF MSCA Doctoral Network (grant agreement No. 101072625 ).
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