PANZHIHUAIRON AND STEEL FACILITY, CHINA

Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), and China's State Planning Commission, undertook a joint venture project whereby Kawasaki Steel's energy saving technology was incorporated into the Panzhihua Iron and Steel facility. Panzhihua, located at the intersection of the JinshajiangRiver and the YalongjiangRiver in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, is in south west China's SichuanProvince.

Kawasaki Steel technologies are developed to be effective for protecting the natural environment via energy saving and environmental conservation. It is these that are being used as a showcase at the blast furnace at the Panzhihua Mill.

BLAST FURNACE TOP PRESSURE RECOVERY TURBINE

The blast furnace top pressure recovery turbine (TRT), started its operation in March 1998 as an energy-saving model project. This model project was undertaken as a part of the Green Aid Plan proposed by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan for energy conservation and environmental protection in the People's Republic of China.

PANZHIHUA PROJECT TIMESCALE

Construction of the furnace began in early 1997 and was completed as scheduled in March 1998.

PLANT PRODUCTION

NEDO and China's State Planning Commission carried out this project jointly, with the actual work consigned to Kawasaki Steel Corporation and Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Company. The project required the installation of TRT at the No.4 blast furnace of the Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Company to demonstrate the operation and promote adoption of the TRT technology.

The No.4 blast furnace has a volume of 1,350 m3 and an output capacity of 2,500 tonnes/day. This quantity of gas generated from the furnace peaks at 240,000 Nm3/hr which reaches pressures of 1.5 kg/cm2 and temperatures up to 140°C. The dust density of blast furnace gas (out-let of the dust catcher) is 5 g/Nm3.

TOP PRESSURE RECOVERY UNIT

The first of the main facilities is the top pressure recovery unit. This comprises a 6,100 kW(Dry gas running)/3,000rpm top pressure recovery turbine, and a 9,400 kVA/ 6.6kV /50Hz generator.

The second is a BFG dry cleaning facility. This is made up of 276 bag filters made of heat-resistance nyron, which conform to the following specifications- ƒÓ 300mm x 12m x 46 pieces/chumber x 6 chumber. The facility also includes a 22,000m3 x 1,000mm H2O reverse cleaning fan unit.

The blast furnace gas dry cleaning system was developed by Kawasaki Steel and adopts the special bag filter and a sophisticated control system. By using this system, the power output of top-gas-pressure-recovery-turbine was increased and using this system decreased the abrasion of turbine blades.

LEAD CONTRACTORS

Kawasaki Steel was lead contractor on the project and both designed and installed the new technology. The company produces approximately 10 million tonnes of crude steel annually, and manufactures a diverse range of steel products, including sheets, plates, pipes, bars, rods, and others as finished products. It therefore has considerable expertise at its disposal.

Foxboro, part of Invensys, was selected as the supplier of the automation solution to the project.

THE BACKERS

Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) was established in October 1980, immediately after the second oil crisis, as a semi-governmental organization under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). The Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Corporation is one of the world's three largest vanadium producers and began to develop high-speed rail steel in the 1990s. In May 2000, the company realised batch production of high-carbonvanadium alloy high-speed rail steel, making it the first producer of such rail steel in China. The rail steel, all developed by China itself, can match trains with a speed of 200 kilometres an hour.

/ Map showing the location of the Panzhihua experimental steel plant.
/ Process diagram of the way the blast furnace technology works.
/ The Panzhihua steel plant will be located close to the Ertan hydro-electric power station which will supply the bulk of its electricity.
/ The steel and power developments at Panzhihua are expected to make the city the biggest in western China.
/ The development at Panzhihua is part of China's astonishingly rapid economic growth over the past twenty years. This, of course, also provides it with its main markets.
/ The Panzhihua project is part of China's general picture of rising steel production.
Process diagram of the way the blast furnace technology works.