Abstract

Global CO2 emissions should be mitigated in order to limit the negative effects of the global warming. The steel and the fertilizer industries represent two of the most energy and carbon intensive sectors with the steel industry being responsible of about 7-8% of total CO2 emissions. Industrial symbiosis has been identified as a promising option for the mitigation of greenhouse gases. The INITIATE project aims in advancing the concepts of industrial symbiosis and carbon capture utilization and storage when applied to the steel and fertilizer industries. Steel gases are decarbonised through the SEWGS technology and used as feedstock for ammonia, and subsequently, urea production. One of the major challenges is related to the variability in time of the composition and flow rate of the basic oxygen furnace gas, used as feedstock for the ammonia synthesis. The INITIATE project also aims in demonstrating this concept at TRL 7 by building a pilot plant. The model of the entire process was developed in Aspen Custom Modeler and used to simulate the synthesis of ammonia under time-varying conditions and to develop an effective control strategy. The objective of this paper is to the describe this dynamic model and show the results obtained.