# Steel plant energy recovery

Recovering heat, pressure and gas in steelworks.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/

Recovery and reuse · Heat to power and cogeneration · No. 130

- Recovery and reuse
- Heat grade: High
 Recovery and reuse · Heat to power and cogeneration · Foundation · Energy

Red-hot coke at over 1,000 C used to be cooled with a water spray; now it can make 150 kWh per tonne.

Chart: Illustration: Steel plant energy recovery

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Integrated steelworks shed unusually rich waste: coke at 1,000-1,200 C, molten slag at about 1,500 C, pressurised top gas and three burnable gases.

##### Three things to know

1. A top-pressure turbine turns blast furnace gas pressure of 1.6 to 3 bar into 15-60 kWh per tonne of hot metal.
2. Dry quenching cuts quench dust from 300-400 g to under 3 g per tonne of coke, and uses no water.
3. Dry quenching costs about EUR 100 million for a 2 Mt-a-year coke plant, against about EUR 5 million for wet quenching.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Hot streams**Coke, sinter, slag, top gas, fuel gases
2. 2 **Capture**Dry quenching, cooler hoods, gas cleaning
3. 3 **Convert**Boilers and turbines raise steam and power
4. 4 **Gas network**Holders feed fuel gases to plant users
5. 5 **Plant power**Electricity and steam used back on site
 Covered in [Efficiency, waste heat and recoveryEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/efficiency-and-recovery/)

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/correlation/index.md)
- [Science and thermodynamics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/rc-sci/index.md)
- [Engineering and integration](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/rc-eng/index.md)
- [Economics and contracts](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/rc-econ/index.md)
- [Impact and additionality](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/rc-impact/index.md)
- [What to track](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/tracking/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_steel_recovery/links/index.md)