The direct path.
Electricity serves equipment across the industrial processes, including electric melting and other defined loads. The assessment needs a clear boundary: a figure for one process should not be presented as the requirement for the complete production chain.
Electricity serves equipment across the industrial processes, including electric melting and other defined loads.
Electrolysis uses electricity and water to produce hydrogen. Hydrogen can then act as a reducing agent, removing oxygen from iron oxides to produce direct reduced iron.
Text description of the diagram
- Electricity serves industrial equipment directly, including electric melting and other defined loads.
- Electricity also supplies electrolysis, which uses water to produce hydrogen.
- Hydrogen reaches reduction, where it removes oxygen from iron oxides to produce direct reduced iron.
- Reduced material passes to steelmaking.
The hydrogen path.
Electrolysis uses electricity and water to produce hydrogen. Hydrogen can then act as a reducing agent, removing oxygen from iron oxides to produce direct reduced iron. Production and delivery conditions need to align with the selected reduction process.
Both paths belong in the energy assessment.
The combined requirement depends on feed and product assumptions, the process route, equipment performance and operating schedules. A reconciled process and energy basis is needed before generation or storage capacity can be specified credibly.
Energy per tonne, total electricity consumption and power demand answer different questions. Total energy depends on production and the assessed process boundary; power demand depends on when equipment operates. Include auxiliary and balance-of-plant loads, and reconcile the operating profiles before using the result to assess generation or storage.
A figure for one process should not be presented as the requirement for the complete production chain.
The combined requirement depends on feed and product assumptions, the process route, equipment performance and operating schedules.
Keep the emissions boundary explicit.
The electricity source matters to the emissions associated with electrolysis and industrial production. A low-cost electricity interval is not by itself evidence of a low-emission pathway. Cost and emissions assessments need their own inputs and stated boundaries.
What this means for development.
Supply choices, hydrogen requirements and industrial throughput should be assessed together. This is the central integration question in KyperX's green iron and steel concept.