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Award winning project
Local, carbon-neutral biofuel at ArcelorMittal's pellet plant
ArcelorMittal wanted to find solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its iron oxide pellet production processes. As a result, it decided to replace some of the fuel oil it uses in its Port-Cartier facilities with pyrolytic oil, a biofuel made from logging waste.
By combining two of the Côte-Nord's major natural resources—iron ore and wood—this local, carbon-neutral biofuel project is generating a great deal of enthusiasm in the community as well as very significant benefits. First, the project directly creates several dozen quality jobs and is also providing an outlet for forestry professionals who have had limited options for managing their wood waste.
This project marks the beginning of ArcelorMittal's energy transition in Port-Cartier and is a crucial step in converting the plant into a greener facility.
- Grands prix du Génie-Conseil québécois, Environment Category
- Date Dec 01, 2022
- Region Eastern Canada
- Client ArcelorMittal
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Our expert’s solutions
The mandate was to ensure the quality and consistency of the iron oxide pellet firing process to maintain and even increase the plant’s output. Using pyrolytic oil in this way had never been done on such a scale, so the project team had to be very resourceful in meeting the challenges.
BBA performed the feasibility study for this project. The firm also ensured that the pyrolytic oil facilities were safe and met industry standards, requirements and best practices for both worker health and safety and the environment, while also ensuring that iron pellet production and quality remained optimal. The experts also helped:
- review the physicochemical properties of pyrolytic oil and its components and identify the points of emission of flammable (explosive) or odorous vapours.
- develop a summary of the exposure, explosivity and emission threshold standards to comply with applicable regulatory requirements in Québec, including NFC requirements.
- analyze the facilities and make recommendations based on the criticality level of the observations.
- issue recommendations for potential system expansion.
The project was completed on time and on budget.
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A biofuel with its own characteristics
Pyrolytic oil does not behave like standard hydrocarbons. The experts in BBA's Advanced Fuels and Chemicals team have built up the know-how for this biofuel and gained valuable knowledge that brought this project to fruition
The project is using pyrolytic oil that BioÉnergie AE Côte-Nord Canada produces from forest waste. This waste comes from the Arbec sawmill in Port-Cartier and would otherwise have been burned. It is crushed, dried and then transformed by pyrolysis at very high temperatures. The product is then distilled to make pyrolytic oil, a local and carbon neutral biofuel!
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23% This project will allow ArcelorMittal to cut its annual use of heavy fuel oil and coal by 23%
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32 million litres Ultimately, the plant will use more than 32 million litres of pyrolytic oil per year—the entire output of the BioEnergie AE plant.
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