In recent years, the steel industry has taken a series of measures to effectively promote de-capacity, destocking, cost reduction, short-board, and optimization of stock allocation. The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China also emphasized the deepening of structural reforms on the supply side and had a profound impact on the sustainable development of the steel industry. In 2017, steel prices continued to remain high, and steel companies hope to seize this wave of market, but subject to the policy of strictly controlling new capacity, and improving production capacity through technological advancement has become the choice of the steel industry.

Steel enterprises hope to improve oxygen production capacity under the new situation.

The new situation in the steel industry at this stage is as follows:

The global economy continues to recover and exports have picked up. The “One Belt, One Road” construction will greatly drive the steel industry to “go global” and the future prospects are promising. Although the growth of domestic infrastructure construction investment and real estate investment has declined, the overall domestic macro economy has performed well. The production and sales of the steel industry increased significantly.

By adopting measures such as banning “strip steel” and eliminating backward production capacity, the steel industry has achieved remarkable results in terms of capacity reduction; some regional policies and environmental protection policies have a greater impact on the industry, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei autumn and winter air pollution comprehensive management plan. That is to say, the “2+26” urban heating season has imposed a policy of restricting production for steel and other industries, which has greatly inhibited the domestic steel production capacity. Market supply and demand have been effectively adjusted. Although steel prices have fluctuated, they will continue to remain high, and the profitability and level of the steel industry will remain high.

The steel industry's technological progress and industrial upgrading will further release high-quality production capacity, but the strict control of new capacity will remain unchanged, prompting the steel industry to increase investment in environmental protection and technological progress, reduce costs and increase efficiency, optimize industrial structure, and enhance product competitiveness. And value-added, through technological advancement to increase production capacity will become the development direction of the steel industry.

In short, the overall development of the steel industry at this stage is improving. However, the steel industry is greatly affected by the comprehensive factors such as raw material price fluctuations, policy effects, environmental protection policies, international trade barriers, downstream product supply and demand, and macroeconomic development. In this regard, various institutions and experts in the industry have made good development momentum in the steel industry. It is not consistent whether the long-term view can last. In any case, most steel companies want to seize this wave of market, so in the case of strict control of production capacity, equal replacement, and elimination of backwardness, a considerable number of steel companies are turning their attention to technologies that can quickly bring capacity improvements. Among them, improving the oxygen enrichment rate of blast furnace is a very realistic and effective method. In the recent 2017, many steel companies have chosen to improve their oxygen production capacity, and have invested in the construction of multiple sets of large-scale oxygen generators. A simple and efficient method of oxygen production has been popular, namely, pressure swing adsorption oxygen generation technology.

Outstanding advantages of pressure swing adsorption oxygen technology

The pressure swing adsorption oxygen generation technology realizes the separation of oxygen and nitrogen through the adsorbent. The product is only a single oxygen-rich, and has no other by-products, and is generally used as an oxygen-enriched gas in front of the blast furnace. The author combines the practice of Beijing Beida Pioneer Technology Co., Ltd., which specializes in R&D and production of pressure swing adsorption oxygen technology equipment in China. It believes that compared with cryogenic technology, the pressure swing adsorption oxygen production technology has low oxygen cost, short construction period and load. The adjustment is convenient and the operation is simple, which is very suitable for the steel industry enterprises to increase production demand at this stage.

First, the operating cost of pressure swing adsorption to oxygen is low. 1 cubic meter of pure oxygen (100% purity) power consumption is generally 0.32 kWh ~ 0.35 kWh, calculated according to the electricity cost of 0.5 yuan / kWh, its operating cost is about 0.15 yuan / cubic meter of oxygen, and then depreciation, artificial, The cost of 1 cubic meter of pure oxygen is also less than 0.3 yuan, taking into account all costs such as maintenance.

Second, the construction period is short. From civil construction to installation to trial production, under normal conditions, oxygen can be produced within 6 months of pressure swing adsorption. At this stage, steel companies are more inclined to choose a short-term, quick-acting approach to increase production. The installation will start as soon as possible and bring benefits as soon as possible. According to the current steel prices, the benefits are very impressive.

Secondly, the load adjustment is convenient. After the pressure swing adsorption oxygen is used, the oxygen of the whole plant increases, and on the basis of ensuring the full power of the blast furnace, more high-purity oxygen can be sent to the steelmaking system. In addition, in the long run, if the steel situation turns cold in the future, the pressure swing adsorption device load can be effectively adjusted with the production plan to further reduce costs.

Finally, the operation is convenient. The automatic operation of oxygen-making equipment requires only 6 to 8 operators to be added. The professional requirements for personnel are low, and it is easy to be included in the existing energy system for unified management, which will not cause trouble to the enterprise.

In summary, oxygen-enriched injection is one of the important measures for energy saving, coke-burning and increasing production of modern large-scale ironmaking blast furnace. Oxygen enrichment can also promote the utilization of blast furnace gas. Oxygen-enriched combustion technology can make up for the low calorific value of blast furnace gas. Improve utilization efficiency. If the iron and steel enterprises increase the oxygen enrichment rate of the blast furnace, they will build a variable-pressure adsorption oxygen system of the corresponding scale, and through the blast furnace oxygen-enriched coal injection, the iron production will be improved, which will create considerable economic benefits.