Manganese alloys are an important constituent in steel which is important for our daily life. Production of manganese alloys require electrical energy and produces CO2 emissions. These can be reduced by drying, heating and removal of oxygen from the raw materials before they are introduced to the furnace where Mn-alloys are produced. In the EU Horizon 2020 project PreMa (grant 820561) basis for implementation of technologies for such pretreatment was developed and demonstrated. The pretreatment was done by sustainable energy sources either thermal solar, or CO-rich off-gas. For the Norwegian Mn-alloy producers, CO- rich off-gas from the Mn-alloy production is the preferred energy source. Environmental impact of and cost for Pretreatment depend on location and plant. In PreMaImNo SINTEF and Eramet together identified and quantified pros and cons with installation of a pretreatment unit as a part of Eramet’s Mn-alloy production in Norway. Eramet Norway Porsgrunn (ENP) was identified as the most actual location. Optimal conditions and environmental footprint have been quantified for installation of a pretreatment unit at ENP for various cases. This will be weighed against other options for Eramet to reduce their CO2 emissions. Based on the provided information Eramet will decide if installation of a Pretreatment unit at Eramet Norway Porsgrunn is favourable and if and in case how they will work further towards this.
PreMaImNo have identified Eramet Norway Porsgrunn (ENP) as the most actual of Eramet’s plants for pretreatment of raw materials for production of manganese alloys. This will reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions from the Mn-alloy production. How much that can be obtained depend on several conditions and have been calculated for different cases. The project has through this provided the basis for to calculate feasibility for installation of pretreatment unit as well as the design basis for further engineering. This knowledge can also be used to weigh installation of pretreatment of raw materials towards other methods to reduce CO2 emissions.
PreMaImNo have been a close cooperation between SINTEF and Eramet that both companies will benefit from in further work with new innovations. Dissemination of the results in the projects both nationally and internationally may also lead to use of this technology at other plants.
The main future impact of PreMaImNo might be less CO2 emission and energy consumption for each tonne of manganese alloy produced in Norway. This will ensure the competitiveness of Norwegian metal producing industry and contribute to the green shift.
PreMaImNo will support the implementation of pretreatment of Mn-ores with CO-gas at Norwegian Mn-alloy plants. Eramet Norway's three plants located in Sauda, Kvinesdal and Porsgrunn will be assessed and a prioritised recommendation of which of the plants that should be first in line for implementation will be prepared. The production sites produce different products, varying amounts and operate at different modes. The varying production relations at the three sites implies that the conditions for the pretreatment unit will vary (such raw material mixture and off-gas composition), and as such, implementation of a unit will provide different effects at each of the sites. Workshops will be held at each of the three plants.
An evaluation of environmental impact will be performed through process analysis and LCA using the tools developed in H2020 PreMa project. Plant specific requirements as well as requirements and impact of CCU and CCS will be included in the evaluation.
The work will be disseminated to the employees, and local community and authorities. Close coorperation and dissemination is strongly weighted in the project work.