Natural Resources, Mining, Industry and Energy Award of Excellence
Pellet Plant Biofuel BBA
Ensuring viability BBA’s mandate was to ensure the quality and consistency of the iron oxide pellet firing process could maintain and even increase the plant’s output. The firm performed the study to ensure the viability of converting the plant’s fuel oil systems to pyrolysis oil. BBA also ensured the pyrolysis oil facilities were safe and met industry standards, requirements and best practices for workers’ health and safety and 50
CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEER
for the environment while iron pellet production and quality remained optimal. The team helped to review the physicochemical properties of pyrolysis oil and its components, identify the points of emission of flammable (explosive) or odorous vapours, develop a summary of exposure, explosivity and emission threshold standards to comply with applicable regulatory requirements in Québec, analyze the facilities to help make recommendations and issue recommendations for potential system expansion. The technology is helping decarbonize the heavy-industry sector while using a local resource. It is also a solution that can be transferred to other types of furnaces and kilns; indeed, it is already attracting interest from other industrial players.
“Lots of people talk about solutions like this, but they actually did it, at scale.” – Jury
A different kind of fuel Pyrolysis oil does not behave like standard hydrocarbons, so it was important for the experts from BBA’s advanced fuels and chemicals team to understand the nature of this biofuel. After interpreting the product’s physical properties, they adapted systems to bring the pellets to their ideal burning point, which would help prevent equipment from clogging through polymerization. Given the mechanical properties, they also modified the piping design to maximize fluid pumping. Finally, they selected metallurgy and instruments that were adapted to the oil’s corrosive nature. The oil would come from BioEnergie AE’s restarted plant. To get this facility up and running, ArcelorMittal committed to consuming its minimum biofuel production September/October 2023
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ining company ArcelorMittal wanted to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by its iron oxide pellet production processes in Port-Cartier, Que., so it decided to incorporate pyrolysis oil—a local, carbon-neutral biofuel made from logging waste—to replace some of the fuel oil in its operations. The project would be the first in the world to use pyrolysis oil in its processes on a regular basis and at such a scale. In fact, it would represent the largest consumption of any fuel made from forest biomass. BBA was brought on-board to carry out a feasibility study. The firm based its analyses and recommendations on standards and requirements from the National Fire Code of Canada (NFC), Québec's Regulation Respecting Occupational Health and Safety, Québec's Clean Air Regulation (CAR), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the National Fire protection Association (NFPA).
