Chinese steel plant orders two Mitsubishi blast furnace gas combined cycles

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd in collaboration with Sinosteel Equipment & Engineering Co Ltd of China has received an order for two blast furnace gas fired gas turbine combined cycle power generation plants from Baotou Iron & Steel Co Ltd also of China. The power plants will be installed in Baogang expansion of their steelworks with the aim of effectively utilizing exhaust gas from blast furnaces and coke ovens on the premises to meet part of its electricity needs. MHI is the world's leader in the BFG-GTCC power generation system market. Operation of the two plants on order is expected to commence in August and September 2014 respectively. Trade particulars are to be handled by Mitsubishi Corporation.

The project is being implemented in tandem with plans to expand Baogang steelworks which are located in Baotou City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The power plants on order each have output of 150 megawatts class. MHI will manufacture and supply main components of the first plant such as the company M701S gas turbine, steam turbine and gas compressor as well as control and peripheral equipment for both plants. Main components for the other plant will be procured by Sinosteel MECC from Dongfang Turbine Co Ltd a manufacturer of heavy electrical machinery to which MHI has licensed its technologies. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will supply the generators.

Baogang which is based in Inner Mongolia is a state owned producer of iron, steel, rolled steel and rare earths. The company was founded in 1954 and currently has a workforce of roughly 57,000 employees. Earlier MHI received an order from Baogang and completed delivery of two BFG-fired GTCC power generation plants in 2005 also with outputs of 150 MW class each. The newest order was received on the strength of that track record and the high evaluation given by Baogang to the company technological capabilities.

Sinosteel MECC established in 1972 is a group member of Sinosteel Corporation a leading producer of iron and steel. It performs production, procurement, marketing, engineering and other services relating to steelmaking equipment. Amid the current movement to ease environmental loads on global scale, strong calls are being heard for the steel industry to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. BFG-fired GTCC power plants by making use of the gas by products emitted by steelworks can not only help lighten such burdens; they also contribute significantly to effective energy usage.

Owing to the lower calorie rating of BFG compared to natural gas, stable combustion of BFG-fired gas turbines requires sophisticated technology. MHI established its proprietary BFG GTCC power generation technology in the 1980s, including development of dedicated BFG combustors. Since then, the company has delivered numerous systems to steelworks both in Japan and overseas and today it enjoys a 60% share of the global market for BFG-fired gas turbines.