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How to improve the efficiency of waste heat recovery in the steel industry in China?

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How to improve the efficiency of waste heat recovery in the steel industry in China?

Leer Hu ^1*

¹ Jiangsu Zhenze High School

^*Corresponding author: 18151091009@163.com

Published on 24 September 2025

Journal Cover

AEI Vol.16 Issue 9

ISSN (Print): 2977-3911

ISSN (Online): 2977-3903

Abstract

Waste heat recovery is a method of minimizing energy usage and environmental pollution by using various methods to recover energy lost and unused in industrial production. As one of China's major metallurgical industries, the pollution and resource waste generated by the steel industry make it necessary to improve the efficiency of waste heat recovery. In this dissertation, the difficulties currently encountered by waste heat recovery can be summarized from two aspects: the difficulty in obtaining patent licenses and the continued lack of increase in low-temperature waste heat recovery efficiency. Among them, the difficulty in obtaining patents not only increases the cost of steel manufacturers economically, but also makes it difficult to carry out research to improve the efficiency of waste heat recovery smoothly, because the research process may involve patented technologies. As the cooling medium used in the organic Rankine cycle, the performance in safeguarding the environment and energy-saving effect of R236ea coincide with the current difficulties encountered in China in the utilization of waste heat recovery. The achievement of the Kalina cycle in recovering low-grade waste heat makes it a possible alternative to the organic Rankine cycle. However, the problem of difficulty in obtaining patent licenses is difficult to solve. In the subsequent promotion process, the current imbalance in the scale advancement of the steel and metallurgical industry in different regions and the scale gap of Chinese steel mills may lead to differences in the applicable waste heat recovery methods. In the future, the conclusions of this dissertation need to be tested to confirm the feasibility of alleviating China's rapid energy consumption.

Keywords:

steel industry, waste heat recovery, energy consumption

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References

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[2]. Wang, Z. and Liu, W. (2024). My country’s Overall Manufacturing Scale Has Remained the world’s Largest for 14 Consecutive Years. People’s Daily. 22 Jan.

[3]. State Council of the PRC (2015). Made in China 2025.

[4]. Mardiana-Idayu, A. and Riffat, S.B. (2012). Review on Heat Recovery Technologies for Building Applications.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(2), pp.1241–1255. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.09.026.

[5]. Jouhara, H., Khordehgah, N., Almahmoud, S., Delpech, B., Chauhan, A. and Tassau, S. (2018).Waste heat recovery technologies and applications. June 2018, 6, pp.268–289.

[6]. Schwarzmayr, P., Birkelbach, F., Walter, H., Javernik, F., Schwaiger, M. and Hofmann, R. (2023). Packed bed thermal energy storage for waste heat recovery in the iron and steel industry: An experimental study on powder hold-up and pressure drop. arXiv (Cornell University), 75(109735). https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.109735.

[7]. Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute (2020). China’s Iron and Steel Industry Energy Saving and Low-Carbon Development Report (2020).

[8]. National Development and Reform Commission (2004). Medium- and Long-Term Special Plan for Energy Conservation.

[9]. Zhang, M. (2015). Application of Waste Heat Recovery Technology in the Iron and Steel Industry and Analysis of Energy Saving Potential - Baidu Library.

[10]. State General Administration of the People's Republic of China for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine and Standardization Administration of the P.R.C. (2018). Guidelines for Industrial Waste Heat Comprehensive Cascade Utilization.

[11]. Ma, G., Cai, J., Zeng, W. and Dong, H. (2012). Analytical Research on Waste Heat Recovery and Utilization of China’s Iron & Steel Industry. Energy Procedia, 14, pp.1022–1028. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2011.12.1049.

[12]. Catalano, S., Wozniak, A. and Kaplan, K. (2024). Packed Bed (PBR). In: Visual Encyclopedia of Chemical Engineering Equipment.

[13]. Zhu, J., Araya, S.S., Cui, X., Sahlin, S.L. and Kær, S.K. (2020). Modeling and Design of a Multi-Tubular Packed-Bed Reactor for Methanol Steam Reforming over a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 Catalyst. Energies, 13(3), p.610. https: //doi.org/10.3390/en13030610.

[14]. Naik, S., Wesorick, S., Cotton, S., Plegue, T., Hoffman, N. and TerBeek, E. (2024). Absorbers. In: Visual Encyclopedia of Chemical Engineering Equipment.

[15]. Ortega-Fernández, I. and Rodríguez-Aseguinolaza, J. (2019). Thermal energy storage for waste heat recovery in the steelworks: The case study of the REslag project.Applied Energy, 237, pp.708–719. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.01.007.

[16]. Woodford, C. (2023). Explain that Stuff.

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[18]. Farhat, O., Faraj, J., Hachem, F., Castelain, C. and Khaled, M. (2022). A recent review on waste heat recovery methodologies and applications: Comprehensive review, critical analysis and potential recommendations.Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 6(100387), p.100387. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.clet.2021.100387.

[19]. Zhihu Column. (2017). Application of Heat Pipe Technology in Industrial Waste Heat Recovery. [online] Available at: https: //zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/28469724 [Accessed 11 Mar. 2024].

[20]. Yousef (2023). 12 Different Types of Heat Exchangers & Their Application.

[21]. Jouhara, H., Almahmoud, S., Chauhan, A., Delpech, B., Nannou, T., Tassou, S.A., Llera, R., Lago, F. and Arribas, J.J. (2017). Experimental investigation on a flat heat pipe heat exchanger for waste heat recovery in steel industry.Energy Procedia, 123, pp.329–334. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.07.262.

[22]. Maruoka, N., Mizuochi, T., Purwanto, H. and Akiyama, T. (2004). Feasibility Study for Recovering Waste Heat in the Steelmaking Industry Using a Chemical Recuperator.ISIJ International, 44(2), pp.257–262. https: //doi.org/10.2355/isijinternational.44.257.

[23]. Lu, T., Lü, X., Välisuo, P., Zhang, Q. and Clements-Croome, D. (2024). Innovative approaches for deep decarbonization of data centers and building space heating networks: Modeling and comparison of novel waste heat recovery systems for liquid cooling systems.Applied Energy, [online] 357(122473), p.122473. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122473.

[24]. Nie, X., Zhao, L., Deng, S., Su, W. and Zhang, Y. (2018). A review of molecular simulation applied in vapor-liquid equilibria (VLE) estimation of thermodynamic cycles.Journal of Molecular Liquids, [online] 264, pp.652–674. Available at: https: //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016773221832186X [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

[25]. baike.baidu. (2023). Desuperheater and Pressure Reducer.

[26]. Ibrahim Dincer (2018). Comprehensive Energy Systems. S.L.: Elsevier.

[27]. Feng, J., Cheng, X., Yan, Y., Zhao, L. and Dong, H. (2023). Thermodynamic and thermo-economic analysis, performance comparison and parameter optimization of basic and regenerative organic Rankine cycles for waste heat recovery.Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 52(103816), pp.103816–103816. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2023.103816.

[28]. Reza Jaafari and Rahimi, A.B. (2021). Determination of optimum organic Rankine cycle parameters and configuration for utilizing waste heat in the steel industry as a driver of receive osmosis system.Energy Reports, 7, pp.4146–4171. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2021.06.065.

[29]. Asim, M., Khan, S., Abdul Wasy Zia, Farooq Riaz Siddiqui and Michael K.H. Leung (2024). Thermal Performance Enhancement of Novel Integrated Vapor Compression and Organic Rankine Cycle for Electricity Production: A Full-Condensing vs. Desuperheating Approach Comparison in Ultra-Low-Grade Waste Heat Recovery. e-Prime, 7(100493), pp.100493–100493. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.prime.2024.100493.

[30]. Jafari, M., Muhammad Imran Khan, Al-Ghamdi, S.G., Jaworski, A.J. and Faisal Asfand (2023). Waste heat recovery in iron and steel industry using organic Rankine cycles.Chemical Engineering Journal, 477(146925), pp.146925–146925. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.146925.

[31]. Chowdhury, A. and M. Monjurul Ehsan (2023). A Critical Overview of Working Fluids in Organic Rankine, Supercritical Rankine, and Supercritical Brayton Cycles Under Various Heat Grade Sources.International journal of thermofluids, 20(100426), pp.100426–100426. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.ijft.2023.100426.

[32]. Biondi, M., Giovannelli, A., Di Lorenzo, G. and Salvini, C. (2020). Techno-economic analysis of a sCO2 power plant for waste heat recovery in steel industry.Energy Reports, 6, pp.298–304. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2020.11.147.

[33]. Davood Atashbozorg, A Mohseni Arasteh, Salehi, G. and Masoud Torabi Azad (2022). Analysis of Different Organic Rankine and Kalina Cycles for Waste Heat Recovery in the Iron and Steel Industry.ACS omega, 7(50), pp.46099–46117. https: //doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c03922.

[34]. Dokl, M., Rok Gomilšek, Petar Sabev Varbanov, Yee Van Fan, Zdravko Kravanja and Lidija Čuček (2023). Synthesis of Rankine cycle systems with cascade and separate configurations utilising multiple heat sources at different temperature levels.Energy, 284(128588), pp.128588–128588. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2023.128588.

[35]. The Chinese Society for Metals (2024b). New Progress in Science and technology: Integrated Development of Key Technology Systems for cross-border Utilization of Distributed Waste Heat in Steel Processes. Csm.org.cn.

[36]. Shi, Z., Zhou, H., Tan, H. and Feng, Q. (2019). Research on the Current Status of Waste Heat Recovery Technology in Steel Industry.Technology Wind.

[37]. National Bureau of Statistics. (2020). National Data. [online] Available at: https: //data.stats.gov.cn/.

[38]. Wan, J. (2022). Panoramic Map of Big Data of Chinese Steel Industry Enterprises in 2022.Forward-the Economist.

[39]. Li, Q. (2014). Current Situation and Countermeasures of Insufficient Utilization of Waste Heat from Steel Smelting.Science and Technology.

[40]. Xiong, C. (2012). Utilization of Waste Heat and Energy in the Steel Industry Faces New Challenges. China Steel News.

[41]. Yu, H. (2020). Current Situation and Countermeasures of Insufficient Utilization of Waste Heat in the Iron and Steel Metallurgical Industry.Science and Technology.

[42]. Tang, W. (2019). Exploring the Shortcomings and Prospects of Waste Heat and Waste Energy Utilization in Iron and Steel Metallurgy Related Fields.Henan Electric Power.

[43]. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2012). Analysis of the Operation of the Steel Industry in 2011 and Outlook for 2012.

[44]. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2013). Analysis of the Operation of the Steel Industry in 2012 and Outlook for 2013.

[45]. Cao, J., Feng, X., Ji, X., Wu, H., Li, C. and Lu, X. (2022). Review of Studies on Organic Rankine Cycle with Zeotropic Mixtures.Thermal Power Generation, 51.

References

[1]. State Council Information Office (2023). China’s Green Development in the New Era.

[2]. Wang, Z. and Liu, W. (2024). My country’s Overall Manufacturing Scale Has Remained the world’s Largest for 14 Consecutive Years. People’s Daily. 22 Jan.

[3]. State Council of the PRC (2015). Made in China 2025.

[4]. Mardiana-Idayu, A. and Riffat, S.B. (2012). Review on Heat Recovery Technologies for Building Applications.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(2), pp.1241–1255. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.09.026.

[5]. Jouhara, H., Khordehgah, N., Almahmoud, S., Delpech, B., Chauhan, A. and Tassau, S. (2018).Waste heat recovery technologies and applications. June 2018, 6, pp.268–289.

[6]. Schwarzmayr, P., Birkelbach, F., Walter, H., Javernik, F., Schwaiger, M. and Hofmann, R. (2023). Packed bed thermal energy storage for waste heat recovery in the iron and steel industry: An experimental study on powder hold-up and pressure drop. arXiv (Cornell University), 75(109735). https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.109735.

[7]. Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute (2020). China’s Iron and Steel Industry Energy Saving and Low-Carbon Development Report (2020).

[8]. National Development and Reform Commission (2004). Medium- and Long-Term Special Plan for Energy Conservation.

[9]. Zhang, M. (2015). Application of Waste Heat Recovery Technology in the Iron and Steel Industry and Analysis of Energy Saving Potential - Baidu Library.

[10]. State General Administration of the People's Republic of China for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine and Standardization Administration of the P.R.C. (2018). Guidelines for Industrial Waste Heat Comprehensive Cascade Utilization.

[11]. Ma, G., Cai, J., Zeng, W. and Dong, H. (2012). Analytical Research on Waste Heat Recovery and Utilization of China’s Iron & Steel Industry. Energy Procedia, 14, pp.1022–1028. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2011.12.1049.

[12]. Catalano, S., Wozniak, A. and Kaplan, K. (2024). Packed Bed (PBR). In: Visual Encyclopedia of Chemical Engineering Equipment.

[13]. Zhu, J., Araya, S.S., Cui, X., Sahlin, S.L. and Kær, S.K. (2020). Modeling and Design of a Multi-Tubular Packed-Bed Reactor for Methanol Steam Reforming over a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 Catalyst. Energies, 13(3), p.610. https: //doi.org/10.3390/en13030610.

[14]. Naik, S., Wesorick, S., Cotton, S., Plegue, T., Hoffman, N. and TerBeek, E. (2024). Absorbers. In: Visual Encyclopedia of Chemical Engineering Equipment.

[15]. Ortega-Fernández, I. and Rodríguez-Aseguinolaza, J. (2019). Thermal energy storage for waste heat recovery in the steelworks: The case study of the REslag project.Applied Energy, 237, pp.708–719. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.01.007.

[16]. Woodford, C. (2023). Explain that Stuff.

[17]. Simplified Schematic Diagram of a Heat Pipe. (n.d.). global.dnp.

[18]. Farhat, O., Faraj, J., Hachem, F., Castelain, C. and Khaled, M. (2022). A recent review on waste heat recovery methodologies and applications: Comprehensive review, critical analysis and potential recommendations.Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 6(100387), p.100387. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.clet.2021.100387.

[19]. Zhihu Column. (2017). Application of Heat Pipe Technology in Industrial Waste Heat Recovery. [online] Available at: https: //zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/28469724 [Accessed 11 Mar. 2024].

[20]. Yousef (2023). 12 Different Types of Heat Exchangers & Their Application.

[21]. Jouhara, H., Almahmoud, S., Chauhan, A., Delpech, B., Nannou, T., Tassou, S.A., Llera, R., Lago, F. and Arribas, J.J. (2017). Experimental investigation on a flat heat pipe heat exchanger for waste heat recovery in steel industry.Energy Procedia, 123, pp.329–334. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.07.262.

[22]. Maruoka, N., Mizuochi, T., Purwanto, H. and Akiyama, T. (2004). Feasibility Study for Recovering Waste Heat in the Steelmaking Industry Using a Chemical Recuperator.ISIJ International, 44(2), pp.257–262. https: //doi.org/10.2355/isijinternational.44.257.

[23]. Lu, T., Lü, X., Välisuo, P., Zhang, Q. and Clements-Croome, D. (2024). Innovative approaches for deep decarbonization of data centers and building space heating networks: Modeling and comparison of novel waste heat recovery systems for liquid cooling systems.Applied Energy, [online] 357(122473), p.122473. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122473.

[24]. Nie, X., Zhao, L., Deng, S., Su, W. and Zhang, Y. (2018). A review of molecular simulation applied in vapor-liquid equilibria (VLE) estimation of thermodynamic cycles.Journal of Molecular Liquids, [online] 264, pp.652–674. Available at: https: //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016773221832186X [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

[25]. baike.baidu. (2023). Desuperheater and Pressure Reducer.

[26]. Ibrahim Dincer (2018). Comprehensive Energy Systems. S.L.: Elsevier.

[27]. Feng, J., Cheng, X., Yan, Y., Zhao, L. and Dong, H. (2023). Thermodynamic and thermo-economic analysis, performance comparison and parameter optimization of basic and regenerative organic Rankine cycles for waste heat recovery.Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 52(103816), pp.103816–103816. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2023.103816.

[28]. Reza Jaafari and Rahimi, A.B. (2021). Determination of optimum organic Rankine cycle parameters and configuration for utilizing waste heat in the steel industry as a driver of receive osmosis system.Energy Reports, 7, pp.4146–4171. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2021.06.065.

[29]. Asim, M., Khan, S., Abdul Wasy Zia, Farooq Riaz Siddiqui and Michael K.H. Leung (2024). Thermal Performance Enhancement of Novel Integrated Vapor Compression and Organic Rankine Cycle for Electricity Production: A Full-Condensing vs. Desuperheating Approach Comparison in Ultra-Low-Grade Waste Heat Recovery. e-Prime, 7(100493), pp.100493–100493. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.prime.2024.100493.

[30]. Jafari, M., Muhammad Imran Khan, Al-Ghamdi, S.G., Jaworski, A.J. and Faisal Asfand (2023). Waste heat recovery in iron and steel industry using organic Rankine cycles.Chemical Engineering Journal, 477(146925), pp.146925–146925. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.146925.

[31]. Chowdhury, A. and M. Monjurul Ehsan (2023). A Critical Overview of Working Fluids in Organic Rankine, Supercritical Rankine, and Supercritical Brayton Cycles Under Various Heat Grade Sources.International journal of thermofluids, 20(100426), pp.100426–100426. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.ijft.2023.100426.

[32]. Biondi, M., Giovannelli, A., Di Lorenzo, G. and Salvini, C. (2020). Techno-economic analysis of a sCO2 power plant for waste heat recovery in steel industry.Energy Reports, 6, pp.298–304. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2020.11.147.

[33]. Davood Atashbozorg, A Mohseni Arasteh, Salehi, G. and Masoud Torabi Azad (2022). Analysis of Different Organic Rankine and Kalina Cycles for Waste Heat Recovery in the Iron and Steel Industry.ACS omega, 7(50), pp.46099–46117. https: //doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c03922.

[34]. Dokl, M., Rok Gomilšek, Petar Sabev Varbanov, Yee Van Fan, Zdravko Kravanja and Lidija Čuček (2023). Synthesis of Rankine cycle systems with cascade and separate configurations utilising multiple heat sources at different temperature levels.Energy, 284(128588), pp.128588–128588. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2023.128588.

[35]. The Chinese Society for Metals (2024b). New Progress in Science and technology: Integrated Development of Key Technology Systems for cross-border Utilization of Distributed Waste Heat in Steel Processes. Csm.org.cn.

[36]. Shi, Z., Zhou, H., Tan, H. and Feng, Q. (2019). Research on the Current Status of Waste Heat Recovery Technology in Steel Industry.Technology Wind.

[37]. National Bureau of Statistics. (2020). National Data. [online] Available at: https: //data.stats.gov.cn/.

[38]. Wan, J. (2022). Panoramic Map of Big Data of Chinese Steel Industry Enterprises in 2022.Forward-the Economist.

[39]. Li, Q. (2014). Current Situation and Countermeasures of Insufficient Utilization of Waste Heat from Steel Smelting.Science and Technology.

[40]. Xiong, C. (2012). Utilization of Waste Heat and Energy in the Steel Industry Faces New Challenges. China Steel News.

[41]. Yu, H. (2020). Current Situation and Countermeasures of Insufficient Utilization of Waste Heat in the Iron and Steel Metallurgical Industry.Science and Technology.

[42]. Tang, W. (2019). Exploring the Shortcomings and Prospects of Waste Heat and Waste Energy Utilization in Iron and Steel Metallurgy Related Fields.Henan Electric Power.

[43]. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2012). Analysis of the Operation of the Steel Industry in 2011 and Outlook for 2012.

[44]. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2013). Analysis of the Operation of the Steel Industry in 2012 and Outlook for 2013.

[45]. Cao, J., Feng, X., Ji, X., Wu, H., Li, C. and Lu, X. (2022). Review of Studies on Organic Rankine Cycle with Zeotropic Mixtures.Thermal Power Generation, 51.

Cite this article

Hu,L. (2025). How to improve the efficiency of waste heat recovery in the steel industry in China?. Advances in Engineering Innovation,16(9),23-35.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Journal: Advances in Engineering Innovation

Volume number: Vol.16

Issue number: Issue 9

ISSN: 2977-3903(Print) / 2977-3911(Online)

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