Seeing Beautiful China and Realizing Ultra Low Emission Transformation Leading the "Green Revolution" in the Steel Industry | Changes | Green Revolution
CCTV News: If you ask about the changes in our country's ecological environment in recent years, what impressed everyone the most is that everyone's answer is the same: the sky is bluer, the water is clearer, and the environment is more beautiful. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has started by addressing the ecological and environmental issues strongly reflected by the masses, resolutely declaring war on pollution, and launching battles to defend blue skies, clear waters, and clean land.
In the past decade of the new era, China has made historic achievements in ecological and environmental protection. The PM2.5 concentration in key cities across the country has decreased by 57%, making China the country with the fastest improvement rate in global air quality. The proportion of high-quality surface water sections in China has increased by 23.8 percentage points, approaching the level of developed countries.
Tangshan, Hebei: "Green Revolution" of Ultra Low Emission Transformation in the Steel Industry
The battle to defend the blue sky has entered a crucial stage, and the steel industry has become the main battlefield for air pollution control. The ultra-low emission transformation of the steel industry in Tangshan, Hebei has always been at the forefront of the country. What exactly will the ultra-low emission transformation change? What does a renovated steel enterprise look like? We followed the reporter's camera and watched the "green revolution" that occurred in the steel industry.
CCTV reporter Wang Chen: Iron splashes, heat waves roll, and smoke evaporates, which is people's impression of traditional steel mills. Now, this stereotype is being changed. I am currently at a large steel plant in Tangshan, Hebei Province, with an annual output of 7 million tons. Walking around the factory area, one can see lush greenery and the fragrance of birds and flowers everywhere. How did a steel plant of this scale achieve green transformation? Today we will have a trip to the steel plant.
The logistics of China's steel industry heavily relies on road transportation. According to industry statistics, the emissions from transportation vehicles such as large trucks can account for 20-30% of the emissions in the steel industry. In people's traditional impression, the roads inside the steel plant are always filled with smoke and dust, and large trucks are emitting exhaust while littering with slag and coal. But in today's steel plant, not only must the transportation of materials be strictly covered, but vehicles with substandard exhaust cannot even enter the factory door.
CCTV reporter Wang Chen: The camera at the entrance of the factory is a clean transportation access control monitoring system, which is connected to the monitoring data of the environmental protection department. When a large truck reaches the factory gate, the camera will automatically recognize the license plate number to determine whether the vehicle's exhaust emissions meet the standards. All new energy electric trucks or vehicles with National VI emissions will be lifted and released, while vehicles with non compliant exhaust emissions will be blocked outside the door.
In order to further reduce pollution during raw material transportation, steel mills have taken significant actions. Relying on the geographical advantage of being close to the Bohai Sea, the newly built transfer terminal funded by the enterprise will be put into use. More than 14 million tons of raw materials and finished products will be directly ashore and discharged into the sea here every year.
CCTV reporter Wang Chen: Another project that will soon be put into use together with this dock is the 6.5 kilometer long fully enclosed tubular belt corridor. This aerial corridor extends from the dock all the way to the material bin of the steel plant, and the factory will truly achieve the goal of "transporting ore without seeing it".
In addition to transportation, there have also been significant changes in the stacking and batching process. Traditional material stacking plants are set up outdoors, and every year, four thousandths of dust such as slag will diffuse into the atmosphere. In this steel plant, all 700000 square meters of mechanized silos are in a closed mode, and there is also a sensitive and accurate dust removal system inside the silos.
CCTV reporter Wang Chen from the headquarters: Everyone, do you think the floor of the silo is very smooth and bright? This is the credit for this dust removal system. We can see that there are machines working on ingredients inside, and dust is generated in the air. The fog cannon has already started automatically, and this intelligent monitoring system makes dust nowhere to hide.
The hot blast furnace smelting is not visible in this steel plant. In the No.1 blast furnace workshop of the factory area, we can see that the blast furnace has been tightly sealed.
CCTV reporter Wang Chen: Next to me is a hidden ditch, and the newly produced molten iron flows into the ladle through this ditch, truly achieving the goal of "seeing no iron when casting iron".
Ma Qianguang, the director of the No.1 blast furnace at Fengnan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. of Zongheng Iron and Steel Group, said: Now that we enter the factory, we don't even need to wear masks. After the work environment improves, our overall mood is also relatively happy.
CCTV reporter Wang Chen: In the original steel mills, the sintering process was a major emitter of pollutants, accounting for more than 70% of the total emissions of enterprises. And in the huge factory building around me, there is the world's first multi-stage deep purification system for sintering flue gas, which occupies an area even larger than the production facilities. There are a series of flue gas purification devices here, which not only include traditional basic processes such as activated coke desulfurization and denitrification, but also add two advanced treatment processes. Simply put, after the "one-stop" purification treatment here, the sintering process has completely rid itself of the hat of a major pollutant emitter.
Wang Li, Executive Vice General Manager of Fengnan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. of Zongheng Iron and Steel Group: On the surface, it seems that our environmental protection investment is indeed large and the operating cost is relatively high. However, due to our environmental protection work being well done, we have been rated as an A-level enterprise in environmental performance rating. This means that under the same conditions, we can enjoy more policy benefits. In the long run, this payment is still very cost-effective.
Through continuous promotion of ultra-low emission transformation in the steel industry, China's steel industry has ushered in a completely new "green revolution" in recent years. As of the end of 2022, more than 200 million tons of crude steel production capacity in China have completed the full process ultra-low emission transformation. In the first quarter of this year, about 40 million tons of crude steel production capacity have completed the transformation. Compared with before the renovation, in 2022, the emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust per ton of steel in China have decreased by half, reaching the international leading level. The 10 cities with concentrated steel production capacity in China have an average decrease of 24% in PM2.5 concentration, and an average increase of 7 percentage points in the proportion of excellent days.
