CIVS had the pleasure of hosting a Distinguished Speaker Seminar on April 10. Joe Morey, Sr. Industrial Consultant at Morey Industrial Consulting, LLC, presented “Decarbonizing the Blast Furnace: Why Lower Carbon Can Also Mean Better Economics” to CIVS and PNW students, staff, and faculty. His talk was very well received and concluded with a productive Q&A session.

Blast furnace decarbonization is often viewed as an environmental challenge, but it can also create real economic value. This presentation explores how lowering carbon emissions from the blast furnace can also reduce cost, improve efficiency, and increase operating flexibility. Using a practical decarbonization roadmap, the talk shows how changes in raw materials, fuel injection, operating practices, and selected equipment upgrades can reduce coke consumption, improve furnace performance, and lower the carbon footprint of hot metal production.

The session introduces both near-term and longer-term decarbonization options, from improving burden quality and reducing moisture to using natural gas, syngas, and future technologies such as top-gas recycling and carbon capture. Rather than focusing only on emissions, the presentation highlights the engineering tradeoffs behind these decisions and shows why some decarbonization projects can also make strong business sense. Overall, the talk presents blast furnace decarbonization not just as a sustainability challenge, but as an opportunity for process improvement, innovation, and long-term competitiveness in ironmaking.

Joe Morey has nearly 30 years in the steelmaking industry with over 28 years at US Steel. Joe has international experience in coke making, sintering, blast furnace, and oxygen steelmaking. He pairs these experiences with a strong lean manufacturing background with a focus on eliminating waste to improve the business. Joe is a current board member for the Association of Iron and Steel Technology and is very active in the Ironmaking and Decarbonization Technical Committees. Joe is the owner of Morey Industrial Consulting that focuses on ironmaking technologies while improving steelmaking through the elimination of waste.

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