WEMS-1: Watergy Integrated Modeling for Optimaltechnology Assessment in Steel Industry- Case Study: Esfahan Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC)

: The steel industry is energy intensive and water intensive at the same time. The largest Iran’s steel-making plants are mainly placed in the hot climates and arid regions; thus, the study of the integrated water-and-energy systems for this industry is very important. In this paper, the developed watergy concept is presented, and, then, WERS (WatErgy Reference System) for steel industrys is drawn. The research investigates the water-energy nexus in different units of a steel-making plant as the conceptual model for the analysis of the water-energy nexus. Furthermore, the mathematical WatErgy system Model of the Steel industry (WEMS-1) is developed based on the Energy System Model (ESM). The optimal configuration of the system’s technologies is assessed based on the Pareto optimal function and with the objective function of the minimum total cost. For model validation, the results of the model, was presented for BAU scenario in Esfahan Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC) and compared with the data of Iran steel comprehensive plan. Then, WEMS-1 is run to analyze the optimal technology assessment of the MSC case study concerning water scarcity and the rise of electricity price. As a result, it is shown that the water consumption index decreases from 6.78 m3/ton steel in BAU to unconventional water consumption of 5.5 m3/ton steel in the optimal scenario; this improvement is achieved by technology revolution and a small increase in electricity demand.