Best Available Techniques (BAT) Insights from the Thermal Power Iron and Steel Sectors OECD.pdf

Explore how Best Available Techniques (BAT) are being used to prevent and control industrial emissions in the thermal power, iron and steel sectors. Drawing on cross-country analyses from the OECD reports: Activity 6: Cross-Country analysis of selected sectors for comparison and Activity 7: Cross-Country Analysis of selected BREFs for Iron-Steel, Paper-Pulp and Waste incineration sectors, the webinar highlighted key environmental challenges, common emission control techniques, and opportunities for greater harmonisation of BAT approaches across countries and industries.

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This webinar will be recorded and will be made available afterwards at:
https://www.oecd.org/en/events/2025/06/best-available-techniques-for-industrial-emissions-
prevention-and-control-insights-from-the-thermal-power-iron-and-steel-sectors.html

3. SESSION 1.
WELCOME & INTRODUCTION

4. OECD’S BEST-AVAILABLE
TECHNIQUES (BAT)
PROJECT
4

5. •Exchange best practices across countries that already have a
BAT-based permitting system
•Provide guidance to countries that seek to adopt a BAT-based
approach for the first time
•Achieve progress towards the SDGs, notably Target 12.4 on the
environmentally sound management of chemicals
5
Objectives of the BAT project

6. •Established in 2015 –increased tenfold in size
since
•162 members from 40+ countries and
organisations
The OECD Expert Group on BAT
6
© Photo credit: Oleksandra Klestova/Shutterstock.com
•One face-to-facemeeting and one webinar
per year, plus frequent exchanges by
email/phone
•10th meeting of the Expert
Group on BAT
13-14 November 2025, Seoul, Korea
45%
13%
3%
3%
10%
14%
6%
3%
3%
Expert Group on BAT Composition
OECD Member
governments
Non-member
governments
Key Partner countries
Accession countries
IGOs
Industry Associations

7. 7
Deliverables of the OECD’s BAT project (2016-2024)
Phase I
(2016-2018)
Act.1-Policies on BAT
Across the World (2017)
Act.2 -Approaches to
Establishing BAT
Around the World
(2018)
Act.3 -Measuring the
Effectiveness of BAT
Policies (2019)
Phase II
(2019-2021)
Act.4 -BAT guidance
document (2020)
Act. 5 -Study on value
chain aspects of
determining BAT (2021)
Act. 6 -Cross-country
comparison of selected
BREFs (2022)
Phase III
(2022-2024)
Act. 7 -Cross-country
comparison of selected
BREFs (2024)
Act. 8 -Capacity
building workshops
(2025)
Act.9 -Identifying
innovation and ETs for
potential BAT
determination (2025)
Phase IV
(2025 –2027)
Act.10 –Role of BAT in
Hydrogen Production
Act.11 –Recovery of
secondary raw materials
(SRM)
Act 12 –Capacity
building workshops

8. Updates –List of BREFs webpage

9. CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS OF
BREFS FOR
IRON & STEEL
PAPER & PULP
WASTE INCINERATION

10. 10
Cross-country comparisons of BREFs
•Compare BAT and BAT-AE(P)Ls across countries
➢BAT for selected sectors and their key pollutants
➢Facilitate harmonisation of BAT-AELs across countries

11. •Six BREFs/BREF-like
•BAT and BAT-AELs of various pollutants for air
and water emissions
11
Activity 7 –Cross-country analyses of selected BREFs
Iron & Steel Paper & Pulp
Waste
Incineration

12. Sector-specific BREFs for Iron and Steel sector
EIPPCB (2015), Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Production of Pulp, Paper and Board,
https://eippcb.jrc.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2019-11/PP_revised_BREF_2015.pdf

13. Emissions from three sectors
Iron and Steel
Sinter Plants
•Dust,
•NOx,
•SOx,
•Hg,
•dioxins
Blast Furnace
•Dust
Electric Arc
Furnaces (EAF)
•Dust,
•Hg,
•dioxins
Paper and pulp
production
Kraft Pulping
(Recovery boilers)
Dust,
NOx,
TRS
Paper
manufacturing
from recycled
paper
Water releases
Water consumption
Waste incineration
Municipal Solid
Waste incineration
Dust,
NOx,
NH3,
Heavy metals (Hg, Cd,
tot-metals),
PCDD/F
Cyanide
Lead & zinc
zinc

14. BAT Approaches for Iron and Steel Production
•Good environmental practices General BAT
•Pollutant specific
•Environmental media
KEI specific
•Specific processes
•Iron/ steel making
Sub-sector specific

15. •NOx
Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) -Widely applied
Process-integrated measures (e.g., low-NOx combustion)
•SOx
Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD), especially wet FGD (e.g., limestone
scrubbers)
•Dust/PM
ESP and Bag Filters
Advanced ESP configurations: variable pulse voltage, moving electrodes,
additives, enlarged plates
•Hg
Input control (low Hg fuels/materials)
Abatement: bag filters, flue gas scrubbing, activated carbon injection
•Dioxins
Raw material selection, process optimisation
SCR, activated carbon + fabric filters
BAT for Air emissions from Sinter Plants

16. •Dust
Bag filters
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs)
•Cyanides (Water):
China: Pretreatment + Biochemical techniques
(biofilms, hydrolysis acidification, activated sludge) →
Removal efficiency >99.8%
EU: Coagulation/flocculation, sedimentation, chemical
reduction
US: Alkaline/breakpoint chlorination (less specific, but
effective in control)
•Heavy Metals (Pb, Zn) (Water):
EU: Flocculation, sedimentation
US: High-rate recycling systems, blowdown treatment,
metal precipitation, filtration
BAT for Blast Furnaces

17. •Dust
Bag filters or high-efficiency ESPs
•Hg & Dioxins
Raw material substitution
Input control,
activated carbon injection,
fabric filters
SCR for dioxin control in advanced applications
•Zinc Recovery (Water/Air linked via dust)
China: Fire-wet techniques for furnace dust
EU: Water recirculation, solids/oil removal, minimised
wastewater discharge from casting
BAT Approaches for EAF

18. BAT-AELs for Iron-steel plants
Sinter Plants
•Dust,
•NOx,
•SOx,
•Hg,
•dioxins
Blast Furnace
•Dust
Electric Arc Furnaces
(EAF)
•Dust,
•Hg,
•dioxins
Cyanide
Lead & zinc
zinc

19. Cross-Country Evaluation of BAT-AELs
•Widespread regulation of NOx, SOx,
PM, Hg, dioxins, and waterborne heavy
metals
•Shared BAT: SCR (NOx), FGD (SOx),
ESP/filters (PM)
•TEQ-based dioxin metrics allow
global comparison
•Cyanide, lead, zinc AELs show high
alignment (esp. EU, US, WB)
•AEL stringency differs (e.g., PM <5
mg/Nm³ in EU vs. 150 mg/Nm³ in
India)
•Averaging periods: daily, monthly, or
unspecified
•Monitoring: continuous in EU/US;
random or periodic elsewhere
•SOx/NOx limits reflectfuel type &
policy differences

20. •Approaches to managing industrial pollution
•Common end-of-pipe techniques for NOx and PM -A shared recognition of
effective BAT across jurisdictions
–Different pollutants -processes and the end-products
•Process-integrated measures (low NOx burners ) in nearly all sectors
Conclusions

21. CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS OF
BREFS FOR
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
CEMENT
TEXTILES

22. 22
Sectors for BREF comparisons
7BREFs:
China, EU, India, Japan, South Korea,
US, IFC-WB
Thermal Power Plants
Coal & gas-fuelled
Air emissions
•NOx
•SOx
•Hg
•Dust/PM
Cement
Portland
Air emissions
NOx
SOx
Dust/PM
Textiles
Water releases
AOX, BOD, COD
pH
Metals
Processes
Pre-treatment
Dyeing

23. 23
Cross-country analysis
Comparative context
•Scope –e.g. capacity
•Types –min. stand or guidance, incl. legal
status
•Technical depth –single or multi media releases
•Production/update
Higher BREF-issues
•General BATs
•BATs used for KEIs identified
•Specific BATs to subprocesses
BAT approaches
•Emission & performance levels specified for the
identified KEIs
•Associated conditions, e.g. averaging periods
where given
BAT-AE(P)Ls

24. Higher BREF issues
➢Age or investment cycles

25. BAT Approaches for Thermal power
•Good environmental practices General BAT
•Pollutant specific
•Environmental media
KEI specific
•Coal-fired
•Gas-fuelled
Sub-sector specific

26. •Fuel-Type Considerations
•Dust:
–Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP)
–Bag/ Fabric Filters
–Wet Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) / Wet Scrubbers
•Nitrogen Oxides (NOx):
–Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
•Sulphur Oxides (SOx):
–Fuel selection (low sulphur fuels)
–Wet FGD with limestone absorber
•Mercury (Hg):
–Fuel pre-treatment and selection to reduce mercury input
–Control via adaptations to PM abatement systems (e.g.,
ESP with sorbent injection)
BAT for KEIs

27. Quantitative BAT : BAT-AELs
Particulate Matter (PM):
•Significant variation in BAT-AELs across BREFs, even
for new plants
•New plant standards often stricter than for existing
plants
•Exceptions noted: Chinaand partially the EU, where
differences are less pronounced
•Sulphur Oxides (SOx) & Nitrogen Oxides (NOx):
•Large AEL variations observed for both new and
existing plants
•Influencing factors include:
•Fuel type(e.g., coal vs. gas)
•Policy differencesregarding the application of
Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD)

28. •Differences in regulatory approaches and the BAT implementation:
–Legal status: guidance documents or legally binding standards.
•Compliance and enforcement
•Specific characteristics of industrial installations
•Differing environmental concerns of governments
Harmonisation of BAT Approaches Across Industries
Benefits of shared knowledge and
cooperation for sustainable
industrial practices worldwide.

29. PANEL DISCUSSION

30. CLOSING REMARKS & QUESTIONS

31. Activity 7: Cross Country Analysis of
selected BREFs for Iron-Steel, Paper-
Pulp and Waste incineration sectors
(2024)
Industrial Pollution Control Webinar Series
Activity 6: Cross Country Analysis of
selected BREFs for Thermal Power
plants, Cement and Textiles sectors
(2022)
Webinar series on BAT
TPP
(Act.6)
& IS
(Act.7)
13
June
TXT
(Act.6)
& PP
(Act.7)
3
July
CMT
(Act.6)
& WI
(Act.7)
TBD
31

32. Visit our website:https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/monitoring-and-
preventing-industrial-pollution.html
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