Iron: Example with independently sized mine and iron/steel plant #433

elenya-grant · 2026-01-29T17:47:26Z

thanks for adding this doc page! It looks great!

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       - file: technology_models/geologic_hydrogen.md
       - file: technology_models/grid
       - file: technology_models/hydrogen_storage.md
+      - file: technology_models/iron_mine.md
     - caption: Resource Models
       chapters:
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+    # Iron mine model
+    H2I contains an iron mine model that simulates the extraction of crude ore and its processing into iron ore pellets.
+    The main input feedstock is `crude_ore`, i.e. the unprocessed ore in the earth containing iron oxide.
+    The output commodity is `iron_ore` in the form of pellets that can be shipped to other plants (e.g. `iron_plant`) for further processing.
+    This model was developed in conjunction with the [University of Minnesota's Natural Resource Research Institute (NRRI)](https://www.nrri.umn.edu/).
+    NRRI compiled cost and production data from 5 existing mines and provided expertise for analysis at NLR to determine the energy input and cost trends across these mines.
+    Four of the mines (Northshore, United, Hibbing, and Minorca) are located in Minnesota, while one (Tilden) is located in Michigan.
+    There are two potential grades of ore produced from an iron mine in this model:
+    - Standard or Blast Furnace (BF) grade pellets (62-65% Fe)
+    - Direct Reduction (DR) grade pellets (>67% Fe)
+    It was determined that 3 of these mines (Northshore, United, and Hibbing) had crude reserves sufficient to produce DR-grade pellets, although only one (Northshore) reported production data on DR-grade pellets, with the rest reporting their data strictly on standard ore pellets.
+    The increases in cost and energy usage reported at the Northshore mine were used to project the potential performance and cost of DR-grade production at United and Hibbing.
+    The results of this analysis are compiled in the directory `h2integrate/converters/iron/martin_ore/`.
+    Performance data are included in `perf_inputs.csv` with cost data in `cost_inputs.csv`.
+    These data were compiled from two sources:
+    - The EPA's "Taconite Iron Ore NESHAP Economic Impact Analysis" by [Heller et al.](https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/documents/taconite_eia_neshap_final_08-2003.pdf) - Capex estimates
+        - This document estimated the total percentage of cost spent throughout the entire industry on capital as a percentage of total production costs - 5.4%. This percentage is applied to the total annual production costs of each plant to find the estimated Capex.
+    - Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.'s Technical Report Summaries for individual mines - Opex and performance data
+        - [Northshore Mine](https://minedocs.com/22/Northshore-TR-12312021.pdf)
+        - [United Mine](https://minedocs.com/22/United-Taconite-TR-12312021.pdf)
+        - [Hibbing Mine](https://minedocs.com/22/Hibbing-Taconite-TR-12312021.pdf)
+        - [Minorca Mine](https://minedocs.com/22/Minorca-TR-12312021.pdf)
+        - [Tilden Mine](https://minedocs.com/22/Tilden-TR-12312021.pdf)
+    To use this model, specify `"iron_mine_performance_martin"` as the performance model and `"iron_mine_cost_martin"` as the cost model.
+    Currently, no complex calculations occur beyond importing performance and costs.
+    In the performance model, the "wet long tons" (wlt) that ore production is typically reported in are converted to dry metric tons for use in H2I.
+    In the cost model, the total capex costs for a plant are scaled by the amount of are produced annually.
+    Besides these calculations, previously-calculated performance and cost metrics are simply loaded from the input spreadsheets.

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     name: "H2Integrate_config"
-    system_summary: "This reference hybrid plant is located in Minnesota and contains wind, solar, and battery storage technologies. The system is designed to produce hydrogen using an electrolyzer and also produce steel using a grid-connected plant."
+    system_summary: "An iron mine producing ore pellets and a separately-located iron plant performing direct reduction."
     driver_config: "driver_config.yaml"
     technology_config: "tech_config.yaml"
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     name: "driver_config"
-    description: "This analysis runs a hybrid plant to match the first example in H2Integrate"
+    description: "Simply setting up an outputs folder, nothing fancy"
     general:
       folder_output: outputs

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         latitude: 41.717
         longitude: -88.398
-    # array of arrays containing left-to-right technology
-    # interconnections; can support bidirectional connections
-    # with the reverse definition.
-    # this will naturally grow as we mature the interconnected tech
     technology_interconnections: [
-      # connect feedstocks to iron mine
-      ["grid_feedstock","iron_mine","electricity","cable"],
-      ["mine_feedstock","iron_mine","crude_ore","pipe"],
-      # connect feedstocks to iron plant
-      ["iron_mine","iron_plant","iron_ore","iron_transport"],
-      ["dri_grid_feedstock","iron_plant","electricity","cable"],
-      ["catalyst_feedstock","iron_plant","reformer_catalyst","pipe"],
-      ["water_feedstock","iron_plant","water","pipe"],
-      ["natural_gas_feedstock","iron_plant","natural_gas","pipe"],
-      # connect feedstocks to steel plant
-      ["eaf_grid_feedstock","steel_plant","electricity","cable"],
-      ["eaf_water_feedstock","steel_plant","water","pipe"],
-      ["eaf_natural_gas_feedstock","steel_plant","natural_gas","pipe"],
-      ["iron_plant","steel_plant","pig_iron","pipe"],
+      # Connect feedstocks to iron mine.
+      ["mine_electricity_feedstock", "iron_mine", "electricity", "cable"],
+      ["mine_crude_ore_feedstock", "iron_mine", "crude_ore", "pipe"],
+      # Connect iron_ore price and processed_ore_feedstock to iron_transport
+      # Connect the LCOI of iron ore to the price of a feedstock component representing the ore to be used in DRI
+      ["finance_subgroup_iron_ore", "processed_ore_feedstock", ["price_iron_ore", "price"]],
+      # Connect the ore feedstock available to the iron plant
+      ["processed_ore_feedstock", "iron_plant", "iron_ore", "pipe"],
+      ["dri_grid_feedstock", "iron_plant", "electricity", "cable"],
+      ["catalyst_feedstock", "iron_plant", "reformer_catalyst", "pipe"],
+      ["water_feedstock", "iron_plant", "water", "pipe"],
+      ["natural_gas_feedstock", "iron_plant", "natural_gas", "pipe"],
+      # Use the iron ore consumed by the iron plant to calculate transport costs
+      ["iron_plant", "iron_transport", ["iron_ore_consumed", "iron_ore_in"]],
+      # Connect feedstocks to steel plant
+      ["eaf_grid_feedstock", "steel_plant", "electricity", "cable"],
+      ["eaf_water_feedstock", "steel_plant", "water", "pipe"],
+      ["eaf_natural_gas_feedstock", "steel_plant", "natural_gas", "pipe"],
+      ["iron_plant", "steel_plant", "pig_iron", "pipe"],
     ]
     plant:
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         iron_ore:
           commodity: "iron_ore"
           commodity_stream: "iron_mine"
-          technologies: ["iron_mine", "grid_feedstock", "mine_feedstock"]
+          technologies: ["iron_mine", "mine_electricity_feedstock", "mine_crude_ore_feedstock"]
         pig_iron:
           commodity: "pig_iron"
           commodity_stream: "iron_plant"
           technologies:
-          - "iron_mine"
-          - "grid_feedstock"
-          - "mine_feedstock"
+          - "processed_ore_feedstock"
           - "iron_transport"
           - "iron_plant"
           - "dri_grid_feedstock"
@@ Expand All / @@ -81,9 +80,7 @@ finance_parameters: @@
           commodity: "steel"
           commodity_stream: "steel_plant"
           technologies:
-          - "iron_mine"
-          - "grid_feedstock"
-          - "mine_feedstock"
+          - "processed_ore_feedstock"
           - "iron_transport"
           - "iron_plant"
           - "dri_grid_feedstock"
@@ Expand Down @@

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Iron: Example with independently sized mine and iron/steel plant #433

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+    """Example of an iron mine sending processed ore pellets to a separate DRI iron plant and EAF
+    In this example, iron ore pellets are produced at different iron mine locations in NE Minnesota.
+    These mines send processed ore pellets to a separate iron DRI plant located outside Chicago.
+    Four different cases are generated for four different iron mine setups in the `test_inputs.csv`.
+    The first two cases generate standard blast furnace gradepellets at two different mine locations.
+    The second two cases generate DR grade pellets at the same location, with the output capacity
+    varied to show how the capacity of the mine does not affect the levelized cost of iron_ore pellets
+    (LCOI), nor does it affect the final cost of the pig_iron produced by DRI (LCOP) or the cost of the
+    steel produced by the EAF (LCOS).
+    """
     from pathlib import Path
+    import numpy as np
+    import pandas as pd
     from h2integrate.tools.run_cases import modify_tech_config, load_tech_config_cases
     from h2integrate.core.h2integrate_model import H2IntegrateModel
-    # Create H2Integrate models - comparing old and new
+    # Create H2Integrate model
     model = H2IntegrateModel("21_iron.yaml")
-    model_old = H2IntegrateModel("21_iron_old.yaml")
     # Load cases
     case_file = Path("test_inputs.csv")
     cases = load_tech_config_cases(case_file)
     # Modify and run the model for different cases
     casenames = [
-        "Case 1",
-        "Case 2",
-        "Case 3",
-        "Case 4",
+        "Standard Iron - Hibbing",
+        "Standard Iron - Northshore",
+        "DR Grade Iron - Northshore",
+        "DR Grade Iron - Northshore (adjusted)",
     ]
-    lcois = []
-    lcois_old = []
+    # Create empty lists to store the costs
+    lcois_ore = []
+    capexes_ore = []
+    fopexes_ore = []
+    vopexes_ore = []
+    production_ore = []
+    lcois_iron = []
+    capexes_iron = []
+    fopexes_iron = []
+    vopexes_iron = []
+    production_ore = []
+    lcois_steel = []
+    capexes_steel = []
+    fopexes_steel = []
+    vopexes_steel = []
+    model.run()
+    model.post_process()
     for casename in casenames:
         model = modify_tech_config(model, cases[casename])
-        model_old = modify_tech_config(model_old, cases[casename])
         model.run()
-        model_old.run()
-        model.post_process()
-        model_old.post_process()
-        lcois.append(float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_pig_iron.price_pig_iron")[0]))
-        lcois_old.append(float(model_old.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_pig_iron.price_pig_iron")[0]))
-    # Compare the LCOIs from iron_wrapper and modular iron
-    print(lcois)
-    print(lcois_old)
+        lcois_ore.append(float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_iron_ore.price_iron_ore")[0]))
+        capexes_ore.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_iron_ore.total_capex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+        fopexes_ore.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_iron_ore.total_opex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+        vopexes_ore.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_iron_ore.total_varopex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+        lcois_iron.append(float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_pig_iron.price_pig_iron")[0]))
+        capexes_iron.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_pig_iron.total_capex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+        fopexes_iron.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_pig_iron.total_opex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+        vopexes_iron.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_pig_iron.total_varopex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+        lcois_steel.append(float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_steel.price_steel")[0]))
+        capexes_steel.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_steel.total_capex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+        fopexes_steel.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_steel.total_opex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+        vopexes_steel.append(
+            float(model.model.get_val("finance_subgroup_steel.total_varopex_adjusted")[0])
+        )
+    # Compare the Capex, Fixed Opex, and Variable Opex across the 4 cases
+    columns = pd.MultiIndex.from_tuples(
+        [
+            ("Levelized Cost", "[USD/kg]"),
+            ("Capex", "[USD]"),
+            ("Fixed Opex", "[USD/year]"),
+            ("Variable Opex", "[USD/year]"),
+        ]
+    )
+    print()
+    df_ore = pd.DataFrame(
+        np.transpose(np.vstack([lcois_ore, capexes_ore, fopexes_ore, vopexes_ore])),
+        index=casenames,
+        columns=columns,
+    )
+    print(df_ore)
+    print()
+    df_iron = pd.DataFrame(
+        np.transpose(np.vstack([lcois_iron, capexes_iron, fopexes_iron, vopexes_iron])),
+        index=casenames,
+        columns=columns,
+    )
+    print(df_iron)
+    print()
+    df_steel = pd.DataFrame(
+        np.transpose(np.vstack([lcois_steel, capexes_steel, fopexes_steel, vopexes_steel])),
+        index=casenames,
+        columns=columns,
+    )
+    df_steel = df_steel.iloc[2:]
+    print(df_steel)

Iron: Example with independently sized mine and iron/steel plant #433

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