Project ZEROSTEEL

The ZEROSTEEL project aims at reducing CO₂ emissions in the whole value chain of steel production by applying innovative technologies in the fields of biomass gasification and integrating hydrogen sourced from local networks and electrolysers. Bringing together expertise of material scientists, engineers, geoscientists, and machine learning experts with tools and methodologies from pyro- and hydrometallurgical engineering, to develop and optimize new technologies for carbon neutral steel production.

Four direct reduction processes are under study which integrate hydrogen and renewables, namely: the fluidized bed hydrogen-based direct reduction process; the rotary kiln direct reduction; microwave assisted reduction; and hydrogen plasma smelting reduction (HPSR). The utility of biomass to produce heat and partially reduce iron ore is also investigated, along with adding biochar to the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) to serve as a foaming agent for the slag. K1-MET’s role concerns the design and execution of comparative trials at lean hydrogen contents to evaluate the HPSR process in relation to the hydrogen-operated EAF.