ArcelorMittal Europe to produce ’green steel’ starting in 2020

Hydrogen technologies at the heart of drive to lead the decarbonisation of the steel industry and deliver carbon-neutral steel

             

13 October 2020

ArcelorMittal Europe today announces details of the CO2 technology strategy that will enable it to offer its first green steel solutions to customers this year (30,000 tonnes), scale up this offering in coming years (to reach 120,000 tonnes in 2021 and 600,000 tonnes by 2022), deliver its 30% CO2 emissions target by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2050.

The strategy is centred around two main technology routes, as introduced in the first ArcelorMittal Europe climate action report published earlier this year:

• The use of hydrogen in DRI-EAF and, also, the blast furnace
• The expansion of its Smart Carbon route, also utilising hydrogen

HYDROGEN

Hydrogen plays a central role in the company’s decarbonisation strategy.  ArcelorMittal Europe is developing a series of industrial-scale hydrogen projects for use in blast furnace-based steelmaking that will start to deliver substantial CO2 emissions savings even within the next five years, as well as progressing a project to test the ability of hydrogen to reduce iron ore and form DRI on an industrial scale.  

Ultimately to reach zero, this hydrogen will need to be ‘green’ (produced via electrolysis which is powered by renewable electricity). ArcelorMittal is therefore developing new facilities to produce green hydrogen using electrolysers.  Teams at ArcelorMittal Bremen in Germany are working on the first large-scale deployment of this technology which can then be deployed in both the blast furnace and the DRI-EAF route.  Previously, this emerging technology has only been tested at small pilot plants in Europe.

1. Hydrogen and the blast furnace

• ArcelorMittal Bremen

By installing an electrolyser, hydrogen can be produced and injected in large volumes into the blast furnace tuyeres. The project will reduce the volumes of coal needed in the iron ore reduction process, thereby cutting CO2 emissions.

•  IGAR in Dunkirk

At ArcelorMittal Dunkirk, the company is developing a hybrid blast furnace process, which involves using DRI gas injection technology in the blast furnace shaft as well as using gas injection in the blast furnace tuyeres, using plasma technology to create a reducing gas.  This is the first large-scale implementation of what is essentially a hybrid BF/DRI technology.  In due course it will enable green hydrogen to be injected into the blast furnace as it becomes available.