Research for green steel production

The German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) is working with partner institutions in the European ZEROSTEEL project to reduce CO₂ emissions in steel production. The use of hydrogen and renewable energies is intended to make steel production more sustainable. The project is funded by the EU as part of the Horizon Europe programme.

The global steel industry is responsible for about eight percent of the world’s CO₂ emissions. In view of the ever-increasing demand for steel and the need to achieve the EU’s climate targets, switching to green steel production is essential.
Hydrogen, which is used instead of carbon to reduce iron ore and thus drastically decrease the greenhouse gas emissions of steel production, plays a crucial role in this effort. In contrast to the conventional method, the only by-product this process generates is water.
As part of the ZEROSTEEL project, BAM is conducting laboratory experiments on the hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron ore to investigate how the process can be further optimized. In a pilot plant, BAM will test whether the process also works at an industrial scale. The institute will also investigate the alternative process of iron ore smelting reduction using hydrogen plasma. BAM is also testing the use of climate-neutral carbon carriers such as biochar to further reduce the CO₂ emissions of steel production. The ZEROSTEEL project brings together numerous international partners from European industry and research, including the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique in France and the Technical University of Vienna.
Source: idw/BAM