Posted on 16 Mar 2023
Japanese steel mill Kobe Steel (Kobelco) has partnered with Luxembourg-based engineering firm Paul Wurth to develop a green steel production facility for German steel producer Thyssenkrupp, expecting to start commercial operations by 2026.
Kobelco and its wholly-owned subsidiary Midrex Technologies announced on 14 March that it has partnered with Paul Wurth to engineer, supply and construct a hydrogen-run direct reduced iron (DRI) plant for Germany's Thyssenkrup Steel in Duisburg, Germany. The facility is expected to produce 2.5mn t/yr of steel.
The plant will initially use reformed natural gas — which contains 50pc or more hydrogen — but plans to use 100pc hydrogen once sufficient amounts of it are available. The facility "provides the flexibility to operate on different ratios of natural gas and hydrogen," Kobelco said.
Kobelco did not provide further details on the type and volumes of hydrogen that would be used.
The hydrogen-run DRI plant is expected to reduce more than 3.5mn t/yr of CO2 emissions compared with conventional blast furnace operations at Thyssenkrupp, it added.
Thyssenkrupp has been investing in green steel plants, with the intention of replacing its coal-fired blast furnaces with a hydrogen-powered direct reduction plant. Kobelco has also previously supplied a green hydrogen-run DRI plant to Swedish ironmaker H2 Green Steel in October 2022.
Source:Argus Media
