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UK-based steelmaker Corus, the European subsidiary of the Indian steel giant Tata Steel, has announced that at the end of 2010 it is to commission new iron-making technology in a pilot plant project at its IJmuiden steelworks in the Netherlands, which could potentially halve the emissions of carbon dioxide in the blast furnace steelmaking route.
           
Accordingly, the 60,000 mt per year Hisarna pilot plant will harness a new process that makes possible the production of liquid iron from virgin raw materials in just a single step, eliminating two of the three production steps required in blast furnace iron-making.  Hisarna opens the prospect of a 20 percent improvement in steel industry energy efficiency.
 
"The €20 million project is one of the initiatives that has sprung up under the auspices of Ultra-Low CO2 Steelmaking (ULCOS), a consortium of European steelmakers that has drawn up the world's most advanced program to reduce the steel industry's carbon footprint," reads the company's statement.
 
The Dutch cabinet of ministers is to contribute to the project by investing €5 million, while the rest of the investment will come from European Commission research funds and from the ULCOS consortium partners.
 
After the start up of the Hisarna pilot plant, an intensive test program will be carried out, supported by all ULCOS partners.