ArcelorMittal Belgium has announced the successful completion of the first phase of a carbon capture trial at its integrated steelmaking facility in Ghent, conducted in collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), BHP and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd (MDP).
The pilot-scale trial achieved carbon capture rates exceeding 90 percent, using MHI's Advanced KM CDR Process technology to capture carbon dioxide from blast furnace off-gas. The trial completed more than 4,500 hours of operational testing, demonstrating the technical feasibility of applying the technology to blast furnace gas containing dust, sulfur compounds and other contaminants. During the first phase, only carbon dioxide was captured from the off-gas, while the remaining carbon monoxide (CO) could still be used for power and heat generation elsewhere at the facility.
Full-scale carbon capture could reduce emissions intensity by up to 24 percent
Based on assessments of the trial results, ArcelorMittal stated that applying the carbon capture technology at full scale to pre-combustion blast furnace off-gas could reduce the carbon emissions intensity of its Ghent facility by up to 24 percent.
The company added that extending the technology to multiple emission sources across the integrated steelworks could support further emissions reductions and progress toward near-zero-emissions-intensity steelmaking.
Second trial phase to focus on hot strip mill reheating furnace emissions
The second phase of the trial will assess the application of MHI's carbon capture technology to flue gases generated by the hot strip mill reheating furnace. The furnace uses a mixture of by-product gases from steelmaking operations, including coke oven gas, blast furnace off-gas and basic oxygen furnace gas, together with natural gas, to heat steel slabs before rolling.
Unlike the first phase, which focused on pre-combustion blast furnace gas, the second phase will examine post-combustion carbon capture under more variable flue-gas conditions. According to ArcelorMittal, the results will provide additional information on integrating carbon capture across different steelmaking processes and support updated engineering and deployment studies for potential full-scale applications.
