Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB has announced that its fossil-free steel joint venture together with Swedish iron ore producer LKAB and Swedish power company Vattenfall, the HYBRIT initiative, has published a six-year research report that shows that direct reduced iron produced with the HYBRIT process has superior characteristics compared to iron produced with fossil fuels. Now the project is continuing in the next phase to be implemented on an industrial scale.
According to the research results, some developments at the pilot phase include a new hydrogen-based technology for fossil-free iron and steel production with zero carbon emissions per ton of steel; a new fossil-free iron product (sponge iron) that has significantly better properties than iron reduced with fossil gases such as natural gas; the successful long-term operation of alkaline electrolysers for the production and storage of hydrogen.
The HYBRIT initiative will continue to conduct research and development to support the industrialization of the technology together with the owner companies, including delivering solutions to LKAB’s planned demonstration plant in Gällivare. The pilot project for storing fossil-free hydrogen in Svartöberget in Luleå will continue until 2026.
So far, more than 5,000 mt of hydrogen-reduced iron has been produced at HYBRIT's pilot plant in Luleå.
