UK-based plant maker Primetals Technologies has announced a partnership with Japan’s Mitsubishi Steel Corporation, Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine AG and Australian miner Rio Tinto to build a new prototype plant based on its HYFOR and Smelter technologies to produce hot briquetted iron, hot metal and pig iron with net-zero carbon emissions at Voestalpine’s Linz site in Austria. The project is scheduled to become operational in mid-2027.
The new plant, with a projected hourly hot metal production of 3 mt, will be based on Primetals’ HYFOR technology, the world’s first direct reduction technology for iron ore fines that does not require any agglomeration steps, and Smelter solutions. Since 2021, Primetals has operated a pilot plant at Voestalpine’s Donawitz site and has run numerous tests with success. The Smelter technology on the other hand is a furnace powered by renewable energy used for melting and final reduction of direct reduced iron (DRI). It will produce hot metal with potential net-zero carbon emissions for the steelmaking plant.
According to Alexander Fleischanderl, chief technology officer and head of green steel at Primetals Technologies, the project represents the first time a continuous production process with hydrogen-based direct reduction will be implemented, while Kenichiro Tauchi, COO, ferrous raw materials division, of Mitsubishi Steel Corporation, stated that the HYFOR and Smelter technologies will accelerate the decarbonization of the steel industry and of Mitsubishi Corporation. Herbert Eibensteiner, CEO of Voestalpine AG, stated, “Our long-term strategy is to use green hydrogen to achieve carbon-neutral steel production. Together with Primetals Technologies and Rio Tinto, we are taking an entirely new and promising approach to research into hydrogen-based pig iron production”. Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest iron ore producers, will supply 70 percent of the iron ore for the new plant.
Another thing to note is that the project received investment through Austrian government’s Transformation of Industry program. In addition, the European Union supports the venture through the European Union Research Fund for Coal and Steel and the European Union Clean Hydrogen Partnership programs.