ULCOS (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking), an initiative including the major European steelmakers which seeks to reduce CO2 emissions in steel production, has reached an agreement with Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto regarding collaboration on the Isarna project, which aims to develop a new environmentally-friendly iron-making process.
Rio Tinto's participation in the Isarna project is through the licensing of its HIsmelt® direct smelting technology, which uses coal and oxygen-enriched air in combination with a fluidized bed iron ore pre-heater to produce liquid iron. This HIsmelt smelter is to be combined with ULCOS' Isarna highly energy efficient iron-making process based on direct smelting of iron ore fines which uses a smelt cyclone in combination with a coal-based smelter - in order to develop a new process aimed at achieving high levels of CO2 reduction. The project will be renamed HIsarna to reflect the merging of concepts.
Moreover, within the scope of the project a pilot plant with a capacity of 65,000 mt per year is to be constructed at Saarstahl (an ULCOS participant) in Völklingen, Germany. The new plant is scheduled to start operations in early 2010, and a three-year pilot testing phase is anticipated.
Rio Tinto has been developing its HIsmelt® direct smelting technology since the 1980s and its first commercial HIsmelt® plant is currently undergoing ramp-up in Kwinana, Western Australia.