Germany-based steelmaker Thyssenkrupp Steel has announced an investment of €2.4 million to expand its laboratory infrastructure at its Duisburg-Schwelgern site, aiming to support the evaluation of iron ores for future low-carbon steel production. The project forms part of Thyssenkrupp Steel’s ongoing efforts to transition toward low-emission steel production, with a focus on improving raw material quality control and process optimization.
The new facility is part of the company’s broader transition toward climate-neutral steelmaking, focusing on raw material testing for hydrogen-based direct reduction (DR) processes. The facility will assess key properties such as reduction behavior, resistance to breakdown, and the tendency to stick or agglomerate during processing.
Supporting hydrogen-based steelmaking
Thyssenkrupp Steel stated that the new laboratory will simulate realistic hydrogen-based operating conditions, allowing for more accurate evaluation of future feedstocks. Testing conditions will reflect increasing hydrogen content over time, aligning with the company’s planned transition toward hydrogen-based steel production.
Two test furnaces will also allow steam injection experiments, helping to better understand reduction rates and process performance.
The company highlighted that its future production route will combine direct reduction and electric smelting, enabling greater flexibility in raw material use. This approach will allow the use of both DR-grade pellets and conventional blast furnace pellets, increasing sourcing options while maintaining process efficiency.
