Germany-based steelmaker Thyssenkrupp Steel has announced that it has signed an agreement with German application-oriented research and development institute Grenzebach Maschinenbau for the construction of a direct reduced iron melter test facility, including the associated auxiliary units, at its Duisburg site as part of its steel decarbonization strategy. The demonstration-scale melter, which will have a capacity of 100 kg/h of directly reduced iron, will be adapted to the DRI test facility.
The project is worth around €7.5 million, with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia covering 65 percent and Thyssenkrupp Steel 35 percent of the total cost of the project.
The project aims to show how sponge iron from direct reduction plants can be liquefied in an melter and then processed further into hot metal. The first trial campaigns to test different feedstocks, such as direct reduced iron, alternative carbonaceous products and recycled materials, are scheduled to start at the beginning of 2026.
In addition, Thyssenkrupp Steel has entered into an agreement with German plant builder TS Elino for the construction of a direct reduction test facility, which will have an annual production capacity of 2.5 million mt of direct reduced iron, as SteelOrbis previously reported.