Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine has announced that it has developed an industrial-scale process for carbon-neutral steel production without the use of fossil carbon and that it has obtained a patent for the process from the European Patent Office. The patent is valid in all major European steel manufacturing countries and covers the production of sponge iron (direct reduced iron or hot briquetted iron) using green hydrogen and biogas in the direct reduction process.
According to the company’s statement, in addition to carbon neutrality, the biogenic carbon allows carburization of the sponge iron, for efficient melting in the electric arc furnace.
Greentec steel is a plan developed by the company to decarbonize steel production. Using hybrid technology and electric arc furnaces will allow carbon emissions to be reduced by around 30 percent by 2030. The company’s long-term goal is to successively increase the share of green electricity and hydrogen used in the steel production process to achieve the goal of carbon-neutral steel production by 2050.
Voestalpine has already registered more than 3,200 patents for technologies and products, and current research is focused on digitalization and sustainability.
