{"id":81315,"date":"2023-04-05T06:30:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T06:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalroadtechnology.com\/\/?p=81315"},"modified":"2023-06-23T05:37:14","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T05:37:14","slug":"bhp-and-hatch-to-highlight-cleaner-steelmaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalroadtechnology.com\/bhp-and-hatch-to-highlight-cleaner-steelmaking\/","title":{"rendered":"BHP and Hatch to Highlight Cleaner Steelmaking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia’s biggest company BHP and global engineering firm Hatch will partner to design and build an Electric Smelting Furnace (ESF) pilot plant in Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Electric arc furnaces are becoming widely used to reduce the carbon produced in the molten iron and steelmaking process. <\/span>While other ESF projects are well underway around the globe, the joint venture will represent BHP\u2019s first foray into lower carbon smelting technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pilot will assess the feasibility of a full-scale ESF plant.\u00a0<\/span>The facility will rely on iron ore produced by BHP\u2019s Australian mines and replace the coking coal typically found in the steel smelting process with clean electricity and hydrogen.<\/span><\/p>\n

The small-scale demonstration plant will open up collaboration opportunities with steel producers and technology providers to accelerate the scale-up of ESF plant designs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The latest data suggests that more than 80% of emission reductions can be achieved with ESF technology when combined with a Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) step.\u00a0<\/span>Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) \u2013 also called sponge iron \u2013 is produced by directly reducing iron ore (lumps, pellets, or fines) into a high-Fe iron product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cleaning up a Dirty Business<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Steelmaking is a notoriously dirty business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Responsible for up to 9% of total global emissions and 25% of industrial emissions, cleaning up steel is a top priority.<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditionally relying on coking coal to provide the heat to turn raw iron ore molten, new technological advances are making significant gains in decarbonising the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

An ESF system allows for greater flexibility in steelmaking.<\/span><\/p>\n

ESF permits the input of raw materials and enables the use of electric arc furnaces to utilise scrap steel and high-grade DRI.<\/span><\/p>\n

It can also be integrated into a steel plant\u2019s existing downstream production units.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At a glance, here are some of the critical benefits of Electric Smelting and Arc Furnaces for the reduction of CO2:<\/b><\/p>\n