6/15/2011 - Tata Steel
At the forefront of low carbon steelmaking
stahl und eisen - New technology and process innovations are putting Tata Steel at the forefront of low CO2 steelmaking. What’s next? Although we are constantly trying to make reductions, there is a limit to how much we will be able to reduce CO2 emissions through the traditional ways of making iron and steel. So the race is on to find the breakthrough technology of the future. We are a leading member of the ULCOS (Ultra-Low CO2 Steelmaking) project. Under ULCOS, 48 companies from all over Europe have been working together since 2004. The big aim is to halve CO2 emissions per tonne of steel by 2050. Several exciting new technologies have been identified, among them HIsarna, a direct smelting technique that is now being pioneered at IJmuiden. The HIsarna process saves energy by eliminating the sintering and coke production steps within ironmaking and has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions from iron production by 20 %.
Over the past year, a 60ktpa HIsarna pilot plant has been built at IJmuiden. By April, it was ready for commissioning and now its first test phase is well underway. Tata Steel RD&T, led by Koen Meijer, is heading up this long-term project. If successful, full-scale production could begin around 2020.
Carbon capture and storage: Another technique being explored is to remove and store carbon safely. Tata Steel is a member of the Carbon Capture and Storage Partnership in the UK which is looking into how to capture and store large volumes of CO2 deep inside disused oil and gas fields in the North Sea and we are also involved in a similar project in the Netherlands.
Our own research and development: Our £5 million Thermotec high-temperature research centre in Teesside is being established to carry out development work into new sources of fuel and energy, as well as recovery of raw materials and reducing waste.
Blooming marvellous: An exciting new technology being pioneered at Scunthorpe is using algae. The technique involves passing process off-gas through a reactor containing algae, which can feed on and take out some of the CO2. Even greener - the algae can then be used in the production of biofuels and animal feed.
Source: Tata Steel, London