ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY HEADLINESEnvironment and Sustainability
Corus Pilot Plant to Test CO2-Reducing Technology
Dec. 1, 2009 Corus will test a new iron-making technology, called “Hisarna,” in a pilot plant project at its IJmuiden steelworks in the Netherlands. According to Corus, the technology has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions in blast furnace steelmaking by more than 50%.
The €20 million project is one of the initiatives being conducted under the auspices of ULCOS (Ultra-Low CO2 Steelmaking), a consortium of European steelmakers that has developed a program to reduce the steel industry’s carbon footprint.
The Dutch Cabinet of Ministers approved on November 27 a €5 million contribution to the project. The rest of the investment will come from European Commission research funds and from ULCOS consortium partners.
The 60,000 tonnes per annum Hisarna pilot plant will harness a new process that makes possible the production of liquid iron from virgin raw materials in a single step, eliminating two steps in blast furnace iron making. According to Corus, Hisarna could result in a 20% improvement in steel industry energy efficiency. The pilot plant is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2010, followed by an intensive test program to be supported by all ULCOS partners.
Two technologies have been combined to develop Hisarna. The melting of fine ores in a cyclone has been developed by Corus in IJmuiden. This cyclone will be directly linked to the final process step where the hot metal is formed, which is the HIsmelt process.
Corus is Europe’s second largest steel producer. With main steelmaking operations primarily in the UK and the Netherlands, the company supplies steel and related services to the construction, automotive, packaging, mechanical engineering, and other markets worldwide. Corus is a subsidiary of Tata Steel, one of the world’s top 10 steel producers. The combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 80,000 employees across four continents.