Swedish large-scale steel value chain demonstration of Hydrogen Breakthrough Iron-making Technology

Introduction

The HYBRIT (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology) Demonstration project aims to revolutionize the European iron and steel industry by replacing fossil-based technologies with climate-neutral alternatives. The project plans to replace the coal-based blast furnace technology with direct reduction based on fossil-free hydrogen.

Project Overview

The project will produce approximately 1.2 Mt of crude steel annually, representing 25% of Sweden’s overall production, with the potential to avoid 14.3 Mt CO2eq of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the first ten years of operation. A new, first-of-a-kind hydrogen production facility in Gällivare will be established, using a 500 MW electrolyser capacity powered by fossil-free electricity.

Hydrogen Use

The use of hydrogen enables the conversion of iron ore into sponge iron. The project will enable SSAB to replace two blast furnaces in Oxelösund with an electric arc furnace, using the sponge iron as the feedstock to produce high-quality steel without using coking coal in the reduction step.

Energy Transition

As access to renewable energy continues to increase, the project will lead the way to a full energy transition of the hard-to-abate, iron ore-based steel production across Europe. Iron ore-based steel will remain of strategic importance for the EU as it is the main approach to produce both high-quality and high-strength carbon steel; not all steel can be produced via recycling and melting of scrap steel.

Economic Impact

The project will also support the local economy and help secure jobs that are otherwise at risk if the existing steel plants would have to be discontinued to enable Sweden’s transition to a climate-neutral economy.

Current Steel Production Methods

Currently, crude iron production in coal-fired blast furnaces, followed by steel manufacturing using oxygen converters, represents 95% of the global steel production from iron ore. This route is particularly suitable to produce high-quality and high-strength carbon steel; however, even a state-of-the-art blast furnace process results in the generation of about 1.6 tons of CO2eq per ton of crude steel (global average approximately 2.2 tons of CO2eq per ton crude steel).

Innovation Potential

The HYBRIT technology for iron and steelmaking has the potential to make this traditional way of producing steel obsolete. To this end, the HYBRIT Demonstration project plans to realize the breakthrough of fossil-free steel production by developing a complete, new value chain based on fossil-free hydrogen, resulting in an annual production of 1.2 Mt of crude steel.

Technological and Logistical Innovation

This entails a significant degree of innovation at both technological and logistical levels, including:

1. Plant design
2. Operating approach
3. Construction
4. Quality
5. Reliability
6. Availability
7. Maintenance

Construction of New Facilities

The HYBRIT Demonstration project includes the construction of a greenfield, first-of-a-kind, full-scale plant for the direct reduction of iron ore with 100% hydrogen. This is a major innovation compared to the best available natural gas-based technologies, which can use hydrogen only to a limited extent.

Hydrogen Production

Moreover, the project includes fossil-free hydrogen production via a water electrolysis plant in Gällivare (500 MW), making use of the high shares of wind and hydropower in the electricity production of the region. This constitutes an unprecedented production capacity of fossil-free hydrogen, given that the global production capacity of electrolytic hydrogen amounted to less than 150 MW in 2018.

Steel Production Transition

Steel production with oxygen converters will also be phased out, as the sponge iron will be designed to be melted in an electric arc furnace. This is a technology that is already established for scrap-based melting but must now be adapted to high shares of hydrogen-reduced sponge iron and the production of complex steel qualities.

Conclusion

The HYBRIT Demonstration project will contribute to decarbonizing a hard-to-abate sector, the iron and steel industry, by using hydrogen produced with fossil-free electricity. This is a very much-needed building block in industry to deliver the EU’s climate goals.