HBIS says successfully produced direct reduced iron DRI products

BEIJING Chinese steelmaker HBIS Group Co Ltd has successfully and continuously produced direct reduced iron DRI products from its 120-tonne hydrogen metallurgy project, the company said in a statement on its WeChat account.

With a metallization ratio currently at 94 percent, these DRI products could replace high-quality steel scrap, feedstock of electric arc furnace-based steelmaking, a landmark for the transition to hydrogen metallurgy from the traditional carbon metallurgy in the steel industry, the North China-based steel producer said.

Compared with the same scale of traditional blast furnace-based steelmaking, the phase-one hydrogen metallurgy project will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide CO 2 by 800,000 tonnes a year, according to HBIS.

The company also said it will collect around 125 kgs of CO2 when producing a tonne of DRI.

Unlike globally common natural gas-based DRI production, HBIS said it pioneered coke oven gas, which contains between 55 per cent and 65 per cent of hydrogen.

The use of hydrogen is crucial in achieving decarbonization and producing green steel.

HBIS and global miner BHP Group Ltd agreed last March to trial carbon capture, utilisation and storage technologies CCUS technologies.

The steel industry set a goal to start cutting carbon emissions after 2022, reduce carbon emissions by more than 10 percent from the peak by 2025, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.