Metso opens DRI smelting furnace pilot facility

Finland-based Metso Corp. has opened a direct-reduced iron (DRI) smelting furnace pilot facility in Pori, Finland. The company says the new facility will allow customer-specific pilot-scale testing to demonstrate the applicability and results of industrial-scale DRI smelting with Metso’s Outotec DRI smelting furnace technology.

Metso says the new high-capacity DRI smelting furnace, launched in 2022, is one of its “breakthrough” technologies and a solution to support decarbonizing the iron and steel industry.

Combined with a direct-reduction plant, Metso says its DRI smelting furnace substitutes traditional blast furnaces in the production of hot metal, making it an optimal solution for primary steel producers aiming for a significant reduction in their CO₂ emissions with minimal changes to the rest of the steel plant.

The company notes that the new furnace can be integrated with its hydrogen-based Circored process or other direct reduction processes.

“This new pilot facility is yet another example of Metso’s cutting-edge solutions that support the minerals and metals processing industry in the quest to implement new, sustainable technologies,” says Jyrki Makkonen, vice president of smelting at Metso. “Metso’s DRI smelting furnace substitutes traditional blast furnaces used in iron and steelmaking and enables a significant reduction of emissions when combined with a direct reduction plant.”

Mari Lindgren, Metso director of smelting research and development, says the investment into the DRI smelting furnace pilot facility will support the rapidly increasing customer demand for reliable testing when planning a transition to emissions-free smelting.

“With the pilot facility, we can reliably test various types of customer materials for industrial scale-up,” Lindgren says. “The construction of the pilot plant and equipment installations have gone extremely rapidly and smoothly. Hot commissioning of the equipment will take place soon, and then we will be ready for customer testing.”