Thyssenkrupp to invest in DRI capacity

Germany-based steel producer Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe is conducting joint research with Australia-based BlueScope Steel that will result in the installation of up to 2.5 million metric tons of annual direct reduced iron (DRI)-content steel production capacity at its complex in Duisburg, Germany.

Thyssenkrupp says the cooperation with BlueScope will help it replace its blast furnaces with the DRI production and two hot metal-fed smelting units, which will “form a core component of the first step in the transformation toward carbon-neutral steel production.” The project is expected to take four years.

The company says in the two planned smelters, DRI and aggregates will be melted to form hot metal. The planned installation will involve two identical smelters, each electrically operated and being built to process the annual volume of 2.5 million metric tons of DRI.

In Duisburg, Thyssenkrupp says DRI will be transported directly from the plant to the smelters via hot conveyor systems. The melting processes run continuously with the help of multiple high-performance electrodes and, ideally, renewable electricity in closed furnace chambers.

The steel producer says it is working with BlueScope based on its experience in New Zealand developing and using DRI made from iron sand.

Thyssenkrupp says BlueScope’s “enhanced understanding of the processes and optimizing plant management” includes knowledge of electrode management, furnace driving mode, process parameters, refractory material and maintenance.

The company says its effort to attain carbon-neutral steel production will include processing its smelter slag so that byproduct can be used as substitute materials in the cement industry and thus contribute to recycling management.

“The advantages of integrated production, such as the complete recycling of all materials generated in the process and the efficient use of product cycles [not only] ensures environmental sustainability, but also helps boost the profitability and competitiveness of the steel industry,” Thyssenkrupp says.

The company says the design of its planned smelters offers a "flexible raw material basis, since DRI pellets with a higher proportion of gangue and lump ore can also be used in the direct reduction plant, besides which the exhaust gases from the smelters can also be materially or thermally recycled.”

The company does not mention to what extent it plans to use ferrous scrap at its Duisburg facility.