Metso, an internationally active provider of technologies and services for the metals and mining industry, has opened a new pilot plant for the pre-reduction of iron ore using hydrogen in Frankfurt am Main. The plant uses the company’s proprietary Circored process, which is based on a purely hydrogen-based direct reduction technology. The aim is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in steel production.
The pilot plant is part of Metso’s strategy to develop technologies for more climate-friendly metal production. It is designed to test various types of iron ore under realistic conditions and to collect process data for further development of the technology. The plant has a modular design and can be flexibly adapted to different testing requirements.
Circored technology for low-CO2 steel production
The Circored process uses only hydrogen as a reducing agent and completely eliminates the use of fossil fuels. It is designed for processing fine iron ore concentrate, which cannot be used in conventional direct reduction processes. According to Metso, the technology operates at temperatures below 650 °C and is particularly energy-efficient.
According to the company, the Circored technology has already been tested at industrial scale in a demonstration plant in Trinidad and Tobago. The new pilot plant in Frankfurt is now intended to provide further data for scaling and commercialization.
Metso sees the Circored technology as a key component in the decarbonization of the steel industry. “With the new pilot plant, we can further develop our technology under practical conditions and prepare it for industrial use together with our customers,” says Jani Puroranta, President of Metso’s Ferrous & Heat Transfer business unit.
Metso’s role in the hydrogen economy
Metso develops, among other things, solutions for the sustainable processing of raw materials. With the Circored technology, Metso positions itself as a technology provider for hydrogen-based steel production, which is considered a key lever for reducing industrial CO2 emissions.
The pilot plant in Frankfurt is part of a growing network of test and demonstration facilities that companies are using to advance the industrial use of hydrogen in metal processing.
