The core of the project is an alternative to electrolysis: The Finnish cleantech provider Hycamite splits methane into hydrogen and solid carbon – without CO2 emissions. According to the company, the process requires only about one-eighth of the energy of electrolysis. A large part of this can be covered by the waste heat from the steel plant, says Laura Rahikka, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Hycamite.
For the steel industry, the approach is interesting for two reasons. First, it provides hydrogen for the reduction of iron ore. Second, solid carbon is produced, which is still needed in electric steel production – for example, for slag foaming in the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and for alloys. Hycamite intends to feed both products directly into the steel process.
The Future Sustainable Electric Steel Mill (FutSteel) project aims to develop the combination of Electric Arc Furnace and modernized hot rolling processes. It is also being investigated whether the new processes are suitable for special steels. Hycamite was already involved in the predecessor project Towards Fossil-Free Steel Phase 2 (FFS2).
Research partners are the University of Oulu, the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), and Åbo Akademi University. From the industry, SSAB, Coolbrook, Ovako, Hycamite, Otanmäki Mine, Strategic Resources, Titanor, Carbo Culture, Convion, and Nordkalk are participating.
