Project Description
HyWiS – Economic evaluation of the use of hydrogen in steel production
Responsible
Project Partners
- Cooperation partners: Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH - Controlling
Initial Situation and Problem
In the context of Salzgitter AG's Salzgitter Low CO2 Steel Making (SALCOS) strategy, the aim is to reduce CO2 emissions at Group level. As iron and steel production in the integrated steelworks of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH is technologically strongly linked to the generation of CO2 as a by-product due to the coke-based metallurgy, there are also numerous starting points for economic considerations of current and future processes in the overall context of the SALCOS strategy. The focus here is on the successive conversion of the blast furnace-converter process route used to date to an electric steel route with upstream direct reduction. Provided the hydrogen used is generated in a climate-neutral way, the emissions associated with steel production can be significantly reduced. In addition to the positive ecological consequences, there is also economic potential for steel production players, which can be leveraged as part of strategic planning. While the basic concept of the process route is already known, its design in terms of technological and economic aspects is still pending.
Objective and Approach
The objective of the project is to develop a planning tool for the economic evaluation of the electric steel route with direct reduction. The planning tool enables the design of the technological transformation process in steel production and thus provides the project partners with decision-making support for the concretization of future process routes in steel production.