The HYBRIT initiative presented the results of six years of research in a final report to the Swedish Energy Agency, the company announced. The report shows that direct reduced iron produced with the HYBRIT process has superior characteristics compared to iron produced with fossil fuels. HYBRIT has applied for and received several patents based on the successful results, and the project is now continuing in the next phase where the process is to be implemented on an industrial scale.
“I am incredibly proud of everything HYBRIT has achieved since its launch in 2016. Thanks to the successful results of the pilot project, we are well on our way to fundamentally changing the iron and steel industry. At SSAB, we are now investing heavily to convert the entire Nordic production system to fossil-free steel production and have already started delivering fossil-free steel to customers on a smaller scale,” says Martin Pei, Chief Technology Officer at SSAB and Chairman of the Board of Hybrit Development AB.
The HYBRIT initiative is a collaboration between the steel company SSAB, the mining company LKAB and the energy company Vattenfall that was launched to fundamentally change the iron and steel industry. The initiative aims to virtually eliminate carbon dioxide emissions in the steel industry by replacing coal and coke in the production of iron with fossil-free hydrogen and electricity. The transition from coal and blast furnace-based steelmaking to HYBRIT technology and the melting of iron in electric arc furnaces is expected to reduce Sweden’s total carbon dioxide emissions by more than 10 percent.
The project is the first in the world to demonstrate that the fossil-free value chain – from iron ore to steel – works on a semi-industrial scale. So far, more than 5,000 tonnes of hydrogen-reduced iron have been produced at HYBRIT’s pilot plant in Luleå. Customers such as Volvo Group, Epiroc, Peab and many more are already using the fossil-free steel in vehicles, heavy machinery, buildings and consumer products, and interest in the technology is high.
Photo of HYBRIT
Press release https://shorturl.at/Rv7ze
