Lünen. Intensive research work is currently being carried out to develop cutting-edge steel production systems that have a reduced impact on the climate. With the VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut GmbH acting as their scientific lead, steel manufacturers thyssenkrupp Steel and Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann have joined forces with the recycling firm TSR Recycling GmbH & Co. KG to work on just such a solution that can be implemented over the short term.
The REDERS project (REDERS is a German acronym for ‘reducing CO2 emissions by increasing the rate of recycled materials in steel production’) aims to both further intensify iron and steel recycling in Duisburg as well as to reduce CO2 emissions at thyssenkrupp Steel and Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann. Confirmation has now been received that this project is to be supported with a grant. Amounting to 6.4 million euros, this funding has been awarded as part of the ‘Innovation’ category of the ‘Programme for the efficient use of energy, renewable energies and the saving of energy – progres.nrw’. This grant, which is being funded by the German state of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) is closely connected to the state’s think tank, IN4climate.NRW.
Minister Pinkwart commented: “Transforming today’s industry into the future-proof, more climate-friendly industry of tomorrow is a task that requires effort from everyone. Thanks to our IN4climate.NRW initiative, we have been collaborating with many innovative industrial businesses in our state and have been supporting them with targeted measures. Growing efficiency levels has a direct impact on our climate, especially when it involves our local energy-intensive industries. I am convinced that this project will be a game changer for the whole of the sector.”
New processing technology to be set up at the recycling centre in Duisburg
TSR’s innovative production process will transform standard input material – i.e. consumer scrap – into a novel, certified product that can be used in blast furnaces and enable the share of recycled material used in the converter process to be increased. According to the project calculations, increasing the proportion of recycled material in steel production can therefore reduce CO₂ emissions
Bernd Fleschenberg, COO of TSR, explained: “The goal of this joint project is to produce a high quality, certified product from standard input material. This new product will enable us to sustainably cover a amount of the European industry’s future demand for raw materials.”
New system should substantially reduce CO2 emissions
Using this recycled product will lead to a reduced amount of blast-furnace coal and coke consumed in the blast furnace and converter, thereby cutting CO₂ emissions. This project is, therefore, supporting thyssenkrupp Steel and HKM as they transition towards the path of achieving net zero steel production. Dr Arnd Köfler, CTO thyssenkrupp Steel, said: “We have to make rapid progress as far as cutting CO2 emissions are concerned. Using high quality, scrap-based recycled material in our furnaces is an innovative step. We are really pleased to see that this initiative is now being supported by the Ministry for Economic Affairs.”
Plans are for this new recycled material to be used in the blast furnaces from autumn 2022 onwards.