Quebec mill makes steel with green hydrogen

LONDON • ArcelorMittal SA has successfully tested the use of green hydrogen to reduce iron ore at one of its industrial sites in Canada, in what the world's second-largest steelmaker claims is a milestone for the industry.

Engineers at the firm's operations at Contrecoeur in Quebec replaced about seven per cent of the natural gas typically used to reduce iron ore with hydrogen made from renewable electricity during the 24-hour test earlier this month. Arcelor partnered with a local hydrogen producer that uses electricity from the Quebec grid, which is powered by renewable hydroelectricity, to source the gas.

“For us this is a milestone ... The first industrial test done in an industrial setting,” said François Perras, CEO of Arcelor Canada's long products business.

The initiative marks another step in the global effort to improve the green credentials of an industry that accounts for seven to nine per cent of all direct fossil fuel emissions. Some of the world's biggest steelmakers, including Arcelor, ThyssenKrupp AG and China's Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd., have launched initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint.

Steelmaking is highly carbon intensive. Traditional blast furnaces use coking coal to melt iron ore and remove oxygen. A byproduct of this is carbon dioxide, while large amounts of energy are also required to heat the furnaces above 1,000 C.

An alternative is direct-reduced iron, whereby natural gas is used to remove oxygen from iron ore pellets. The solid intermediate, called sponge iron, is then melted in an electric arc furnace. The process currently requires natural gas but industry experts believe that once the use of hydrogen made from renewable sources is scaled up, it could mark a revolution in steelmaking. Sweden's SSAB is at the forefront of such efforts, producing fossil-free steel using hydrogen gas last year.

Perras said the company would need to follow up with further tests but cautioned that numerous challenges still existed, not least the large volumes of hydrogen that would be needed. Arcelor used 92,000 cubic metres of green hydrogen over the test period.