Climate neutrality for the steel industry based on new hydrogen-intensive technologies and processes.
The future of society depends on how we care for the environment, and to do so, industries need to evolve and be able to deal with issues such as pollution and climate change.
In this context, the decarbonization of the steel sector represents a major challenge based on the need to invest in innovative technologies, which also means carrying out a technological transformation to achieve zero emissions by 2050.
The development of green hydrogen, a fuel produced from clean energy sources, is already a reality. This technology is considered key to achieving sustainable decarbonization and has already become a strategic investment at European level.
This project is being implemented thanks to a partnership of companies, capable of responding to the entire hydrogen value chain in the iron and steel sector.
The H-ACERO project will be developed over the next 3 years with a budget of 8,856,545.54 €, financed by the Basque Government within the framework of the HAZITEK aid programme for the support of Industrial Research Projects and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Aim of the project
The strategic goal of the project is to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through the decarbonization of the steel sector by using green hydrogen as an alternative energy source at various stages of the steel production process. The consortium will develop advanced technologies and new materials, compatible with the steel industry's production processes, with the aim of achieving sustainable steel production based on hydrogen (H2).
To this end, four areas of action are proposed, one focused on the development of advanced equipment, another centered on consumables such as refractory, one related to the fuel source itself (H2) and, lastly, an area related to the production process and its safety, with the aim of acquiring the necessary technological knowledge to be able to apply hydrogen (H2) in the iron and steel sector.
As a final phase, the objective is to build prototype demonstrators on a reduced scale (1/5 to 1/10) to validate the different designs developed throughout the project.
Conclusions
The H-ACERO project has a consortium whose overall result will be the knowledge of the application of hydrogen to technologies and processes in the iron and steel sector, results that in the future will be reflected at an industrial level in new products and processes with a lower carbon footprint.