Dr. Michael Zarl - Steelmakers at the crossroad to Green Steel: „Hydrogen meets future steelmaking”

©EUROMAT 2021, 14 Sep 2021, The climate crisis and the halting of climate change require the industry to detach itself from fossil fuels, both as an energy source and as an input material in processes. The steel industry in particular is called upon in this regard, as it is a significant contributor to the current situation, accounting for ~6-8% of the anthropogenic CO2 equivalent. The presentation will focus in addition to the fundamentals of hydrogen use in industry, on the most important economic points for the future hydrogen-based steel industry. Therefore the production, the future application, and the availability of hydrogen will be presented. Besides, the extent to which the use of hydrogen in metallurgy makes sense now and in the future will be shown. Additionally, the role of Hydrogen Plasma Smelting Reduction (HPSR) and Hydrogen Fineore Reduction (HYFOR) for the future steel industry are explained, and a concept for the industrial processes is presented. All of this should conclude, under which conditions the metallurgy of the future can largely disband from carbon as a reducing agent.