Rio Tinto, Partners Exploring Hydrogen-Based HBI in Canada

They will now conduct a feasibility study about an “industrial-scale” low-carbon iron production plant, according to a Feb. 16 press release.

Canada was selected in part because Rio Tinto already has a significant presence in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, the companies said.

The feasibility study will be completed in late 2021, and the parties will then decide whether to build a hydrogen-based direct reduction plant.

The big idea: To source high-grade iron ore from Iron Ore Company of Canada, in which Rio Tinto holds a majority stake, to produce HBI with “green hydrogen” made using Canada’s abundant hydro-electric power, and to charge that feedstock into electric arc furnaces (EAFs)–a process that would “reduce significantly the carbon emissions associated with steelmaking,” the companies said.

“We are absolutely committed to being part of the solution on climate change and to support our customers and other stakeholders in the steel value chain as the industry transitions to a low-carbon future,” IOC President and CEO Clayton Walker said.

Martin Baues, on the board of directors for technology at SHS Stahl Holding Saar, agreed and noted the critical role hydrogen could play in steelmaking. “Dillinger and Saarstahl adopted a future-focused strategy with the motto ‘proactive, carbon-free and efficient,’” he said.

SHS Stahl Holding Saar is the holding and management company for the steel industry in Germany’s Saarland. It also takes on “selected tasks” for German steelmakers Saarstahl and Dillinger Hütte, according to its website.

The project is the latest in a list targeting HBI, direct-reduced iron (DRI) or pig iron for the EAF steelmaking sector.

U.S. steelmaker and iron ore miner Cleveland-Cliffs is building an HBI plant in Toledo, Ohio. Canada’s Stelco has commissioned a pig iron caster at its Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario. And the trend is global.

Case in point: Swedish steelmaker SSAB–working with iron ore miner LKAB and energy producer Vattenfall–are already attempting to adopt hydrogen-fueled DRI in EAFs on an industrial scale.

Such technologies significantly reduce the carbon emitted by traditional integrated steelmaking and associated coking coal operations.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com