ArcelorMittal and partners launch pilot carbon capture plant in Ghent

The unit will operate for 1-2 years to test the possibility of full-scale deployment of the technology

ArcelorMittal, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and partners have announced that they have started operating a pilot carbon capture unit at a blast furnace at ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Ghent, Belgium. This is stated in the message of MHI.

The pilot plant will operate for 1-2 years to test the feasibility of moving to a full-scale deployment of the technology, which, if successful, will be able to capture a significant portion of emissions at the base plant. The engineers have been working on site since January to assemble and launch the unit.

The pilot carbon capture unit will initially be tested with blast furnace and reheat furnace gas. In addition, it has the potential to capture other important steelmaking gases, such as reformer flue gas from the direct reduction unit.

ArcelorMittal and MHI have been working on the project since 2022, together with partners BHP and Mitsubishi Development (a division of Mitsubishi Corp).

The steelmaker is contributing to the testing in Ghent, while MHI is providing its own carbon capture technology and supporting engineering research. BHP and Mitsubishi Development, as key suppliers of metallurgical raw materials to ArcelorMittal’s European operations, are supporting the funding of the trials.

«The main ambition is to achieve completely carbon-free processes,» said Manfred Van Vlierberge, CEO of ArcelorMittal Belgium.

As GMK Center reported earlier, ArcelorMittal led the Spanish hydrogen production project H2Asturias. The public-private project involves the construction of a pilot hydrogen plant at the company’s plant in Gijón. Its total budget is €6.6 million, of which €4.7 million will be provided by the state. The construction is expected to be completed in three years.