China’s Ansteel completes pilot project for hydrogen-based DRI production

Chinese metallurgical company Anshan Iron & Steel Group (Ansteel, Angang) has completed the full cycle of commissioning a pilot line for the production of green iron based on renewable energy and green hydrogen at its plant in Bayuquan, Kallanish reports.

The pilot line has an annual capacity of 10,000 tons and successfully produced direct reduced iron (DRI) with a metallization rate of 95% at the end of August.

Ansteel said the process reconstructs the DRI production chain from green hydrogen production to its application, avoiding carbon-intensive coking and sintering stages, and represents a transition from carbon to hydrogen metallurgy.

The steelmaker said the project’s products have low impurity levels, suitable for applications such as electric vehicle steel. Ansteel also plans to promote an industrial-scale demonstration project with a capacity of 500,000 tons per year, building a complete green steel supply chain from hydrogen production to end use.

Recall that earlier this year, Tosyali SULB, a joint venture between Turkish steel producer Tosyali Holding and Libya’s United Steel Company for Ferrous Metallurgy (SULB), announced that it had placed an order with Midrex direct reduction iron production technology developer and Germany’s SMS Group for the first phase of the DRI complex construction plan in the country. This was reported by SteelOrbis.