LKAB selects Energiron technology for DRI plant in Sweden

The international mining group LKAB has selected Energiron technology, jointly developed by Tenova and Danieli, for the basic design of a hydrogen direct reduced iron (DRI) plant in Jellivar, Sweden. This is stated in the message of Tenova.

According to Tenova, this contract marks an important milestone in the application of the technology after its successful use at a pilot plant in Luleå, Sweden, operated by HYBRIT, a joint venture between LKAB, steelmaker SSAB and energy company Vattenfall.

The demonstration plant in Jellivar, with a production capacity of 1.35 million tpa of fossil fuel-free DRI, will combine HYBRIT and Energiron technologies, leveraging their collective expertise in direct reduced iron production. The results obtained at the HYBRIT pilot plant demonstrated the superiority of DRI produced using pure hydrogen as a reducing agent over fossil fuel-based alternatives such as gas.

The new project features an electric heater, a revolutionary innovation in industrial DRI installations. It will heat the process gas using green electricity. The heater completely eliminates carbon emissions, which significantly increases overall energy efficiency. The direct reduced iron produced in Jellivare will be used as a raw material for SSAB’s environmentally friendly fossil-free steel production.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Danieli will supply a hybrid DRI unit for Ternium’s plant in Mexico. The new Energiron DRI unit, which will be installed at the plant in Pesquería, Nuevo Leon, will provide high-quality direct reduced iron to the company’s new steelmaking facilities.