The use of hydrogen in the steel industry

The major source of energy in the steel-making process is coal/coke and in use the furnaces emit a substantial quantity of CO 2 . Replacing part of this carbon source with hydrogen is examined here with the hydrogen being made from a variety of sources. For a 2 million Te/yr crude steel production site it is estimated that the carbon dioxide emissions from blast furnaces will fall from 4.0 to 2.8 million Te/yr if hydrogen is employed. Coal/oil combinations in support of the hydrogen will improve matters further. In the UK, it is proposed currently to close the blast furnaces as a steel making route and use electric arc furnaces only. A variety of steel scraps are proposed for recycling. This will be part of the country’s decarbonisation activities. In this event, the UK will produce approx. 0.5 million Te/yr CO 2 e for a 2 million Te/yr base, but the attending fiscal costs are high. This paper presents the basic parameters together with the necessary hydrogen needed as a partial fuel substitute to make steel, thus helping to identify potential means for carbon oxides elimination. Several energy metrics are introduced including those arising from using renewables to make the hydrogen. Later further programmes are presented using arc furnaces totally with renewables. Some problems in the use of total renewables are stated.