Fossil free pellet and sponge iron. Photo: LKAB, Vattenfall, SSAB

The switch from coal and blast furnace-based steel production to HYBRIT technology and iron melting in electric arc furnaces is expected to reduce total CO2 emissions in Sweden and Finland by more than 10% and 7% respectively.

To date, more than 5 000 tonnes of hydrogen-reduced iron have been produced at the HYBRIT pilot plant in Luleå. Customers such as Volvo Group, Epiroc, Peab and many others are already using fossil-free steel in vehicles, heavy machinery, buildings and consumer products, and there is great interest in the technology.

The research results now presented in a final report to the Swedish Energy Agency span from 2018 to 2024, with a focus on scaling up technical solutions from the laboratory to industrial scale, developing an industrial process practice and achieving an integrated value chain for hydrogen-based iron and steelmaking. 

HYBRIT has been granted several patents and the project is now moving to the next stage, where the process will be implemented on an industrial scale.

Examples of the results of the pilot phase include: Development of a new hydrogen-based technology for efficient fossil-free iron and steel production with carbon dioxide emissions of 0.0 tonnes per tonne of steel, Development of a new fossil-free iron product (sponge iron) with significantly better properties than iron, reduced by fossil gases such as natural gas, the successful long-term operation of alkaline electrolysers to produce and store hydrogen, and the development of an efficient process for melting fossil-free mushroom iron into crude steel in an electric arc furnace.

"The focus of technical development has been on building up the know-how and creating the technical conditions for a fossil-free process in full-scale production. We are very pleased that as a team we have been able to deliver successful results that have met or exceeded the set project objectives. The knowledge and experience we have gained during the project will now be focused on further developing the process primarily to support the owners' industrialisation projects," says Ulf Spolander, CEO of Hybrit Development AB.

Hybrit Development AB will continue its research and development work with the aim of supporting the industrialisation of the technology together with the owner companies, including the delivery of solutions to LKAB's planned demonstration plant in Gällivare. The pilot project for fossil-free hydrogen storage at Svartöberget in Luleå, Sweden, will continue until 2026.

The project has received funding from the EU Innovation Fund and Industriklivet. It is also part of the European IPCEI project Hy2Use (Hydrogen), which involves a total of 35 projects from 12 countries and aims to support the rapid transition and increase the competitiveness of European industry.

Download a summary of the HYBRIT pilot phase report. (linkki: https://www.hybritdevelopment.se/   )