STK0150 – Decarbonisation of Integrated Steel: What is the future of the Blast Furnace and BOF?

Description

Date: 22 May, 2025, 11.00 UTC.

Estimated Time: 1 hr

Language: English

Summary of the lecture

The push for decarbonization of steel is challenging the future of the integrated steel route. In particular, the future of the Blast Furnace is unclear and whether the level of carbon dioxide from that technology can be reduced to satisfy the reductions. The future of the Oxygen Steelmaking furnace is also under question as it currently requires liquid pig iron feed.

The introduction of Hydrogen DRI combined with Electric Smelting Furnaces to replace the Blast Furnace is currently the subject of significant research and development. There is also a re-assessment of how Oxygen Steelmaking technology will operate with a wider range of feed materials. These issues and other options – Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), and biomass and/or Hydrogen substitution of coal in the Blast Furnace – will be described and evaluated.

What you will learn:

Understand the major challenges facing Blast Furnace and Oxygen Steelmaking technology in decarbonizing steel production.
The limits to replacing coal feed into a Blast Furnace and current areas of research trying to address these limitations.
The current state of development of Electric Smelting Furnace technology and issues that need to be addressed before the technology can be widely applied.
How is Oxygen Steelmaking technology likely to be adapted as the integrated steel route evolves.

Speaker Introduction

Geoff Brooks
Joint Swinburne/CSIRO Professor in Sustainable Mineral Processing

Professor Geoff Brooks has published has published over 300 papers on fundamentals aspects of iron and steelmaking, working closely with leading steel companies around the world. He is currently the Joint Swinburne/CSIRO Professor of Sustainable Mineral Processing. Geoff has been previously an Associate Professor at McMaster University in Canada and a Senior Lecturer at University of Wollongong. Geoff was awarded the prestigious John Elliott Lectureship Award by the AIST in 2013 and EPD Distinguished Lecturer by the TMS in 2018 and the 2023 Bessemer Medal by the IOM3. He is a fellow of the IOM3.