CCUS (smelting)

A new oxygen-rich smelting reduction technology for producing steel is being developed, consisting of a reactor in which iron ore is injected at the top and powder coal at the bottom. The powder coal reacts with the molten ore to produce liquid iron that is the base material to produce high quality steel. The use of pure oxygen makes the new smelting reduction process well suited to integrating CCUS, as it generates a high concentration of CO2 offgas and emissions are delivered in a single stack compared to a standard steel mill plant with multiple emission points. CCUS could also be applied to existing smelting reduction technologies, although the offgases of the process still contain considerable energy content along with CO2, so capture would also likely be needed on a power plant using those offgases, in order to realise near-zero emission levels.