Project description
Disruptive approach to reduce CO2 emissions from steel production
Drastic reduction of CO2 is the biggest challenge of our time. Steel is mostly produced from oxide minerals in blast furnaces, followed by partial removal of carbon by oxygen in converters. The process produces 2.1 tons of CO2 per ton of steel, and thus, steelmaking is perhaps the largest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet. The EU funded ROC project aims to introduce fundamental scientific changes in the process for the drastic cut of CO2 emissions by at least 80 %. The project’s disruptive approach will involve the replacement of carbon with hydrogen as a reductant and merging the multiple process stages into a single oxide melting plus hydrogen-based reduction process using green electricity. In other words, an electric arc furnace operated with hydrogen containing a reducing plasma.
Objective
With 1.8 billion tons produced per year, steel is the dominant metallic material. It can be recycled by melting scrap, a resource satisfying at most 30% of the demand. Hence, fresh steel must be produced in huge amounts, from oxide minerals reduced by CO in blast furnaces, followed by partial removal of C by O2 in converters. These two processes create ~2.1 tons CO2 per ton of steel, qualifying steelmaking as the largest single greenhouse gas emitter on earth (~8% of all emissions). ROC tackles the fundamental science needed to drastically cut these staggering CO2 numbers, by up to 80% and beyond. This is the biggest single leverage we have to fight global warming. The disruptive approach of ROC lies in (1) using H instead of C as reductant and (2) merging the multiple steps explained above into a single melting plus reduction process which can run with green electricity, namely, an electric arc furnace operated with a H-containing reducing plasma. ROC’s approach is feasible as it can be upscaled by modifying existing furnace technology. The motivation is that solid Fe from other synthesis methods such as direct reduction must anyway be melted after reduction. Project ROC also addresses hybrid processes, where partially reduced oxides from direct reduction are fed into a reducing plasma, for high energy and H2 efficiency at fast kinetics and high metallization. Project ROC explores the physical and chemical foundations of these processes, down to atomistic scales, with a blend of instrumented laboratory furnaces, characterization, simulation and machine learning. Specific topics are the elementary nucleation, transport and transformation mechanisms, mixed scrap and ore charging, influence of contaminants from feedstock, plasma parameters, C-free electrodes, slag metallurgy and the role of nanostructure. Drastic reduction of CO2 is the biggest challenge of our time and project ROC explores how steelmaking can contribute to it by cutting its emissions by 80% and more.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
40237 DUSSELDORF
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.