Green H2 and circular bio-coal from biowaste for cost-competitive sustainable Steel

Project Information

H2STEEL

Grant agreement ID: 101070741

DOI

10.3030/101070741

Project closed

EC signature date 1 June 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 31 March 2026

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 2 368 910,00

EU contribution

€ 2 368 910,00

Coordinated by

POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - H2STEEL (Green H2 and circular bio-coal from biowaste for cost-competitive sustainable Steel)

Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2023-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The H2STEEL innovative solution aims at supporting the green transition of one of the most hard-to-abate industrial sector: metallurgy. Green steel is a priority for Europe, and beyond. Furthermore, the iron and steel industry is responsible for about 4 % of anthropogenic CO2 emissions in Europe, and 9 % worldwide, due to the massive use of coal.
While facing challenges in global competition, the EU steel sector needs to reduce the greenhouse gases emissions in its manufacturing processes to be compliant with the EU climate policy, in particular with Fit-For-55 package. Therefore, new low-CO2 technologies must be developed for decarbonizing the sector within the next 5-10 years, requiring large investments in research.
Traditionally, iron is recovered from ferrous metals in blast furnaces by removing the content of oxygen. This traditional plant generates cast iron used to produce steel, through a process in which the combustion of coal, the smelting of minerals and the reduction of metal oxides take place simultaneously. As the coal reacts with oxygen, producing carbon dioxide, the result is a huge production ratio of about 2 tons of CO2 for every ton of steel produced, representing a great environmental burden.
The replacement of coal with natural gas could favourite the reduction of CO2 emission, however not to an extent suitable for the objectives of the European Green Deal.
Instead, the use of green hydrogen generated with renewable energy would facilitate the decarbonization of the steel-making industry since its use is not related to CO2 production, contrary to all the fossil-derived fuels.
However, the production of green hydrogen necessarily implies the development of routes economically feasible, at a cost comparable with the traditional -and fossil- processes.
Therefore, the main H2STEEL value proposition is represented by a disruptive hydrogen production via biomethane catalytic cracking through a new waste-derived catalyst, opening a new route for cost competitive green H2 in Europe. The innovative process will be validated in a specifically designed and built reactor. This disruptive H2STELL process allows not only a carbon neutral route, but even negative, because the hydrogen production is accompanied by the formation of a carbonaceous solid, sequestering the CO2 in a solid form, called biocoal. Afterwards, carbon can be permanently sequestered in steel during the steel making process.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

H2STEEL combines the conversion of biowaste and bioCH4 through innovative catalytic methane pyrolysis, to fully convert biowastes into green hydrogen and biocoal, addressed to the steel making companies. At the same time, the H2STEEL value chain enables the recovery of critical (inorganic) raw materials from the biochars produced, which can be used as low-cost biomethane pyrolysis catalysts.
The core of the project is the development of the biomethane pyrolysis process carried out in a brand new, ad hoc designed, and proof-of-concept (POC) reactor.
As part of the H2STEEL project, the final design of the POC is almost complete after the first year, so that the block flow diagram of all the different sections is available, and the procurement of equipment, sensors and control units as well as the on-site testing of individual units already supplied are underway. Due to the use of biowaste, the identification of suitable streams has been carried out as well, and four typologies of biobased streams have been selected based on the annual production volumes, the chemical composition, the disposal cost, the availability, and inorganic compound content.
In addition, during the first year of the project, based on the results obtained from the characterization of the waste streams, biochars were produced and upgraded at lab scale, for the identification of the optimal process parameters.
In parallel, following an intensive literature search that resulted in a peer-reviewed publication, preliminary laboratory-scale methane pyrolysis tests were carried out to determine the best operating conditions (process temperature, reagent flow, space velocity…) for the conversion of biomethane into hydrogen. Laboratory kinetic tests were also carried out to obtain complementary information useful for predicting POC performances under different conditions.
Finally, regarding the assessment of production scenarios and their comparative environmental impacts, the selection of biowaste supply chains and logistical routes is currently ongoing. Therefore, preliminary energy and mass balances are available, enabling the energy modelling of the proposed H2STEEL system.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The technical achievement obtained during the first year of the project are mainly related to the optimization of the processes involved in the H2STEEL concept and the design of the POC.
The experimental laboratory results done so far meet project expectations and, although still partially achieved, together with the patent landscape almost concluded, confirm the possibility of applying for a patent, followed by the creation of a spin-off.

Validation and parametric optimization of the new catalytic biomethane pyrolysis process in ad-hoc POC unit will be performed at the final stage of the project, for assessing the continuous performances. Once obtained the technical and performances validation of the H2STEEL concept, the proposed system will be assessed considering the whole proposed value chain.