Kobe Steel Launched New Technology for Producing Cleaner Steel

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Kobe, Japan-headquartered Kobe Steel Limited has successfully demonstrated a new technology that delivers significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from blast furnace steelmaking operations. The promising technology reduces emissions by one-fifth, compared to the conventional operations.

The new method combines the company’s blast furnace operation technology with the direct reduction iron (DRI) technology of Midrex Technologies Inc. The DRI technology uses natural gas to reduce the use of iron ore as raw material in steelmaking, thus offering lower emissions than those by blast furnaces. A large amount of DRI in briquette form from the Midrex process is charged into the blast furnace. However, the low carbon steel comes at an additional making cost of $0.09 per kilogram.

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The company has successfully completed demonstration test for a period of one month at a blast furnace of the Kakogawa Works in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan during the month of October last year. The tests resulted in significant reduction of reducing agent rate (RAR) from 518 kg per tonne to 415 kg per tonne. The test also delivered lowest coke level rate of 239 kg per tonne.