SKR and voestalpine Produce Bearing Using Hydrogen DRI-Based Steel

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  Swedish steel bearing manufacturer SKF and voestalpine Wire Technology have produced a prototype bearing using hydrogen direct reduced iron (DRI)-based steel.

Having explored the potential of hydrogen DRI in bearing production since 2022, the spherical roller bearing was handed over to voestalpine Wire Technology at SKF’s factory in Steyr, Austria.

Used in applications and industries such as marine, mining and construction, the bearings use steel as a primary material in their production.

“Steel is a critical raw material in bearings, and to achieve the change and speed needed in decarbonising bearing production, the whole industry must come together,” Annika Ölme, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice-President, Technology Development at SKF said.

The DRI process typically uses feedstocks such as natural gas or coal to react with oxygen in iron ore to produce reduced iron for processing into steel.

By using green hydrogen as a feedstock in DRI, steel production carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be reduced by up to 95%, compared to traditional blast furnace steelmaking.

 Ölme said the technology was “fundamental” for the steel industry to be able to decarbonise “with confidence.”

voestalpine Group – voestalpine Wire Technology’s parent company – has been exploring hydrogen’s use in industrial processes more broadly.

Having started operating a 6MW green hydrogen pilot facility in Austria in 2019, the company hosted a successful test of hydrogen-based fine-ore (HYFOR) reduction for Primetals Technologies at its Donawitz site in 2021.

 Courtesy: www.h2-view.com