POSCO Steel Plants to Shift to New Hydrogen Reduction Technology

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Leading Korean steelmaker POSCO announced that it has decided to employ the state-of-the-art hydrogen reduction steel technology at its steel plants, part of its green steel plans over the next five decades.

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According to company press release, it plans to commercialize its HyREX technology by 2030. Also, the Pohang and Gwangyang steel plants will be totally based on the new steelmaking technology by 2050. The two plants together will have six hydrogen reduction steelmaking systems. The existing blast furnace production method at Pohang works will be replaced with the HyREX 1 method at Pohang Works in 2033.

POSCO’s commercial hydrogen reduction steel technology is based on HyREX hydrogen reduction steelmaking method, which itself is based on the company’s FINEX fluidized reactor, which uses cheap, powdery iron ore and bituminous coal to produce steel without any preliminary treatment of raw materials. FINEX was first commercialised in 2007.

As part of acceleration commercialization of hydrogen reduction steelmaking, POSCO had signed an agreement with Primetals to build a HyREX test facility, the construction of which is expected to complete by 2026. The commercialization of the technology will be completed by 2030.