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MONTREAL (Scrap Monster): Rio Tinto and Chinese steelmaker Shougang Group have commissioned an industrial-scale carbon capture trial facility designed to remove carbon dioxide from blast-furnace gas produced during ironmaking.
The facility is located at Shougang's Jingtang steelmaking base in China and can process up to 3,000 cubic metres of blast-furnace gas per hour.
At full design capacity, the system can capture up to 10,000 metric tonnes of CO2 annually.
SCRAPMONSTER EDGE
The Jingtang unit represents a major scale-up from the companies' earlier carbon-capture work. Rio Tinto previously supported a 100 m³/hour pilot commissioned in 2024. The new facility can process 3,000 m³/hour — 30 times the gas-processing capacity — moving the partnership from small-scale testing toward industrial demonstration.
Carbon Capture Targets Blast-Furnace Gas
The system is designed specifically to capture carbon dioxide contained in blast-furnace off-gas generated during conventional ironmaking.
Blast furnaces remain an important part of global steel production, particularly in China, meaning technologies capable of reducing emissions from existing facilities could complement longer-term shifts toward lower-carbon steelmaking routes.
The Jingtang facility has been integrated into Shougang's ironmaking production system and is expected to operate over the longer term for research and technology-development purposes.
Rio Tinto-Shougang Partnership Dates to 2022
The project forms part of a memorandum of understanding signed by Rio Tinto and Shougang in 2022 to develop technologies aimed at lowering emissions across the steel value chain.
The partnership covers several areas, including:
- carbon capture and utilisation;
- low-carbon sintering technology;
- blast-furnace optimisation;
- basic oxygen furnace optimisation; and
- improved use and recovery of steelmaking by-products.
Rio Tinto has provided technical support as Shougang developed and scaled the carbon-capture technology.
Captured CO2 Could Be Recycled Into Steelmaking
The companies are also studying ways to use the captured carbon dioxide rather than treating capture as the final step.
One option under evaluation is converting captured CO2 into syngas that could be recycled into the steelmaking process.
If technically and commercially viable, that approach could reduce the amount of new carbon required during production while creating a potential utilisation pathway for captured emissions.
TECHNOLOGY READ
Capture capacity should not be confused with permanent emissions reduction. The facility is designed to capture up to 10,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, but the actual amount of emissions ultimately avoided will depend on what happens to that captured carbon — including whether it is reused, recycled within the process or permanently stored.
Rio Tinto Has Backed Earlier Shougang Decarbonisation Trials
The carbon-capture project follows earlier technology work between the two companies.
Rio Tinto previously committed approximately $3.5 million between 2023 and 2025 to support Shougang's carbon-capture and utilisation program.
The companies also developed a low-carbon sintering demonstration facility as part of their wider effort to reduce emissions from conventional steelmaking.
Rio Tinto's interest is closely tied to its position as a major iron ore supplier. Much of its Pilbara iron ore continues to be used in blast-furnace steelmaking, giving the miner a commercial interest in technologies that could reduce emissions from that production route.
Why Blast-Furnace Carbon Capture Matters
Decarbonising steel is particularly challenging because emissions are generated not only by energy use but also by the chemical reduction of iron ore with carbon.
Hydrogen-based direct reduction and electric-arc furnaces are being developed as lower-emission alternatives, but replacing the world's existing blast-furnace fleet will take substantial investment and time.
Carbon capture and utilisation is therefore being examined as one of several technologies that could lower emissions from existing blast-furnace operations during the transition.
Rio Tinto and Shougang Relationship Nears Three Decades
Rio Tinto and Shougang began their commercial relationship in 1996 with the first shipment of Rio Tinto iron ore from Australia's Pilbara region to the Chinese steelmaker.
The relationship has since expanded from iron ore supply into technical cooperation on steel decarbonisation.
Rio Tinto is also working with other major Asian steelmakers on technologies aimed at lowering emissions from ironmaking and steel production.
Market Reaction
Rio Tinto shares were down 0.5% at A$164.20 at 0102 GMT on Monday, according to Reuters, while Australia's broader benchmark index was up 0.3%.
The share move was reported during early trading and should not be interpreted as a direct market assessment of the carbon-capture project.
Industry Read
The significance of the Jingtang project lies more in its scale and integration with an operating blast furnace than in the absolute volume of carbon captured.
A capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year is small relative to emissions from the global steel industry, but the facility provides a larger industrial test bed for determining whether blast-furnace carbon capture can operate reliably and economically under normal steelmaking conditions.
The next questions will be how consistently the system performs, what it costs to operate, how effectively captured CO2 can be reused and whether the technology can be scaled further across commercial blast-furnace operations.
SOURCES & METHODOLOGY
Facility capacity, technical scope and project history were reviewed against Rio Tinto's September 28, 2026 project announcement and its previous steel-decarbonisation reporting. The project is an industrial-scale trial facility; its stated 10,000-tonne annual figure represents potential CO2 capture capacity rather than a guaranteed amount of permanent emissions abatement.
Courtesy: Reuters
