Tata Steel to start 4th trial of new steel-making technology

The technology, enables direct input of coal and fine iron ore into the ironmaking furnace

Indian giant Tata Steel will soon begin the fourth test production of a revolutionary energy saving steel-making technology at its plant in the Netherlands.

The technology, HIsarna, enables direct input of coal and fine iron ore into the ironmaking furnace.

It saves energy consumption by eliminating two key raw material processing stages in blast furnace ironmaking.

The elimination of these processing steps can reduce the emission of carbon dioxide from conventional ironmaking by 20%.

The test will begin in mid-May and last six months.

"We are very proud to have succeeded in designing and constructing this installation and to have advanced this potentially breakthrough technology to this stage," said Hans Fischer, Chief Technical Officer of Tata Steel's European operations and hub director of Tata Steel in IJmuiden.

"A project of this size is not carried out by a single company. We are working closely with several other major steel companies in the ULCOS (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking) consortium and with mining firm Rio Tinto," he said.

HIsarna has the potential to become a "game-changer" in the steel industry, he said.

"Despite the challenging economic circumstances in Europe, Tata Steel and its ULCOS partners have continued to support the HIsarna project.

"But future phases of HIsarna's development will require very substantial investment that will exceed what the project partners can provide by themselves," he said.

We are now looking for further support from the European Commission and the Dutch government to enable this potentially breakthrough technology to progress to the next and more advanced stage.

"The fourth test campaign aims to produce liquid iron in a series of production runs, each lasting several days, and to test the use of different types of coal and iron ore.

"After analysing the results of this campaign, Tata Steel and its partners will start preparing for a prolonged fifth campaign in 2015 which would last six months," he said.

If the results of this test are positive, the next crucial step in HIsarna's development would be the design, construction and trial operation of an industrial-size HIsarna plant, he added.