Hyundai Steel is building an H2-ready DRI plant in the US

The Korean steel producer Hyundai Steel has commissioned the Energiron consortium, Tenova and Danieli, to design and supply a direct reduction plant for the production of 2.5 Mtpy of hot and cold DRI.

As part of its commitment to carbon neutrality, Hyundai Steel has announced a $5.8 billion investment in a sustainable flat steel plant for the automotive industry in the US. The plant is being built as part of the Hyundai-Posco Louisiana Steel joint venture and is expected to reach an annual production capacity of around 2.7 million tonnes. The project includes a direct reduction plant featuring Energiron direct reduction technology, which was jointly developed by Tenova and Danieli and is to be integrated into the steelworks near Donaldsonville, Louisiana, USA.
The Energiron direct reduction plant will be the second of its kind in the USA, with an annual capacity of 2.5 Mtpy of hot and cold Direct Reduced Iron (DRI). It will feature Zero Reformer technology, and it will deliver DRI with 94% metallization and 2.5% carbon content. Designed to be future-ready, the plant will also be equipped with carbon capture technology and is prepared for the use of hydrogen as a reducing gas, making it the most sustainable steelmaking solution currently accessible on the market.
The plant will convey hot DRI through the HYTEMP pneumatic transport system to the adjacent steelmaking shop and charge the hot product into two EAFs at temperatures exceeding 600°C, optimizing thermal energy utilization and significantly reducing steel production operating costs (OpEx).
Source: Energiron