China Baowu, Rio Tinto succeed in low-carbon steelmaking trials using Pilbara iron ore

• Trials support decarbonisation of global steel value chain
  
  
• Pilbara ores emerge viable feedstock for low-carbon steel
  
  

Mysteel Global: China Baowu Steel Group, the world's largest steelmaker, and Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, have completed industrial-scale trials demonstrating that mid-grade iron ore from Western Australia's Pilbara region can be used in hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI) production, according to a press release by Rio Tinto on Friday.

The trials were conducted at China Baowu's Baoshan Iron & Steel Zhanjiang Steel Operations in South China's Guangdong province, the release noted.

Pellet production was first carried out using a 5-million-tonnes/year grate-kiln facility, producing pellets containing one-third Pilbara Blend iron ore. These pellets were then fed into a hydrogen-based shaft furnace with a capacity of 1 million t/y to produce DRI. Eventually, the DRI was converted into steel using an industrial-scale basic oxygen furnace and was also tested in a small-scale electric smelting furnace.

While high-grade ores are already widely used in shaft furnace production to produce DRI, expanding feedstock and fuel options remains a priority for the steel industry, Rio Tinto noted. The successful trials suggest that typical Pilbara mid-grade ores, traditionally used in blast furnaces, can serve as feedstock for hydrogen-based direct reduction and become a future source for low-carbon steelmaking, the company said.

"The trials, alongside our broader ongoing work, continue to build confidence that Pilbara iron ore can play a critical role in lower carbon steelmaking," said Ramona Sim, Rio Tinto's Vice President of Iron Ore Sales and Marketing. The company is committed to working with customers to develop scalable solutions that support their decarbonisation goals and position Pilbara iron ore for a lower-carbon future, the release quotes her as saying.

Notably, the achievement meets a key initiative in the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding between Baowu and Rio Tinto, which aimed to explore technologies to help decarbonise the steel value chain, as Mysteel Global reported.

The two companies have collaborated for over 50 years across project development, including the Western Range project in Pilbara and the Simandou project in Guinea, technology innovation, and steelmaking research, the release noted.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.