Imagine trying to heat a long piece of steel evenly without using a giant gas flame. This project tests using electricity—like a giant induction cooktop or a toaster—to warm up steel. By mixing these electric methods with hydrogen or gas, they can cut down on pollution while keeping the metal at the perfect temperature.
Steel rolling mills rely on fossil fuel burners that create high CO2 emissions. Current electric alternatives often struggle with uneven heat distribution in long steel products.
A hybrid heating system combining induction and resistance heating with gas/hydrogen burners, supported by virtual sustainability models (LCA, LCC).
If you are a rolling mill dealing with high CO2 emissions from gas burners — this project developed hybrid induction and resistance heating that can achieve up to 80% energy efficiency over fuel burners.
If you are an energy provider dealing with industrial clients wanting to electrify — this project developed a system to feed induction heaters using renewable sources and recovered heat from furnace off-gases.
If you are a technology provider dealing with the transition to hydrogen — this project developed a virtual study combining induction heating with hydrogen burners to evaluate sustainability and cost-effectiveness.
Based on available project data, specific pricing is not provided, but the project uses Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the hybrid systems.
Induction heating is at TRL 6-7, while resistance heating is still experimental at TRL 4 and not yet scaled for long steel products.
The project has established a governance framework with committees specifically for the management of intellectual property.
Integration is challenging; in one case study, layout restrictions limited the environmental impact and the temperature increase was constrained to 100°C.
The project runs from March 2023 to February 2028, focusing on validation and virtual studies before full deployment.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven with a 67% industry ratio, consisting of 4 industrial partners and 2 research entities across Italy, Germany, and Spain. This strong industrial presence, including sites like ORI-Martin and SIDENOR, ensures that the developed heating technologies are tested in real-world production environments rather than just laboratories.
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