Imagine trying to bake a cake but only having low-quality flour and some leftover scraps. This project creates a way to 'clean' and combine those scraps with the poor flour to make a high-grade mix. It uses tools like microwaves and special chemical baths to remove impurities, making waste usable for modern, green steel furnaces.
The shift to green hydrogen steel production removes traditional recycling routes for mill scale and increases the need for high-quality pellets. Companies face a shortage of raw materials and a need to eliminate carbon-heavy sintering processes.
A suite of upgrading technologies including cold/hot microwave pelletising, briquetting, and hydrometallurgical de-oiling. Additionally, a digital decision support platform was created to help industrial users select the best technology for their specific waste materials.
If you are an EAF operator dealing with a shortage of high-quality direct reduction pellets — this project developed cold and hot pelletising techniques that can upgrade 18 million t/a of low-grade iron ore. This ensures a steady supply of raw materials while moving away from carbon-heavy sintering.
If you are a mining company dealing with low-grade ore deposits that are currently too poor to sell — this project developed microwave and hydrometallurgical upgrading tools. This allows you to turn low-value deposits into high-grade pre-materials for the green steel transition.
If you are a processor dealing with oily mill scale and pellet sieving residues — this project developed a de-oiling and separation process. This transforms up to 9 million t/a of waste into a scrap-equivalent material for reuse in steel production.
Based on available project data, specific pricing is not provided, but the project includes an economic evaluation and the development of sustainable business models to determine commercial viability.
Yes, the project targets the upgrade of 27 million t/a of materials in total, including 18 million t/a of low-grade ore and 9 million t/a of mill scale and residues.
Based on available project data, know-how is owned by participating partners and is being transferred to two industrial partners with 9 production sites to ensure implementation.
The technologies are designed to replace carbon-intensive sinter plants and blast furnaces, feeding directly into the direct reduction (DR) process and electric arc furnaces (EAF).
The project runs from December 2022 to November 2026, aiming to move technologies from TRL 6 to TRL 8 by the end of the period.
The consortium is well-balanced for industrial scaling, consisting of 13 partners across 8 countries. With an industry ratio of 38% (including 5 industrial partners and 2 SMEs), there is a strong bridge between the 7 research institutions and actual production environments, specifically targeting 9 production sites for technology transfer.
Contact the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology
Contact us to connect with the TransZeroWaste consortium for licensing and pilot implementation.
