Air Liquide Supplies Hydrogen for thyssenkrupp Steel’s Climate-Friendly Steel Production

Network member Air Liquide is involved in an ambitious project by thyssenkrupp Steel for climate-friendly steel production. In mid-April, NRW Minister for Economic Affairs and Digitalization Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart presented a state funding notification to support the decarbonization of production at Germany’s largest steel manufacturer through the use of hydrogen. This will further advance the comprehensive transformation of the site towards climate-friendly steel production. thyssenkrupp Steel pursues the long-term goal of reducing CO₂ emissions from production by at least 80 percent by 2050. The project, which is now commencing, is being funded as part of the IN4climate.NRW initiative recently launched by the state government. Minister for Economic Affairs and Digitalization Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart: “It is a particular pleasure for me to present the funding notification for the first project of the IN4climate.NRW initiative today, with which we are taking an important step towards a climate-neutral industry. To achieve ambitious climate protection with an industry that remains globally competitive in the future, there must be innovations in industrial and energy-intensive processes such as steel production. As the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, we want to pursue this transformation path together with industry and science. The pilot project shows that our IN4climate.NRW initiative is already bearing its first fruits. I am glad that we have thyssenkrupp Steel, Air Liquide, and BFI as innovative partners at our side here.” Air Liquide, a global leader in industrial gases, supplies the hydrogen required for the project.

Air Liquide, a project partner for the hydrogen project now commencing at thyssenkrupp Steel, possesses expertise across the entire hydrogen value chain, from production and storage to the development of end-user applications. Gilles Le Van, Chairman of the Management Board of Air Liquide Germany, stated: “Here in Duisburg, a significant chapter in industrial development is now being opened: the gradual and sustainable decarbonization of steel production. We are very pleased to participate in this endeavor – first in test operation, later on a larger scale. Our long-standing customer and partner thyssenkrupp Steel repeatedly demonstrates how an innovative industry can successfully combine competitiveness and climate protection.”

Hydrogen Project as Another Milestone Towards Climate-Friendly Steel Production
thyssenkrupp is committed to the Paris climate protection goals. In the necessary conversion of its steel production, the company adopts a technology-open approach, utilizing various complementary methods. For example, with the already successfully launched Carbon2Chem project, greenhouse gases generated during steel production can be converted into chemical products and thus utilized as valuable raw materials.

The hydrogen project at the blast furnace embarks on another technological path: here, the generation of harmful greenhouse gases is avoided altogether. This is achieved by replacing a portion of the pulverized coal used as a reducing agent in the blast furnace with injected hydrogen. “By using hydrogen at our blast furnace 9, we are consistently working on converting our production processes. Our goal is virtually CO₂-neutral steel production. This will be a long and cost-intensive process, on which we are taking another step forward today,” explains Arnd Köfler, Chief Production Officer of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. “In this first project phase, we will initially test the use of hydrogen at one of 28 tuyeres of a blast furnace over the next few months. This is a novelty and has not yet been implemented in the industry. We will carefully analyze the results of this test phase and then plan to convert the entire blast furnace in this manner in a second project phase,” Köfler adds. “Theoretically, a savings potential of around 20 percent CO₂ is possible at this point in the production process. We are very grateful that the state government is supporting us here with funding within the framework of IN4climate.NRW. With Air Liquide for hydrogen supply and BFI as the scientific partner for the project, we have exactly the right partners at our side.”

Photo: Minister for Economic Affairs and Digitalization Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart (center) presents the state funding notification of NRW to Premal Desai, CFO thyssenkrupp Steel (left) and Dr. Arnd Köfler, CTO thyssenkrupp Steel. Photo: (c) thyssenkrupp