Nippon Steel produces DRI using 100pct hydrogen and low-grade iron ore

Nippon Steel has successfully produced direct reduced iron (DRI) using 100pct hydrogen as a reducing agent and lower-grade iron ore at its pilot-scale shaft furnace in Japan.

The company said the test at its Hasaki Research & Development Center involved more than 300 hours of continuous operation, producing over 1,000 tons of DRI.

The trial used blast furnace-grade pellets rather than the higher-grade direct reduction pellets typically required for commercial DRI production. Nippon Steel said it achieved stable operations by addressing technical challenges associated with hydrogen reduction, including maintaining furnace temperatures and limiting the powdering of lower-grade iron ore.

Hydrogen-based direct reduction is seen as a key technology for reducing carbon emissions from ironmaking. Most of the approximately 100 mln tons of DRI produced globally each year currently uses natural gas as the reducing agent.

Nippon Steel plans to continue pilot-scale testing to optimize operating conditions and develop scale-up technologies. The company aims to establish implementation technology for hydrogen-based DRI production by around 2040.

The project is being developed with support from Japan's Green Innovation Fund through a consortium involving Nippon Steel, JFE Steel and the Japan Research and Development Center for Metals.

Nippon Steel Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is Japan's largest steelmaker and the world's third-largest steel producer. The company has consolidated global crude steel production capacity of around 76 mln tons per year, including 44 mln tons in Japan and 32 mln tons overseas, with a long-term target to expand capacity to 100 mln tons per year.