Rio Tinto’s BioIron™ proves successful for low-carbon iron-making
November 22 2022 - 5:00PM
Business Wire
Rio Tinto has proven the effectiveness of its low-carbon
iron-making process using ores from its mines in Australia in a
small-scale pilot plant in Germany, and is now planning the
development of a larger-scale pilot plant to further assess its
potential to help decarbonise the steel value chain.
The process, known as BioIron™, uses raw biomass instead of
metallurgical coal as a reductant and microwave energy to convert
Pilbara iron ore to metallic iron in the steelmaking process.
BioIron™ has the potential to support near-zero CO2 steel-making,
and can result in net negative emissions if linked with carbon
capture and storage.
Over the past 18 months, the process has been tested extensively
in Germany by a project team from Rio Tinto, sustainable technology
company Metso Outotec, and the University of Nottingham’s Microwave
Process Engineering Group. Development work was conducted in a
small-scale pilot plant using batches of 1,000 golf ball-sized iron
ore and biomass briquettes.
Rio Tinto Chief Commercial Officer, Alf Barrios, said “Finding
low-carbon solutions for iron and steelmaking is critical for the
world as we tackle the challenges of climate change. Proving
BioIron works at this scale is an exciting development given the
implications it could have for global decarbonisation.
“The results from this initial testing phase show great promise
and demonstrate that the BioIron process is well suited to Pilbara
iron ore fines. BioIron is just one of the pathways we are
developing in our decarbonisation work with our customers,
universities and industry to reduce carbon emissions right across
the steel value chain.”
BioIron™’s potential was confirmed in a comprehensive and
independent technical review by Hatch, the global engineering,
project management and professional services firm. Hatch noted the
thorough work completed by the team and BioIron™’s capacity to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions while converting Pilbara iron ore
into iron and steel.
The BioIron™ process will now be tested on a larger scale, at a
specially designed continuous pilot plant with a capacity of one
tonne per hour. The design of the pilot plant is underway and Rio
Tinto is considering suitable locations for its construction.
The BioIron™ process works using lignocellulosic biomass
including agricultural by-products (e.g. wheat straw, canola
stalks, barley straw, sugar cane bagasse) or purpose-grown crops.
The biomass is blended with iron ore and heated by a combination of
combusting gases released by the biomass and high-efficiency
microwaves that can be powered by renewable energy.
Rio Tinto is aware of the complexities around the use of biomass
supply and is working to ensure only sustainable sources of biomass
are used. Accordingly, the company is undertaking a benchmarking
study of biomass certification processes. Through discussions with
environmental groups, as a first step Rio Tinto have ruled out
sources that support the logging of old growth and High
Conservation Value forests.
Notes to editors
Steelmaking accounts for 8 percent of the world’s carbon
emissions, and 66 percent of Rio Tinto’s Scope 3 emissions.
The BioIron™ process is well suited to Pilbara iron ore fines
and is a highly efficient use of biomass as it is primarily used as
a reductant, with microwave energy driving the iron ore reduction
reactions to remove the oxygen from the iron ore.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221122005408/en/
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