MidtownGuy wrote: No problem at all, Tcheck.
While that's not what LKAB is currently releasing initiatives regarding, hydrogen CAN be used in plasma torches when combined with Argon. But again that's a different thing altogether than what's on the table now.
LKAB's announced use of hydrogen so far is in the direct reduction iron (aka sponge iron) process. Hydrogen is used in a chemical reaction to reduce the carbon in pellets prior to them going into the electrica arc furnaces, allowing a cleaner burn of the iron in steelmaking.
And the C02-free pellets they are making prior are so far being done so using biofuel as the heating gas in pellet process, rather than diesel fuel. Theoretically, if they switched to plasma torches for the heating, hydrogen could be one of the gasses, but that's not what the initiatives they've announced so far entail, and there's many gases that are used in plasma.
But again, the bigger picture is that pellets and pelletization will remain in play for 20-30 years minimum due to worldwide demand, and potentially longer if sponge iron doesn't fully pan out as the only method, for a number of reasons (too much demand for steel, improving blast furnace tech, lack of enough high grade ore [a huge and growing concern], lack of appropriate electricity grid power in steel production countries, etc.)
Tcheck wrote: Ok thank you midtownguy for setting the record straight .
can hydrogen then be the energy source for the torches or is that a question too stupid to ask?
sweden will use hydro electricity probably .