RE:SwedenGreen steel is different, downstream, and not a threat. If anything, it will put more pressure on the broader industry to go green across the value chain.
PYR is not involved in steel-making; it is involved in iron ore pellet making. PYR products are not involved (at least currently) in the actual steel-making process; PYR has not ever indicated they are selling or promoting plasma torches to replace the burners in steel-making furnaces, for either blast furnaces or electric DRI furnaces.
The torches for which PYR
have patented the approach are used in the
pellet-making process, which is prior to (or "upstream") from steel-making. Pellet-making is turning raw chunks or powders of iron ore into small round balls, making them suitable for transport, and also more consistent in regards to how the heat impacts the ore in the blast furnace during steel-making.
Even green steel requires pellets. The particular green steel mentioned in the article was made by the HYBRIT consortium (steel-maker SSAB, mining company LKAB, and electrical utility Vattenfall). HYBRIT's own diagrams show that the process still requires pellets to start:
Hybrit green steel process Green pellets are coming; the most viable way to make them is via plasma torches. The green steel-making technology process (using a hydrogen reduction process to replace coking) is many years farther along than any suitable pelletization process that doesn't use bunker diesel or electrically powered plasma torches.
That said, to prove a point, this particular initiative that produced the green steel for Audi, is going the extra step of showing that green pellets are also possible, so are initially replacing the bunker diesel with biofuel in a pilot project. They are doing this because Sweden has a history of using this particular biofuel, but its not a long term solution.
Biofueled burners are not going to be the primary long-term approach to pellet making. Bio-fuel pelletization is both very early stage and not dependable due to shortage of biofuel and questions about its true “carbon free” or “renewable” status.
Bio-fuels are fuel substitutes made from renewable organic matter, such as vegetables. The major north American biofuel is of course ethanol, made from corn, and in some cases wheat.
The biofuel being used by HYRBIT in their pilot pelletization plant is “tallol”, which is a derivative of the wood pulp process. (The word tallol (or "tall-oil") is based on the Swedish word for pine trees and pine oil.) HYBRIT is going this route because, at least on the surface, Sweden has an abundance of pine trees and so they have the stock. Tallol is often considered a “waste byproduct” of the forestry industry, but there’s more to that, as it’s not easy to make, and there isn’t enough producers of it over there. In fact, for this project, HYBRIT had to commission a whole bio-fuel plant just to make enough for that one pilot pellet line.
Its use, and the growing use of biofuel in Sweden in food production (replacing old edible petroleum products) was causing an impact on overall biofuel price which was affecting food prices. So, big Swedish oil refiner Preem announced it was planning to start making it, financing a new plant, plus revamping part of an existing crude oil refinery in Gothenburg to switch it to biofuel.
Canada too has tallol; it can be bought on the broader market as a commodity (Chemtrade in Canada is a big seller of it). But it's not cheap, and the usage is mostly already accounted for, so a huge amount of new production would be needed if it were to be used in other than existing applications, especially in large industries like steel.
Even HYBRIT says the future of pellet making must be "100% about electricity". For the first pilot plant, HYBRIT are using biofuel. However, in the video below, at the 1:20 mark, the lead engineer for HYBRIT says:
"First we try out the biofuel, and then we will try out the electrification. And that is pure hydrogen or plasma burners. It's an electrical flame, with no CO2 emissions at all. To really get rid of all the CO2, we need to go to 100% electric." Youtube video about HYBRIT pellet making By the way, PYR has a future in biofuels as well. You may recall, PYR added a large biofuel making division recently with their purchase of Airscience, a biofuel technology company.
While I doubt they'll get involved in non-plasma biofuelled burner sales, one never knows.
bart10 wrote: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/video-sweden-delivers-worlds-first-fossil-free-steel/
Anyone know if the Reuters article is about a company that is using PYR's product?
If it is , ... wow. Reuters means global media.