Tenova, a provider of innovative solutions for the metals and mining industries, has signed a contract with the HBIS Group for the implementation of the Paradigm Project, a high-tech hydrogen energy development and utilisation plant. The project includes a 600,000 kilo-tons per year ENERGIRON DRI (direct reduced iron) plant.

This will be the world’s first DRI production plant powered by hydrogen enriched gas, which will make use of the most advanced, competitive, eco-friendly and reliable technology of the Tenova process portfolio, which includes advanced digital models for equipment and metallurgical behaviour prediction.

Stefano Maggiolino, Tenova HYL president and CEO, said: “This is also an important breakthrough for the Chinese steel industry as it will be the first gas-based DRI plant in China.”

The HBIS DRI plant will use make-up gas with approximately a 70% hydrogen concentration. Due to the high amount of H₂, the HBIS plant will be the greenest DRI plant in the world by producing only 250kg of CO₂ per ton of DRI. The CO₂ will be selectively recovered and part of it will be reused in downstream processes, with a final net emission of around 125kg of CO₂ per ton. The plant is scheduled to begin production by the end of 2021.

The world’s steel industry is looking for smart innovative technologies to reduce its carbon footprint. As a result, hydrogen is now being used as a replacement for coal in the integrated steel-making process.

The ENERGIRON technology, jointly developed by Tenova and Danieli, is the most feasible high-intensity H₂ DR system available and is already designed for extremely low CO₂ emissions while processing virgin metallic units.