Based in Luxembourg and a multinational steel-manufacturing corporation,
ArcelorMittal has announced that through its XCarb Innovation Fund it is investing in the US-based company
Electrified Thermal Solutions. The fund, launched in 2021, invests in companies developing ‘disruptive technologies’ that have the potential to support the decarbonisation of steelmaking.
Electrified Thermal, which originated at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed a technology that electrifies industrial heat generation; developed over the past decade, the company’s patented firebricks sit at the heart of its Joule Hive Thermal Battery (JHTB) system — a stack of electrically and thermally conductive firebricks in an insulated steel container.
The system charges by running renewable electricity directly through the bricks, storing low-cost, carbon-free thermal (heat) energy at temperatures up to 1,700°C. The thermal energy is then discharged by running air or gas through the brick channels, providing heat to industrial applications.
Decarbonsing the steelmaking processHigh-temperature thermal energy, usually created by ‘burning steel plant gases or natural gas’, is used throughout the steelmaking process. Applications include hot stoves in a blast furnace, reheating slabs before rolling, and heat treatment in finishing processes such as quenching or annealing. Electrified Thermal says its JHTB system holds the potential to be a key enabler for decarbonising the steelmaking process and reducing reliance on fossil fuels to create thermal energy.
Construction is underway on a 1MW/5MWh commercial demonstration plant at the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, with commissioning scheduled for the second half of 2025. Alongside the investment, ArcelorMittal and Electrified Thermal have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore technology validation tests at ArcelorMittal’s GasLab facility in Asturias (Spain) and pilot deployment pathways within ArcelorMittal operations.
Irina Gorbounova, head of the XCarb Innovation fund, said: “Electrifying high-temperature heating processes, and thereby reducing reliance on fossil fuel use, in steelmaking is a widely recognised challenge. Having scoured the market for companies looking to address this, Electrified Thermal’s patented technology stood out. They have made good progress in recent years, and we are investing at an important time in the company’s development as it looks to move to commercial-scale pilots.”