Tenova’s advanced solutions featured on INCITE platform

Tenova has strengthened its position as a key force in the metals sector’s shift toward greener production, with five of its advanced technologies now featured on the European Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation Emissions (INCITE) digital platform. Established in 2024, INCITE highlights emerging industrial solutions designed to support decarbonisation, reduce pollution and enhance resource efficiency and circularity across heavy industry.

Among the technologies recognised are several of Tenova’s flagship processes for steelmaking. These include its Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) systems built around the Consteel continuous-charging process and the Consteerrer electromagnetic stirring solution, the Open Slag Bath Furnace (OSBF) for melting direct reduced iron, the iRecovery and Heat Leap systems for high‑efficiency heat recovery from EAF plants, the Tenova KT process for injecting recycled polymers into the EAF, and ENERGIRON — the direct‑reduction technology developed jointly with Danieli.

INCITE provides a detailed evaluation of each system, assessing its environmental impact, degree of technological maturity, operational trade-offs, geographical relevance and cost‑benefit potential. Of the featured Tenova technologies, three are already firmly established in industrial operation. Consteel, now with more than 80 installations worldwide, is widely acknowledged as a highly efficient EAF-based steelmaking route in which scrap and other raw materials are continuously heated and fed into the furnace.

The process ensures rapid melting through immersion in the existing liquid bath while maintaining tight control of off‑gas emissions. Its further development has been driven by collaboration between Tenova and ABB, culminating in Consteerrer®, which has been deployed successfully to deliver faster, safer and more cost‑effective steel production.

Energy recovery is another area in which Tenova has made significant strides, particularly through iRecovery, a system designed to capture and reuse thermal energy from EAF off‑gases. Instead of allowing heat to dissipate through conventional steam venting, the system generates saturated steam for internal plant needs, electricity production and even district heating. The ‘Heat Leap’ high‑performance heat‑pump module extends this principle by harnessing low‑temperature heat from EAF cooling circuits and diverting it into heating networks, maximising the utilisation of process energy that would otherwise be lost.

Minimising carbon footprints
Tenova’s ENERGIRON process, created in partnership with Danieli, also features prominently on the INCITE platform. Built around a vertical shaft furnace, it facilitates the production of DRI or hot‑briquetted iron using natural gas and hydrogen, positioning it as one of the world’s leading low‑emission direct reduction routes. Plants employing ENERGIRON typically pair the process with an Electric Arc Furnace to produce liquid steel, forming an increasingly attractive DRI/EAF pathway for producers seeking to minimise their carbon footprint.

Two further Tenova innovations are also highlighted. The Open Slag Bath Furnace, commercialised as iBlue, remains under development but is already drawing attention as an AC furnace configuration designed for melting DRI and producing pig iron with significantly lower CO₂ emissions compared to traditional blast furnace methods. The prospect of integrating direct‑reduction units with such a furnace has sparked considerable industry interest, given the pressure to reduce the environmental burden of primary ironmaking.

In parallel, Tenova’s KT Twin SRA and KT Multi systems are opening new possibilities for the injection of recycled polymers into EAFs as a substitute for coal. The Twin SRA combines a supersonic oxygen nozzle with a polymer injection line, while the KT Multi enables operators to introduce both polymers and lime through a single device. Trials conducted as part of the European Commission‑funded RFCS OnlyPlastic project have shown encouraging results, particularly in maintaining optimal slag foaming conditions without transferring solid residues into off‑gas extraction systems.

Enrico Malfa, Tenova’s R&D director, concluded: “We are very proud that Tenova’s innovative technology appear on the INCITE platform – confirming our role as pioneering developers of advanced and sustainable steelmaking techniques.”