The DRITC met 6 March 2024
In order to facilitate discussion with those around the world on the topic of direct reduction, the committee decided to hold this meeting virtually. The group commenced the meeting with their committee business, discussing AISTech 2024, their training course to be held in October 2024, and updates from both the Decarbonization Subcommittee and the Young Professionals member committee. The group then had two presentations from Tenova HYL and Midrex on upcoming DR projects around the world and the interesting technology associated with them.

The DRITC met 12–13 September 2023, Golden, Colo., USA
The DRITC held their highest attended stand-alone meeting on 12–13 September 2023 in Golden, Colo., with 42 people. DRITC chair Spencer Hawkins welcomed everyone in attendance. The committee met at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where they had numerous presentations from NREL staff on iron and steel decarbonization focus areas. Madhu Ranade led a discussion on the comparison of reductant consumption of H₂-based direct reduction processes with conventional direct reduced iron and blast furnace, Ron O’Malley gave an update on the Grid-Integrated Steelmaking With Hydrogen (GISH) project, and Kevin Galloway showed the evolution of Electra and where they are now. The attendees then toured the NREL campus and the next day toured the pilot plant for the GISH project at Hazen Research that was discussed the previous day.

Members of the Direct Reduced Iron Technology Committee (DRITC) enjoyed a tour of the Grid-Integrated Steelmaking With Hydrogen project at Hazen Research during their 12–13 September 2023 meeting. 2. DRITC members also had the opportunity to tour the National Renewable Energy Laboratory campus during the meeting.

Angelo Manenti (left) presented Mitren Sukhram (right) with the DRITC service plaque.

The DRITC met 9 May 2023, Detroit, MI, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Spencer Hawkins  »  Cleveland-Cliffs IronUnits LLC

• Vice Chair: Angelo Manenti  »  Metal Consulting

• Papers Chair: P. Chris Pistorius  »  Carnegie Mellon University

• Education Chair: Zane Voss  »  CIX Inc.

• Roundup Chair: Richard Elliott  »  Hatch Associates Inc.

• Young Professional Chair: Takshi Sachdeva  »  Hatch Associates Inc.

• Decarbonization Liaison: Vincent Chevrier  »  Form Energy

The DRITC met 6 March 2023, Orlando, Fla., USA.
The DRITC met before the start of the Scrap Supplements and Alternative Ironmaking 9 conference. The group discussed a number of items related to committee business. They finalized their sessions for 
AISTech 2023 and solicited session chair volunteers since they received enough abstracts for an unexpected additional session. The DRITC is actively looking for volunteers for officer roles, including chair, vice chair and papers chair. 
The committee also discussed expanding the DRI-HBI Roundup to additional countries. The DRITC also started planning its next conference, DRI & HBI: Logistics, Production and Utilization, which is scheduled for fall 2024. 

The DRITC met in Orlando, Fla., USA, on 6 March 2023.

The DRITC met 27 September 2022, Pittsburgh, Houston, Texas, USA.

The DRITC and IMTC held a joint meeting to discuss the opportunities in the steel industry related to decarbonization.
The meeting began with the two groups going through their committee business, including AISTech session development, award planning and discussion of upcoming training conferences such as Scrap Supplements and Alternative Ironmaking 9, which will be 6–8 March 2023.
The majority of the meeting focused on presentations related to hydrogen production, decarbonization efforts, and additional challenges to those decarbonization efforts.
Presentations:

• “Bécancoeur: Experience From the World’s Largest Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Electrolyzer,” by Jacques Senechal, Air Liquide.

• “Tangential Circularity — How to Integrate Energy Recovery for Hydrogen Generation Into Steelmaking,” by Tim Kleier, SMS group.

• “Refractories in High-H₂ Environments,” by Jesse Carreau, Allied Minerals.

• “Decarbonization Strategies and H₂ Usage,” by Brian Jamieson, ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P.

• “Decarbonization Efforts,” by Joe Morey, United States Steel Corporation.

• Overview of technologies at Air Products La Port and Pasadena facilities and discussion on safe handling and transportation of hydrogen.

The following day the group toured both the Air Products La Porte and Pasadena facilities, seeing technologies in operation including steam methane reformation and partial oxidation of natural gas (POx) that are used for hydrogen generation suitable for carbon capture.

Mitren Sukhram presented a plaque of appreciation to Brian Farhadi for hosting the DRITC and IMTC’s tour of Air Products Pasadena (left to right): Anup Sane, Valirmo Sa, Colton Schrettner, Rudy Tolkamp, Farhadi, Sukhram, Grant Kenny, Zane Voss, Vincent Chevrier and Keita Ikeda.

Kyle Ferron presented a plaque of appreciation to Preston Kurtz for hosting the DRITC and IMTC’s tour of Air Products La Porte (left to right): Jose Alfaro, Madhu Ranade, Rob D’Arrigo, Ferron, Kurtz, Jason Clark, Tim Kleier, Joe Morey, Brian Jamieson, Elaine Chen and Jonathan Kong.

The DRITC met 17 May 2022, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Mitren Sukhram  /  Hatch

• Vice Chair: Angelo Manenti  /  Metal Consulting

• Papers Chair: P. Chris Pistorius  /  Carnegie Mellon University

• Education Chair: Zane Voss  /  CIX Inc.

• Roundup Chair: Richard Elliott  /  Hatch Associates Ltd.

• Young Professional Chair: Jeremy Jones  /  CIX Inc.

• Decarbonization Liaison: Vincent Chevrier  /  Form Energy

The DRITC met 22 March 2022, Baton Rouge, La., USA.
Despite some rough weather in the southern U.S. barring travel for some members, the DRITC enjoyed strong in-person and virtual attendance for its spring meeting, with 31 members represented. 
The group began their meeting by finalizing their sessions for AISTech 2022 and reviewing the duties of session chairs. The group also went over the newest Steel Industry Fatalities report and shared any recent safety incidents in their facilities. 
The group spent some time discussing their upcoming Technology Training Conference, Scrap Supplements and Alternative Ironmaking 9, which will be held 6–8 March 2023 in Orlando, Fla., USA. 
Presentations:

• “Technology Features of CO2 removal and H2 Use in the ZR Plant,” by Jorge Martinez, Tenova HYL.

• “Decarbonization at Tata Steel IJmuiden,” by Jennifer Wise, Tata Steel IJmuiden.

• “Technical Standards Development and Maintenance for the Direct Reduction Industry,” by Thomas Battle, consultant.

The next day, the DRITC traveled to Nucor Steel Louisiana LLC for a tour of their direct reduced iron facility.

Direct Reduced Iron Technology Committee chair Mitren Sukhram (left) presented a plaque of appreciation to Calvin Hart (right), Nucor Steel Louisiana LLC, for hosting the committee’s tour on 23 March 2022.

The DRITC, EUTC, IMTC and OSTC met jointly 28–30 September 2021, Toledo, Ohio, USA.
The DRITC, EUTC, IMTC and OSTC met for a day of presentations, a networking reception and a tour of Cleveland-Cliffs IronUnits LLC, in addition to each committee’s respective business meeting. The committees wish to thank Joe Greco for his help in organizing and conducting the tour.
David Marshall kicked off a full day of decarbonization presentations on 29 September by describing the achievements already accomplished and future pathway, including the Strategic Plan of AIST’s decarbonization subcommittee for technology development and resources within AIST. Energy & Utilities Technology Committee chair Larry Fabina gave a detailed look at the work inside the Energy & Utilities Technology Committee and their decarbonization activity, as well as the focus the DRITC, IMTC and OSTC has put on the subject.
Presentations:

• “Getting Started Down the Decarbonization Path — Developing a Road Map, Timeline and Budget,” by David Mysko, Hatch.

• “The Spectrum Decarbonization Possibilities With Current Technology,” by Chris Pistorius, Carnegie Mellon University.

• “Decarbonization Strategies in Steel,” by Abhijit Sarkar, Dastur.

• “Decarbonization With Oxy-Fuel Combustion,” by Pravin Mathur, Linde.

• “Injecting Plastics Instead of PCI,” by Dale Heinz, International Recycling.

• “ArcelorMittal Efforts to Reduce Carbon Footprint,” by Keith Whitely, ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P.

• “Green Primary Steelmaking and Green Electrical Steelmaking,” by Karim Alshurafa, SMS group Inc.

• “Iron-Air Batteries — The Catalyst for Steelmaking Decarbonization,” by Vincent Chevrier, Form Energy.

Direct Reduced Iron Technology Committee (DRITC)
Meeting Highlights:
The group had their business meeting on Tuesday, 28 September, led by Megha Jampani, Linde. They discussed their AISTech session development, safety, and the potential for DRI, hydrogen, or raw materials-based webinars.

Energy & Utilities Technology Committee (EUTC)
Meeting Highlights:
EUTC chair Larry Fabina covered a long list of energy-related topics and business items and then dedicated the remaining portion of the committee meeting to focus on the work by subcommittee members who are actively planning the Energy and Utilities — a Road Map to the Energy-
Efficient, Sustainable and Decarbonized Steel Industry conference, which will take place in March 2022.
Committee vice chair Anand Makwana is coordinating the selection process for the 2022 Energy Achievement Award.

Ironmaking Technology Committee (IMTC)
Meeting Highlights:
The IMTC meeting began with a safety discussion focused on the latest steel industry fatalities. The group had a hybrid meeting, allowing a number of people to attend that otherwise would not have been able to.
Felix Firsbach gave a detailed update with the current ironmaking paper selections for AISTech 2022. The group also requested volunteers for session chairs. The committee has also begun their award selection for this coming year.

Oxygen Steelmaking Technology Committee (OSTC)
Meeting Highlights: 
The OSTC held its business meeting on 30 September 2021. Discussed during the business meeting was industry safety practices, the OSTC sessions for AISTech 2022, the committee’s text for the AISTech Call for Papers, an update on the revision of Technical Report No. 32 and plans for future in-person OSTC meetings.

Angelo Manenti (right) presented P. Chris Pistorius (left) with the DRITC service plaque at AISTech 2021.

The DRITC met 29 June 2021, Nashville, TN USA.

The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Maude Levesque, ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada G.P.

• Vice Chair and Digital Transformation Liaison: Mitren Sukhram, Hatch Associates Ltd.

• Papers Chair: Angelo Manenti, Metal Consulting

• Education Chair: Zane Voss, CIX Inc.

• Roundup Chair: Megha Jampani, Linde

• Membership and Young Professional Chair: Jeremy Jones, CIX Inc.

The DRITC held a virtual meeting 1 March 2021
The committee discussed the DRI & HBI: Logistics, Production and Utilization Seminar, which was then held on 2–3 March. The next iteration of the seminar will be held in 2024. A recap of the seminar appears on page 232.
The DRITC then moved on to discuss the Steel Industry Fatalities Report, followed by a safety roundtable discussion.
The committee then discussed COVID-19 restrictions. There’s a wide range of measures being taken at facilities across the industry, including completing COVID questionnaires before entry and enhanced mask policies.
Mitren Sukhram, papers chair, provided an update on the DRITC’s AISTech 2021 technical sessions. There are 20 papers that have been organized into four sessions: DRI Operations; Hydrogen-Based DRI; Use of Alternatives; and Reduced Iron Purchases. The committee solicited session chairs.
Nominations for committee officers were then taken.
DRITC-sponsored webinars were also discussed. Jeremy Jones suggested organizing webinar sessions on DRI raw materials, with three or four presenters and a panel discussion. Furthermore, it was suggested to organize a joint webinar with the Ironmaking Technology Committee on DRI usage in blast furnaces. The webinars will be held this fall.
Presentations:

• “Supply of Iron Ore for DRI Production: Focus on the Seaborne Market,” by Chris Barrington, International Iron Metallics Association.

• “Status of Hydrogen Technology and Projects,” by Angelo Manenti, Metal Consulting LLC.

The DRITC held a virtual meeting 2 September 2020
Discussion included AISTech 2021 session development and rewording a portion of the DRITC’s Call for Papers text for AISTech 2022, as well as expanding the 2021 AIST DRI Roundup to include additional countries.
The DRITC is planning to hold the DRI & HBI: Logistics, Production and Utilization Seminar on
1–3 March 2021 in Mobile, Ala., USA. This seminar will include a tour of the Port of Mobile, focusing on loading and off-loading of ironmaking and steel products.
The DRITC reviewed the three-part webinar series it hosted this summer, which focused on hydrogen and low-CO₂ iron- and steelmaking. A recap of the series appears on page 164 of this issue. Check out videos of the webinars on aist.org/webinars!
The technical portion of the meeting focused on digital strategies for direct reduction plants.

Presentations:

• “Heat and Gas Dynamics Model of Induration Furnace,” by Claire Velikonja, Hatch.

• “MidrexConnect,” by Brad Cantrell, Midrex Technologies Inc.

• “Advanced Simulation and Control Systems of the Energiron Plants,” by Ashton Hertrich, Danieli Centro Metallics.

The DRITC had a virtual meeting 7 May 2020
The DRITC began their meeting by discussing the upcoming DRI & HBI: Logistics, Production and Utilization conference, which is scheduled to take place in spring 2021. Branching off of this topic, the committee then proposed the creation of a Hydrogen Ironmaking/Low-CO₂ Steelmaking webinar series in June 2020, featuring topics such as production and storage of hydrogen, direct reduction using hydrogen, and the impact of carbon-free direct reduced iron (DRI) on electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking.
The following committee officers were elected for the 2020–2021 term:

• Chair: P. Chris Pistorius, Carnegie Mellon University.

• Vice chair: Maude Levesque, ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada.

• Papers chair: Janice Bolen, Hatch.

• Education chair: Zane Voss, CIX Inc.

• Roundup chair: Angelo Manenti, Metal Consulting LLC.

• Membership chair: Jeremy Jones, CIX Inc.

The meeting wrapped up with two presentations. Vincent Chevrier, Midrex Technologies Inc., presented on the challenges associated with the production and use of hydrogen in direct reduction. P. Chris Pistorius discussed the impact of the use of hydrogen as a reductant on direct reduced iron, including physical pellet strength and chemical composition.

The DRITC met 2 March 2020, Orlando, Fla., USA.
The DRITC’s spring 2020 meeting was co-located with the Scrap Supplements & Alternative Ironmaking 8 conference.
The meeting began with a review and discussion of the AIST Steel Industry Fatalities Report.
The committee then finalized its upcoming sessions for AISTech 2020.
Committee officers for the 2020–2021 term were nominated. The final vote will take place at AISTech 2020. The committee also discussed the appointment of a Young Professional chair.
The DRITC plans to host the DRI & HBI Fundamentals Technology Training seminar in the spring of 2021. The location has yet to be determined. The group also talked about the next installment of Scrap Supplements and Alternative Ironmaking and the possibility of co-locating with the Advanced Steelmaking Technology seminar.
The committee finished their meeting with an overview of their fall 2020 and spring 2021 meeting schedules.

The DRITC met 23 October 2019, Leoben, Austria.
The DRITC held its first meeting with the International Iron Metallics Association (IIMA). The group decided that the AIST European Steel Forum would be a good place to engage both the AIST and IIMA audience on the topic of DRI and related technologies. 
Representatives from AIST and IIMA each provided an overview of their organization.
Presentation Topics:

• Raw materials discussion, including an update on supply of DR-grade iron ore and pellets, by Chris Barrington, IIMA.

• Value-in-use impact of using BF-grade pellets for DRI production, by Jeremy Jones, CIX Inc.

• An overview of maritime regulation as it affects iron and steelmaking raw materials, by Chris Barrington.

• IIMA’s HBI-C-Flex project: Dealing with the regulatory impact of low-density hot briquetted iron (HBI), by Christian Boehm, Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH.

• Overview of the International Council on Mining and Metals and its material stewardship facility, by John Atherton, IIMA.    

• Chemical regulation and issues affecting iron and iron oxide, including REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals), by Chris Barrington.

• HBI and DRI in both integrated and EAF steelmaking, focusing on their value in use, by Jeremy Jones.

• Innovation in DRI/HBI technology and operations.

Ashton Hertrich gave an overview of Energiron, followed by an update on Midrex by Vincent Chevrier.
The group discussed AIST’s Scrap Supplements and Alternative Ironmaking 8 seminar, which will take place in March 2020. Discussion then focused on a DRI-HBI Practical Training Seminar for 2021.
Future collaboration between the DRITC and IIMA was also discussed.

1. The DRITC and the IIMA met during the European Steel Forum. 2. Attendees from the DRITC/IIMA meeting enjoyed dinner during the European Steel Forum. Back row (left to right): Markus Abel, Magnus Tottie, Mania Kazemi, Becky Hites, Anna Voss, Zane Voss and Jose Noldin; Front row (left to right): Chris Ravenscroft, Vincent Chevrier and Jeremy Jones.

The DRITC met 7 September 2019, Milwaukee, Wis., USA.

The committees reviewed the 2019 Steel Industry Fatalities report, followed by a safety roundtable discussion. Several topics were discussed, including:

• Mobile equipment incidents.

• Radio frequency identification/worker position location monitoring.

• Lockout, tagout — but also try-out.

• Avoiding complacency.

• Keeping the workforce trained not only on “what to do” but also “why to do it this way.”

The DRITC and ESTC discussed their technical sessions for AISTech 2020. There was a brief review of the abstracts submitted thus far. In general, the opinion was that both committees needed more papers. There was discussion of a joint DRITC/ESTC session, as well as a roundtable discussion. Volunteers were taken for session chairs.
The committees spent a significant amount of time discussing AIST’s Young Professionals programming. Young Professionals are the most rapidly increasing group in the AIST membership demographic. The idea of having a committee- and/or Member Chapter-level Young Professional chair position was introduced. Discussions then focused on how to attract more participation from Young Professionals. 
The committees then discussed the EAF and DRI Roundups, which are published annually in the January issue of Iron & Steel Technology. The discussion included expanding the DRI Roundup to include more international companies.
Modern Electric Furnace Steelmaking — the 26th annual edition of the EAF seminar — will be held 3–7 February 2020 in Portland, Ore., USA. A tour of Cascade Steel Rolling Mills will be offered.
Scrap Supplements & Alternative Ironmaking 8 will be held 2–4 March 2020 in Orlando, Fla., USA.
The winners of the 2020 Charles Briggs Award and John Bell Award were selected. These awards will be presented at AISTech 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Presentations:

• “Pre-Heating of DRI While Charging Into an EAF,” by Greg Buragino, Air Products — The benefits of charging hot DRI have already been documented at meltshops where the DRI process and EAF are closely connected. However, at many locations, DRI is imported, stored and charged cold. Pre-heating the DRI during conveyance from the storage silo to the EAF can have obvious advantages, such as decreased melt time and reduced kilowatt-hours. This presentation provided an alternative method for pre-heating DRI while charging the EAF.

• “Understanding the Fundamental Aspects of DRI/HBI Melting in the EAF: A Monologue of Zane’s Deepest Inner Thoughts,” by Zane Voss, CIX LLC — There has been a great deal of research on the melting of DRI and HBI in the EAF over the past several decades. This research has been both academic and industrial in nature and has yielded some very interesting results. The presentation summarized this work and compiled it into a comprehensive view of DRI/HBI melting in an industrial setting.

• “Update on ASTM Standard E1031,” by Thomas Battle, extractive metallurgy consultant — This discussion focused on the current status and needs relating to the reinstatement of ASTM Standard E1031, Standard Test Method for Analysis of Iron-Making and Steel-Making Slags by X-Ray Spectrometry.

• “A Review of Changing Iron Ore Demands for Ironmaking Technologies,” by Boyd Eisenbraun, Barr Engineering — This presentation provided background information on iron ore, quality, environmental and logistical challenges, and the future of iron production and how that relates to EAF steelmaking.

The DRITC met 7 May 2019, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

Chair: Zane Voss, CIX Inc.

Vice chair: P. Chris Pistorius, Carnegie Mellon University

Papers chair: Maude Levesque, ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada

Roundup chair: Janice Bolen, Hatch

The DRITC presented a plaque of appreciation to Marcelo Andrade for hosting its meeting at the ArcelorMittal Global R&D – East Chicago facility (left to right): Mahdi Farahani, Andrade, Tanya Ros and Elaine Chen.

The DRITC met 5–6 March 2019, East Chicago, Ind., USA.
The group met at ArcelorMittal Global R&D for a tour of the facility on 5 March 2019. The following day, the DRITC held its business meeting.
To start the meeting, the Steel Industry Fatalities report was reviewed, followed by a roundtable discussion. Specific challenges of DRI plant safety were highlighted. As plants get older, maintenance isn’t that process-specific. Material handling was also discussed, as well as ways to advocate for more safety training within the DRI community.
The DRITC finalized its AISTech 2019 technical sessions and the roles of session chair and papers chair were reviewed.
There was discussion regarding including presentations in the AISTech Conference Proceedings. It was noted that many presenters who send presentations instead of papers don’t want to be published. A suggestion was also made to consider some market-oriented presentations. 
Nominations for DRITC officers for the 2019–2020 term were taken.
There was discussion on producer involvement and how to get more people involved in the committee.
The Scrap Substitutes and Alternative Iron seminar will be held in Spring 2020 in Orlando, Fla., USA. Jan van der Stel from Tata Steel R&D is the primary organizer for this conference. Presentations will focus on developmental technologies, and are intended to be on a higher technical level. 
The DRI & HBI: Logistics, Production and Utilization seminar is scheduled for Spring 2021. This is an introductory class that focuses on operations.
The following technical presentations were given:

• “A Global Overview of ArcelorMittal’s DRI Technologies,” by George Tsvik, ArcelorMittal Global R&D – East Chicago.

• “Laboratory Study of Reduction Kinetics in a DRI Shaft Furnace,” by Mahdi Farahani, ArcelorMittal Global R&D – East Chicago.

• “The Use of DRI at Electric Arc Furnace (EAF),” by Mike Lowry, ArcelorMittal Research Laboratories.

The DRITC met 12–13 September 2018, Montreal, Que., Canada. The DRITC discussed the session layout for AISTech 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pa., USA, and reviewed the DRI Roundup, which will be published in the January 2019 issue of Iron & Steel Technology.
The committee had the pleasure of listening to three presentations by their attendees:

•  Justin Farley presented on 45 years of continual improvement at ArcelorMittal Contrecoeur’s DRI modules, which have led to >98% uptime at the facility. The two DRI modules now operate at 145% and 165% of their original designed capacity.

• Mark Stuckey of Magna Ceramics & Catalysts gave interesting insights into the development of novel catalyst materials for Midrex gas reformers and other types of steam reformers.

• Elaine Chen’s presentation, titled “Correlations of Raw Materials Lab Tests and Industrial Data,” discussed an extensive series of trials on iron ore pellet samples to correlate laboratory test result data and actual DRI module performance.

The second day the group met at ArcelorMittal Contrecoeur, where Michel Germain and Justin Farley reviewed the plant layout and led the group on a tour around the facility from the port to the DRI modules. 

Elaine Chen presented a plaque of appreciation to Gabriel Lucena and Michel Germain for hosting the DRITC’s tour of ArcelorMittal Contrecoeur (left to right): Justin Farley, Megha Jampani, Christopher Ravenscroft, Germain, Chen, Lucena, Angelo Manenti, Zane Voss, Brad Cantrell and Matthew Deakin.

Zane Voss (left) presented Jeffrey Myers (right) with the DRITC service plaque at AISTech 2018.

The DRITC met 8 May 2018, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Elaine Chen, ArcelorMittal Global R&D – East Chicago

• Vice chair: Zane Voss, CIX Inc.

• Papers chair: P. Chris Pistorius, Carnegie Mellon University

• Roundup chair: Maude Levesque, ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada

• Membership chair: Janice Bolen, Hatch

The DRITC met 19 March 2018, Charleston, S.C., USA. P. Chris Pistorius finalized the DRITC’s technical sessions for AISTech 2018.
Nominations for DRITC officers were accepted for the 2018–2019 term.
Elaine Chen reviewed the 2018 AIST DRI Roundup, which was published in the January 2018 issue of Iron & Steel Technology. There was discussion of forming a small group to work with the DRITC’s roundup chair on developing a list of information that would be ideal to include in the roundup. The group would then begin contacting producers directly to see how much of that information they would be willing to share publicly. Joel Morales, Nigel Noel and Chris Ravenscroft volunteered for the group.
Zane Voss discussed the DRI & HBI Fundamentals: Logistics, Production and Utilization course. Feedback about the course was positive. A full recap of the seminar appears on pages 154–155 of this issue.
There was discussion about the planning of future DRI Committee Technical Training Courses. Having the Alternative Ironmaking and DRI/HBI training courses every three or four years seems to be working. This would put Alternative Ironmaking in Spring 2020 and DRI/HBI in Spring 2021.
The DRITC also began planning for its Fall 2018 meeting, which will likely be held in Montreal, Que., Canada, with ArcelorMittal Contrecoeur acting as host plant. Committee members were asked to start thinking of topics for the meeting.
Options for future meetings in conjunction with either the Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee or the International Iron Metallics Association (IIMA). There was interest in a joint meeting with IIMA in 2020. Joe Poveromo and Jeremy Jones volunteered to discuss with IIMA and work on planning a joint meeting.
The following technical presentations were given:

• “Dust Collection for DRI/HBI Processing,” by Doug Kunik of Shenck Process.

• “Cold Bonded Briquetting with Stiff Extrusion,” by Mac Steele of J.C. Steele & Sons.

The DRITC met 18–19 October 2017, Duluth, Minn., USA. P. Chris Pistorius, papers chair, discussed the DRITC’s AISTech 2018 technical session development, which will include four sessions. The group also selected session chairs for each of those sessions.
The committee reviewed the 2018 AIST DRI Roundup, which appears on pages 154–157 of the January 2018 issue.
The DRITC discussed the possibility of working with the International Iron Metallics Association (IIMA) as well as the Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee at future meetings and events.
Zane Voss, vice chair, updated the group on the DRI & HBI Technology Training class, which will be held on 19–21 March 2018 in Charleston, S.C., USA, with a tour of Nucor Steel–Berkeley.
Technical presentations were given by Richard Kiesel and George Hudak on the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI)–University of Minnesota Duluth Coleraine Lab, and by Ed Latendresse and April Ekholm on Cleveland-Cliffs’ Northshore Mining and pellet plant operations.
The meeting concluded and the group had tours of both the NRRI Coleraine Lab and Cleveland-Cliffs’ Northshore pellet plant operations.

1. Jeffrey Myers presented a plaque of appreciation for the DRITC’s tour of Colearine Laboratories (left to right): Donald Fosnacht, Richard Kiesel, Myers and Kevin Kangas. 2. Ed Latendresse (left), general manager, Cleveland-Cliffs Northshore Mining, accepted a plaque of recognition from Jeffrey Myers (right) for hosting a tour of the facility.

	Jeffrey Myers (left) presented Angelo Manenti (right) with the DRITC service plaque.

The DRITC met 9 May 2017, Nashville, Tenn., USA.

The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Jeffrey Myers, Midrex Technologies Inc.

• Vice chair: Zane Voss, Voss Metallurgical Solutions Inc.

• Papers chair: P. Chris Pistorius, Carnegie Mellon University

The DRITC met 7–8 September 2016, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico. The main agenda of the meeting focused on the development of the DRITC’s technical sessions for AISTech 2017. Five sessions are anticipated; 21 abstracts had been selected at the time of the meeting. The details of each day’s sessions were reviewed, as well as the responsibilities of papers chairs and session chairs.
There were some discussions regarding the 2016 AIST Leadership Conference, and those comments were forwarded to the committee’s representative to bring up at the conference, which was held in November.
A report was given on the DRI Roundup, with final details from ArcelorMittal DRI research and Ternium forthcoming.
The program outline for the Scrap Supplements and Alternative Ironmaking 7 conference was reviewed. The event will be held on 19–21 February 2017 in Wyndham Lake Buena Vista, Orlando, Fla., USA.
The balance of the afternoon was spent touring the Ternium DRI production facility.
Technical presentations were given on the following topics:

• Transportation and storage of direct reduced (DR) products.

• Use of DRI in the electric arc furnace (EAF).

• Benefit of hot-charged high-carbon DRI on the EAF.

• Safety and accident prevention.

• Tests that need to be conducted to determine suitability for production of DR from iron ore.

Angelo Manenti (left), DRITC chair, presented a plaque of appreciation to José Mendoza (right) for hosting the DRITC’s tour of Ternium Hylsa.

The DRITC met on 23–24 February 2016.

The DRITC met 23–24 February 2016, Birmingham, Ala., USA. The two-day meeting included a plant tour of Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC as well as a dinner meeting with the AIST Birmingham Member Chapter.
The AIST Steel to Students Training Program was discussed.
The DRITC reviewed its topics for the AISTech 2017 Call for Papers. Also discussed was a potential joint meeting with the Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee and how to increase membership and awareness of the DRITC.
The DRITC’s AISTech 2016 technical sessions and final deadlines for submission of papers and presentations were reviewed.
The possibility of a DRI Technology Committee best paper recognition was discussed. 
Scrap Supplements & Alternative Ironmaking 7 will be held on 19–21 February 2017 in Wyndham Lake Buena Vista, Orlando, Fla., USA.
The following technical presentations were given:

•  “Carbon Transfer to the Steel Bath in EAF Steelmaking the Effect of DRI Carbon,” and “Corrosion of Briquetted DRI Fines During Atmospheric Exposure Content,” by Chris Pistorius of Carnegie Mellon University.

• “Design of DRI Material Handling System for Nucor Hertford’s EAF,” by Sergio Guzman of Tenova Core.

• “The Relationship Between DRI and Scrap: History, Pricing and Outlook,” by Joe Poveromo of RMI Global Consulting.

A description of Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC and preliminary information regarding plant tour was given by Zane Voss of Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC.

Adam Zewe (right), Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC melting and casting manager, received a plaque of appreciation for hosting the DRITC’s tour from Angelo Manenti (left), DRITC chair.