Decarbonization Webinar – "Challenges Around Synthetic Hot Metal Coming From Smelters"

19 March 2025 • Zoom • 9–10 a.m. EST

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About the Program

 Direct reduction combined with a smelter and a basic oxygen furnace represents one of the two pathways for green steel production. The smelter produces synthetic hot metal similar to blast furnace hot metal. The differences and challenges are addressed in this webinar. This webinar explores the metallurgical principles and the impact of key elements on the subsequent steelmaking processes.

Registration Fees

 US$0 for AIST members, U$50 for non-members. 

Available Sponsorships

Event Sponsor – 1 available US$3,500

  • Name recognition for specific webinar on upcoming webinar calendar.
  • Sponsor logo and hyperlink included in electronic promotions.
  • Sponsor logo and hyperlink on specific webinar page.
  • Sponsor can provide a message (2–3 sentences) for host to read during opening webinar remarks.
  • Verbal recognition by host at end of webinar.
  • Recognition in thank-you message to all participants when the webinar ends.
  • Sponsor will receive a list of all webinar participants (name, company, country).
  • Three AIST memberships for non-members only.

Moderators

Mike Grant, Global Technology Director, International Senior Expert, Steel Production, Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Germany GmbH

Mike Grant is working globally to lead Air Liquide’s tactical and long-term strategies geared toward the steel industry. He started his career in 1988 working in ironmaking for Inland Steel Co. as a blast furnace process engineer. Nearly 10 years later at the end of 1997, he joined Air Liquide to develop and commission burner and oxygen injection systems for electric arc furnaces. In 2001, when Air Liquide purchased American Combustion, he began working for ACI designing and commissioning oxygen injection systems for electric arc furnaces (EAFs). He has designed, successfully commissioned and optimized more than 30 EAFs worldwide. In 2007, he was transferred to Air Liquide Research Labs just outside Paris, France, to work on EAF and blast furnace topics — most notably the European Commission ULCOS project (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking) where he was on the European team developing the top gas recycling blast furnace, and now he lives and works in Frankfurt, Germany.  

Felix Firsbach, Vice President, Badische Stahl-Engineering GmbH

Felix Firsbach studied metallurgy at RWTH Aachen. He was R&D lab manager and global steel expert at Lhoist (Belgium). In 2021, he joined the Badische Group in Germany, where he is head of consulting and drives decarbonization consultancy solutions for mini-mills and integrated steel plants. He is vice chair of the AIST Decarbonization Subcommittee and Officer-at-Large of the European Member Chapter. Firsbach gives lectures at RWTH Aachen, has more than 50 publications, is owner of one patent and was honored with the Charles H. Herty Jr. Award in 2023. 

Presentation 1: How Will Hot Metal composition Change in the Transition From BF to DR + Smelter?, Gerald Wimmer, Vice President of Converter Steelmaking, Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH 

Presenter Bio: Gerald Wimmer specializes in developing and optimizing steelmaking processes, leveraging simulation-based verification, and providing consulting for greenfield and brownfield projects. With a strong focus on innovation and sustainability, his work continues to drive efficiency and advancement in the global steel industry.

Abstract: Hydrogen-based direct reduction combined with a two-step process employing a smelter and a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) is the most promising green steel production route using low-grade iron ore. The melt from the smelter is similar to hot metal from blast furnace with slightly lower carbon and silicon levels reducing the heat available in the BOF for scrap melting and impacting production output. The composition of a melt from a smelter is compared to traditional compositions known from blast furnace operation with a focus on C, Si, P, and S and their impact on the BOF process as well as options to maintain the scrap rate (e.g., postcombustion, scrap preheating) presented.

Presentation 2: Understanding and Optimizing the Properties of Low-Emission Hot Metal From Electric Smelting Furnace (ESF), Sa Ge, Metallurgy Specialist, Hatch

Presenter Bio: Sa Ge is a metallurgy specialist at Hatch, with 14 years of research and professional experience in North America, Asia-Pacific and Africa. His areas of expertise include low-emission and electric iron and steel processes, technoeconomic assessments for capital projects, development and commissioning of innovative metallurgical processes, as well as value-in-use analysis and optimization across the full iron and steel value chain.

Abstract: Ore-based metallics (OBM) is a critical ingredient for steelmaking. Traditional OBM, i.e., blast furnace hot metal (BF-HM) has cost and process advantages but carries significant greenhouse gas burden, while the widespread adoption of low-emission OBMs such as gas-based direct reduced iron (DRI) are limited by high-grade iron ore availability and process constraints. The direct reduction ironmaking–electric smelting furnace (DRI-ESF) flowsheet allows the production high-quality, low-emission ESF-HM from widely available iron ore, and offers a unique opportunity to engineer HM chemistry for downstream users. This study examines the metallurgical principles of the DRI-ESF process, the characteristics of ESF-HM as a new high-value OBM, and strategies to optimize its properties for different steelmaking flowsheets.