In a statement, Primetals Technologies said the technology, called the Smelter, is meant to be a replacement for the classic blast furnace. The Smelter uses electrical energy to melt and carry out the final reduction of direct reduced iron (DRI). It is operated together with a direct reduction plant and an LD converter.

The companies said the technology can reduce CO₂ emissions by a factor of six, to 0.33 tons of CO₂ per ton of liquid steel.
"If you are serious about green steel, you have to start with the blast furnace processes, i.e., where the CO₂ emissions are massive,” said Constantin Beelitz, RHI Magnesita president for Europe, CIS and Turkey.

“We are proud to be an integral part of the push for the development of green steel production solutions together with Primetals Technologies, not only as supplier of refractories but also as a technology partner.”

The companies said the market-ready technology offers two major cost benefits: it can accept lower-grade DRI and, because it uses a converter, it can be inserted into the production chain without major modifications.