Report: Japanese Steel Industry to Build Hydrogen Blast Furnace
08/14/2013 - Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. and three other steel companies said they will construct an experimental hydrogen-fueled blast furnace to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, according to a report on Nikkei.com.
The furnace is part of a project by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, on behalf of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, to develop new steelmaking technologies. The aim is to slash industry CO2 emissions 30% by 2030, with 10% coming from a partial changeover from coal to hydrogen. While just four companies use blast furnaces, they account for 15% of the nation's total CO2 emissions.
The new furnace, to be built at a Nippon Steel facility in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, will produce 10,000 tons of steel a day. Construction will cost 15 billion yen over five years, with about 2.7 billion yen budgeted for fiscal 2013. Completion is planned for fiscal 2015, and a test run will last until fiscal 2017.
