Through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed this week, Tata Steel's Jamshedpur works in India will serve as an industrial demonstration site for SMS group’s electric-assisted syngas smelter technology, called EASyMelt.

SMS group said EASyMelt is a cutting-edge metallurgical solution that can be implemented in existing integrated steel plants.  

“The core of the technology utilizes blast furnace top gas recycling for syngas production by reforming the coke oven gas. The resulting syngas is then injected at both shaft and tuyere level, whereby a plasma torch system is used to further heat the gas injected at tuyere level,” SMS group said. 

The facility's E blast furnace will be outfitted with the system. 

The agreement builds on a November 2022 MoU between Tata Steel and SMS group, allowing them to jointly explore  decarbonization opportunities and leading them to select EASyMelt as a key CO₂-abatement technology for the Jamshedpur works.

The project's primary objective will be to cut CO₂ emissions by at least 50% from the blast furnace’s baseline operation, the companies said. 

“We are very proud to team up with a major steel producer like Tata Steel, and look forward to our future interactions as well as the possibility of achieving a first joint reference for our EASyMelt technology,” said Burkhard Dahmen, chief executive officer of SMS group. “This will represent a significant milestone for the decarbonization of existing blast furnace plants worldwide and thus also a significant milestone in the global transformation of steelmaking.”