US Steel and Bill Gates-backed start-up announce pilot clean steel project with integrated turquoise hydrogen production
Project has been awarded a $5.4m grant from the US Department of Energy
The US Department of Energy has awarded a $5.4m grant for the construction of a pilot clean-steel project that will demonstrate a novel system that will integrate zero-carbon turquoise hydrogen production with a direct-reduced iron furnace.
US Steel will provide the iron ore that will be reduced (ie, using hydrogen to both melt and remove oxygen from the ore) and “potentially” use produce clean steel from the iron in an electric arc furnace, with California-based start-up Molten Industries providing its methane-pyrolysis technology, and CPFD Software providing simulation technology that can speed up the design and time-to-market of the tech.
Molten Industries uses renewable electricity to power “white-hot chemical reactors” that crack natural gas or biomethane into hydrogen and graphite (a form of solid carbon), which can be used in lithium-ion batteries. Because there is no air inside the reactor, the carbon cannot react with oxygen to produce CO2, hence the process emits no greenhouse gases (except perhaps for upstream methane emissions outside Molten’s control).
In fact, if biomethane is used, the hydrogen produced could be considered “carbon-negative”.
“The project's main objective is to demonstrate the integration of methane-pyrolysis-driven hydrogen production with a pilot direct reduced iron (DRI) shaft furnace at Molten's facility [in Oakland, California],” says Molten.
“Anticipated outcomes include significant energy, carbon intensity, and cost reductions — a pivotal stride toward sustainable steel production.”
The start-up — which recently raised $25m in Series A funding, led by billionaire-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures (see panel below) — explains on its website: “While clean methods of hydrogen production exist — like water electrolysis — they rely on large amounts of renewable wind and solar energy. Our solution uses five times less energy than water electrolysis and can use existing natural gas networks to produce clean hydrogen where it is consumed.
It adds: “Our methane is responsibly procured from certified low-emissions natural gas and waste streams such as dairy farms, waste-water treatment plants, and landfills. This leads to hydrogen and graphite that are carbon-neutral or carbon-negative.”
The start-up claims that it is the “only team in the world that has shown we can use methane to make a lithium-ion grade graphite that drops directly into the existing lithium-ion battery anode supply chain, fundamentally changing the cost structure and geographic constraints of the graphite supply chain”.
The sale of graphite represents an additional income stream that could offset some of the cost of the turquoise hydrogen production.
Molten CEO Kevin Bush said that the pilot project “is an exciting first step in Molten’s mission to decarbonize the world’s heavy industries… we are confident that our joint efforts will pave the way for a future where carbon-neutral steel production is not just a possibility but a reality”.
US Steel chief technology officer Christian Gianni added: “Achieving U. S. Steel’s 2050 net zero emissions goal requires the development and commercialization of various technologies, some of which have yet to be available on a broad scale.
“This collaboration, thanks to the DOE grant, is an investment in the future of sustainable American steel.