Page 40 - ITAtube Journal 2 2022

Press releases
battery-powered electric powertrain and aluminium components, this is especially the case with steel”, the Group explains. For Volkswagen, the reduction of CO2 emissions in the supply chain “is a central component in order to gradually become a mobility provider with a neutral CO2 balance by 2050, as part of the Group’s goTOzero strategy”.
In addition, a closed recycling cycle for steel is to be set up between Volkswagen’s parent plant in Wolfsburg and the inte- grated smelter plant in Salzgitter. Volkswa- gen is again making the steel remnants of the production available to Salzgitter AG, which melts them down, processes them into new steel products and delivers them to Wolfsburg for car production.
Expansion of hydrogen infrastructure
ArcelorMittal aims to achieve carbon-neu- tral steel production at its European
sites by 2050 and to reduce emissions by 30 percent by 2030. “The German flat steel sites in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt are fully integrated into the Group’s strategy on climate neutrality”, the company explains. Two blast furnaces will be converted at the sites in order to blow in natural gas and reduce CO2 emissions. With the planned expansion of the hydrogen infrastructure in Germany, ArcelorMittal intends to build a large industrial plant for the direct reduc- tion of iron ore (DRI) in Bremen and a DRI pilot plant in Eisenhüttenstadt in combina- tion with electric arc furnaces by 2026.
Own process gases and hydrogen
With ‘H2Syngas’, Saarstahl and Dillinger rely - together with the engineering company Paul Wurth (part of the SMS group) -, on the use of their own process gases and the use of considerable amounts of hydrogen in the blast furnace process. The correspond- ing pilot plant was built in cooperation with Paul Wurth.
“The new process developed by Paul Wurth – known as dry reforming – enables the conversion of the coking plant gas produced in the coking plant into a hot reducing gas or synthesis gas”, explains
Saarstahl. This is enriched with hydrogen and then used as a reducing agent for the reduction of the iron ores. The injection of the hot reducing gas into the blast furnace “leads to a considerable reduction in coke consumption and thus to a reduction in CO2 emissions”.
The green transformation is also digital
The green transformation has already begun and is setting itself high targets – but it needs digital support. According to the ifo Institute, the digital transformation of the energy industry – and ultimately the steel industry – is an integral part of the energy transition. It is one of the biggest IT projects of all time. In the future, many new and decentralised producers of renewable energy will enter the market. “These must be connected to the grid and their fluctu- ating production must be controlled. As a result, suppliers will have to manage large data streams, including data on feed-in
or local consumption”, explains the ifo Institute. Digitisation therefore not only supports efficient production, but also a sustainable distribution of energy to steel companies. A mammoth task that must now be mastered.
The exhibitors at wire and Tube 2022 are prepared for this and will present new tech- nological solutions from the wire, cable, tube and pipe industries at the Düsseldorf Fairgrounds from 20 to 24 June 2022. For further information, industry and company news on both trade fairs, please visit: www. wire.de and www.Tube.de.
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ITAtube Journal June 2022
Press contact
Messe Düsseldorf
Petra Hartmann Bresgen MA Ulrike Osahon
Phone: +49 (0)211/4560-541/992
Fax: +49 (0)211/4560-87 541
E-Mail: HartmannP@messe-duesseldorf.de