Mitsubishi begins hydrogen-based iron manufacture demo project

Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation is participating in a demonstration project for the development of a hydrogen-based fluidised bed fine ore reduction (HYFOR) process and electric smelting furnace in partnership with Mitsubishi-owned, UK-based metals company Primetals Technologies.

The project entails constructing and operating an industrial-scale prototype plant for a new hydrogen-based ironmaking process at a Voestalpine steelworks in Linz, Austria.

Operations are scheduled to begin in mid-2027. The new ironmaking process has a projected capacity of three tonnes per hour and will produce hot metal and hot briquetted iron using the HYFOR and smelter technologies developed by Primetals. Global mining firm Rio Tinto will supply 70% of the iron ore.

HYFOR is billed as the world’s first direct reduction technology for iron ore particles that does not require any agglomeration steps and enables the use of a wide variety of iron ores as feedstock.