This new technology could kill the business case for hydrogen in green steel production
Molten oxide electrolysis may prove to be a cheaper option than direct iron reduction — if start-up Boston Metal can demonstrate it works at scale
www.hydrogeninsight.com
At this temperature, the iron oxide in the ore splits into pure molten iron and oxygen; impurities such as silica and magnesium rise to the top of the furnace, and the liquid electrolyte remains in situ to continue the process. Another advantage of the technology is that while hydrogen-fired direct-iron reduction (DRI) (see panel below) requires scarce high-grade iron ore — causing Swedish developer H2 Green Steel to import ore from Canada and Brazil — MOE works with low-grade iron ore, a cheaper resource.
