Air Liquide claims steel production first

Paris -  Air Liquide is claiming a world first, with the development of a technology to enable CO2 to be separated from blast furnace gases, while at the same time recovering residual gases. The work at a pilot plant on the MEFOS site (Metallurgical Research Institute) in Luleå, Sweden, is being carried out under the European ULCOS project (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking), which is being coordinated by ArcelorMittal and involves European steel producers.

Accordign to Air Liquide, its technology combined with a recycling blast furnace cuts carbon consumption and hence CO2 emissions, and also ensures that the CO2 is pure enough to be stored underground. Tests, it said, have demonstrated the feasibility of the process and confirmed the improved energy efficiency of the blast furnace. A second phase of ULCOS will include an industrial-scale demonstration from 2010, the company added.

“Air Liquide is constantly innovating to enable its customers to improve the efficiency of their processes and reduce their polluting emissions," said François Darchis of Air Liquide’s executive committee. "Today, the Group spends 60% of its R&D budget on projects contributing to preserving life and the environment. Tomorrow, half of the Group's growth will come from applications linked to the environment”.