Steel manufacturer Tata Steel Ltd. has started an experiment for injecting hydrogen gas at its blast furnace in the company’s flagship facility in an effort to utilise less metallurgical coke and minimise carbon emissions. The company began the trial injection at the factory in Jamshedpur using 40% of the injection machinery.
This is the first time ever, according to a company statement, that a blast furnace is continuously injected with such a significant amount of hydrogen gas. The business aims to achieve net zero by 2045. The trial took place on April 23.
The trial, which is planned to run continuously for four to five days, could cut coke rate by 10 percent, which would result in a 7%–10% decrease in carbon dioxide emissions per ton of crude steel produced.
The trial will offer information about running blast furnaces with more environmentally friendly fuel injectants, thereby lowering the consumption of fossil fuels and the accompanying blast furnace CO2 emissions.
In order to spur demand for cleaner fuel in its effort to attain net zero by 2070, India has set green hydrogen consumption targets for some industries, including steel.
