Finland: Metso launches DRI smelting pilot facility to do customer-specific testing

Metso inaugurated a direct reduced iron smelting furnace pilot facility in Pori, Finland, with its hot commissioning to follow imminently, the Finnish industrial machinery company said in an Oct. 25 statement.

The new facility will allow customer-specific testing to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of Metso’s Outotec DRI Smelting Furnace technology. This technology was designed to substitute traditional blast furnaces in iron and steel production, significantly reducing emissions when combined with a direct reduction plant, such as Metso’s own 100% hydrogen-based Circored or other DR processes.

“The investment into the pilot furnace supports the rapidly increasing demand for testing when planning a transition to emissions-free smelting,” Metso’s Vice President Jyrki Makkonen said. “With the pilot facility, we can reliably test various types of customer materials for industrial scale-up.”

Metso announced it was investing Eur8 million ($8.7 million) in a prototype direct reduced iron smelting furnace in January.