Tata Steel Nederland has chosen Primetals Technologies’ pellet pot testing facility replicating an industrial pelletizer for its pilot plant in IJmuiden, the Netherlands, where the implementation of direct iron reduction and electric steelmaking technologies will require carefully developed pellet-feed mixtures.
The European engineering company said Aug. 7 it will design, supply, and install the equipment for Tata Steel’s R&D subsidiary along with a comprehensive electrical and automation solution. The facility will handle up to six pot grate tests per day and 500 tests annually once it comes online in mid-2025.
Primetals has been operating an innovative pellet pot in Leoben, Austria, since 2014, and with Tata Steel Nederland’s testing facility, the engineering company will take this concept to the next level in terms of capacity, autonomation, and special features, the company said.
“This is one of Tata Steel R&D’s largest investments in years,” said Tata Steel R&D Director Vincent Ritman.
The chosen installation project is meant to make the connection between the pellet plant and the future direct reduction plant, and to facilitate Tata’s pellet research program by testing various concentrates and pellet-feed mixtures to achieve production of high-quality and uniform pellets, by analyzing and determining optimal temperature profiles tailored to Tata Steel Nederland’s pellet quality targets, and by generating insights on emission levels.
Tata Steel Nederland, whose blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace operating IJmuiden steelworks is capable of producing up to 7.5 million mt/year of steel coil, aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2045, with the ambition requiring transformation of the Ijmuiden’s whole iron and steelmaking processes. This means the mill’s switchover to gas- and hydrogen-powered direct-reduced iron technology along with an EAF-based steel plant.
The implementation of the new plants means that Tata Steel Nederland will operate partly with new types of raw materials, while dealing with higher requirements on pellet qualities, and the Primetals’ pellet testing facility will play a role in ensuring optimal raw material mixes for the future pelletizing plant, and optimal parameters for the induration process.
Tata Steel Nederland is implementing its transition to a green steel producer in three stages, with the first and second ones to be completed by 2030 and during the 2030s with direct reduced iron smelting and electric arc furnaces replacing blast furnaces Nos. 7 and 6 and coke and gas plants Nos. 2 and 1 with the cumulative 80% reduction in CO2 emissions.
