US Steel and Bill Gates-backed start-up announce pilot clean steel project with integrated turquoise hydrogen production

The US Department of Energy has given a $5.4 million grant for a new clean-steel pilot project. This project will combine zero-carbon turquoise hydrogen production with a direct-reduced iron furnace. US Steel will supply the iron ore, which will be reduced using hydrogen to melt and remove oxygen from the ore. The goal is to produce clean steel in an electric arc furnace. California start-up Molten Industries will provide its methane-pyrolysis technology, and CPFD Software will offer simulation technology to speed up the process.

Molten Industries uses renewable electricity to power reactors that convert natural gas or biomethane into hydrogen and graphite (a solid form of carbon). Since there is no air in the reactor, carbon cannot form CO2, making the process greenhouse gas-free. If biomethane is used, the hydrogen produced can even be carbon-negative.

The main goal of this project is to show how methane-pyrolysis-driven hydrogen production can work with a direct reduced iron furnace at Molten's facility in Oakland, California. Expected benefits include lower energy use, reduced carbon emissions, and cost savings, making steel production more sustainable.

Molten recently raised $25 million in funding and explains that their hydrogen production uses five times less energy than water electrolysis. They source methane from low-emissions natural gas and waste sources like dairy farms, wastewater treatment plants, and landfills, making their hydrogen and graphite carbon-neutral or carbon-negative. Molten's CEO, Kevin Bush, said this project is a big step towards decarbonizing heavy industries and aims for carbon-neutral steel production. US Steel's Chief Technology Officer, Christian Gianni, said this collaboration is vital for developing technologies needed to reach their 2050 net-zero emissions goal.