ArcelorMittal unveils €200 million Steelanol carbon capture project
The ‘Steelanol’ project is a first of its kind for the European steel industry, according to the company. Utilising carbon recycling technology developed by its project partner LanzaTech, the CCU plant uses biocatalysts to transform carbon-rich waste gases from the steelmaking process and from waste biomass into ‘advanced’ ethanol, which can then be used as a building block to produce a variety of chemical products including transport fuels, paints, plastics, and clothing.
The advanced ethanol will be jointly marketed by ArcelorMittal and LanzaTech under the Carbalyst brand name.
Once production reaches full capacity the €200 million Steelanol plant will produce 80 million litres of advanced ethanol, almost half of the total current advanced ethanol demand for fuel mixing in Belgium.
It aims to reduce annual carbon emissions from the Ghent plant by 125kt. Other partners involved in the Steelanol project are Primetals Technologies and E4tech.
“This is a steel plant which is embracing the latest innovative technologies…which is preparing for a future when green hydrogen will remove the need to use any fossil carbon,” said Lakshmi Mittal, ArcelorMittal executive chairman.
