Hyundai Steel to open carbon-neutral steel lab by 2023

Hyundai Steel Co., a unit under South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Group, is set to kick off research on hydrogen-based steelmaking as its new lab will open by the end of this year in Dangjin Integrated Steelworks, South Chungcheong Province, about 90 kilometers southwest of Seoul.

The company broke ground on the lab with 680 square meters of flooring area late last year. At the new building, it will develop technologies on hydrogen-fueled steelmaking and study some types of hydrogen that are generated by natural gas reforming and electrochemical processes.

Hyundai Steel will start empirical research on hydrogen-based steel by the end of this year, with an aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The company is developing technologies related to fluidized bed reduction reactors, which Korean steel giant POSCO Group is planning to use at its Pohang steel complex pilot facility from 2026.  

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in February of this year that it aims to complete the development of basic technologies for the reactors by 2025 with a 27 billion won ($20.7 million) investment and execute empirical studies on the production of 1 million tons of steel by 2030. The government also plans to alternate shaft furnaces across the country with 14 fluidized bed reduction reactors by 2050.

In addition to the reactor study, Hyundai Steel is developing an electric arc furnace that can melt raw materials and remove impurities. The company plans to connect the new furnace with hydrogen-fueled steelmaking facilities to achieve its net zero goal.

Hyundai Steel will operate the new facilities with the hydrogen produced by the natural gas reforming and electrochemical processes first, the company said. Compared with green hydrogen, this type of hydrogen has lower purity and generates more carbon during the production process but is more price competitive.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.