At the thyssenkrupp Steel site in Duisburg-Nord, the Düren-based plant manufacturer TS Elino will build a direct reduction test plant including the associated auxiliary units. The VDEh operational research institute is the client.
The project is intended to advance research into the direct reduction of iron ore. The order volume for the direct reduction plant on a demonstration scale is around 10 million euros and is part of the H2Stahl “Real Laboratories for the Energy Transition” project funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK). The consortium partners thyssenkrupp Steel and the VDEh operational research institute (BFI, project coordination) are testing the technological leap into hydrogen-based, climate-neutral pig iron production with the construction and experimental operation of a direct reduction test plant.
Innovative direct reduction test facility
With a height of around 40 meters, the planned facility will be able to accommodate different direct reduction processes and thus offer maximum flexibility for research on direct reduction. Equipped with the most innovative measurement, control and regulation technology, the system enables the use of various reducing gases such as hydrogen, natural gas and the mixed gases produced during steel production.
The system is not tied to a specific direct reduction process. This makes it possible to operate the system in a technology-neutral manner using various input materials such as pellets, lump ore and recycled materials. The test facility will have a capacity of 100 kg/h of direct reduced iron and will be connected to the media and infrastructure of the nearby Carbon2Chem.
Optimization and simulation of industrial plants
The BFI is responsible for project coordination and is responsible for operating the test facility; the first test campaigns are planned for the beginning of 2026. In this way, future operating points can be optimized and the integration of the system into the process network of a steelworks can be simulated through tests before the system under construction is put into operation on an industrial scale.
In addition to CO2 savings, product quality and system performance, research objectives include findings on system handling and safety. The tests are accompanied by simulations and special investigations on reduction systems in the technical center of the VDEh operational research institute in Düsseldorf, which enables research on various scales (technical center system, direct reduction test system, industrial system).
