According to local media reports, South Korean steel company Hyundai Steel has begun construction of a pilot plant for direct reduction iron (DRI) at its Dangjin Steelworks steel mill in preparation for future investments in a steel mill in the United States.
The pilot plant will be used to test several direct recovery processes, including hydrogen and gas routes, before applying the results to a planned integrated steel mill project in the United States. As previously reported by SteelOrbis, Hyundai Steel announced in March last year investments in the construction of a new steel mill in Louisiana, USA.
According to reports, the pilot complex is designed to produce approximately 30 kilograms of molten pig iron per hour. Hyundai Steel plans to start operating the plant next year, and trial production of steel products will serve as the basis for further preparations for the Louisiana steel plant project.
Tangin was chosen as the location for the pilot facility because a hydrogen production plant has been operating at the steel mill since 2016, providing the necessary infrastructure for testing hydrogen-based direct reduction technologies.
