Desulfurization Challenges in the Transition to Green Steel Production

Abstract

As a result of the global transition towards green steel production, integrated steel plants are optimizing the existing processes and/or adopting new steelmaking methods to minimize their carbon footprint. These adjustments affect desulfurization conditions and requirements. The present study examines how the desulfurization is impacted for both hot metal and liquid steel across three routes: the traditional blast furnace (BF) - basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) with increased scrap ratio, the direct reduced iron (DRI) - electric arc furnace (EAF) with varying scrap to DRI ratios, and the DRI - electric smelting furnace (ESF) - BOF. This work discusses challenges and possible solutions for each route.