The UK steel industry is under increasing pressure to reduce carbon emissions, but many of the proposed solutions are only feasible in the long term. Technology business Binding Solutions Limited is developing a new, lower energy feedstock for Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) that not only helps create cleaner, high-quality steel but has the potential to enable steel companies to make the green transition in just a few years. 

Currently, iron ore undergoes the energy intensive processes of induration and direct reduction before it can be used as a feedstock in steel EAFs. With funding from the Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge, Binding Solutions Ltd (BSL) worked with the Materials Processing Institute (MPI) to develop its composite pellet technology, which is produced using a cold process. 

“Induration involves heat of around 1400 degrees Celsius, so it uses a huge amount of energy. Our patented process uses pressure and bespoke chemical binding formulations instead of heat to agglomerate the materials. It also cuts out the need for the direct reduction stage and can be fed directly into EAFs,” explains project lead Thomas Brown, Head of Business Development at BSL.  

“Alongside energy and carbon savings, there is also a reduction in capital expenditure: traditional induration facilities cost around US$1bn to build, whereas the low-cost and modular nature of our process means our technology can be housed in facilities costing 90% less.” 

Using the MPI’s seven-tonne EAF, the project team undertook test melts of BSL’s composite pellets. They successfully demonstrated pellet reduction at scale, explored iron ore and carbon blends, and progressed the technology readiness level. “Surprisingly, we also found the composite pellets produced a low-nitrogen steel,” adds Brown. “It’s early stages, but if we can replicate this, there is potential to produce different grades of steel, including auto-body steel, which the UK currently imports,” says Brown.