Academic - Industry Cooperation in Fundamental Research on Ironmaking for the Dutch Steelmaking Industry in the 21^st Century

Ironmaking is a crucial step for integrated steelmaking, which consumes a significant amount of energy and is the main CO₂ emission source for the whole steelmaking industry. In the Netherlands, Tata Steel, previously known as Koninklijke Hoogovens and Corus, runs an integrated steel plant and produces high-quality flat steel with more than 100 years of history (since 1918). TU Delft, the oldest technical university in the Netherlands with over 180 years of history, holds the education and research program in process metallurgy, to support the technology innovations in the metallurgical industry. Close cooperation between TU Delft and Tata Steel in process fundamentals and technology developments has a long history. This paper focuses on the cooperation in the recent 25 years from the new millennium in ironmaking research: from the blast furnace (BF) process, the “HIsarna” smelting reduction, to the future H₂-based technologies. Tata Steel has its own R&D center, focusing more on applied research to support production now and in the future. The research at TU Delft focuses more on the process fundamentals and supports process optimization and new process development. Long-term and continuous industry-academic-national funding schemes with the assistance of Materials Innovation Institute (M2i) are instrumental in supporting the academic industry alliance. Joint EU-funding applications as partner pair is another cooperation path. A recently awarded 8-year program as part of the Dutch national growth funds: Growing with Green Steel (GGS) is a good example, where the H₂-based ironmaking is an important part of the program. The paper will highlight the flagship projects in ironmaking technologies: BF cohesive zone simulation, nut-coke in BF, suspension pre-reduction and H₂-enrichment in HIsarna, H₂-based direct reduction, as well as the industrial decarbonization technology pathways. It is believed that fundamental research with a long-term funding scheme will facilitate a more rapid green transition of the steelmaking industry.