Novel green iron tech wins Arena backing for demonstration plant

Australian technology company Calix has received a $A44.9 million grant from Arena which it will use to construct a new facility demonstrating its novel low-carbon iron making process.

Known as Zesty, Calix’ Zero Emissions Steel Technology uses hydrogen to remove oxygen from iron ore to produce what’s known as hydrogen direct reduced iron (H-DRI) and water as a byproduct.

Utilising renewable energy, Calix hopes to produce up to 30,000 tonnes of H-DRI and hot briquetted iron (HBI) each year, both which can be used to make green steel.

Although several companies have unveiled their own methods of producing H-DRI, Arena chief Darren Miller says what makes Zesty “so compelling” is its potential to dramatically lower the amount of hydrogen required to convert iron ore into pure iron.

Calix says it aims to minimise hydrogen use to the minimum of 54kg/ tonne iron by only using hydrogen as a reductant, and ensuring that it is not combusted and unused hydrogen is easily recycled. 

Calix says that during its iron making process, the heat source (which is also electric as opposed to an inefficient blast furnace) is separated from the reaction to ensure hydrogen isn’t combusted and can be used again. 

“Green iron can tackle one of the world’s hardest to abate emissions sources while adding value to Australia’s biggest export,” said Hodgson.

Alongside the demonstration plant, Calix will use a portion of the most recent funding to explore a much larger plant utilising its Zesty technology.

This round of funding follows on from a previous grant issued by Arena that was used by Calix to complete engineering studies for the demonstration plant.

Green credentials

Similarly to other heavy industry plants across Australia, the green credentials of Calix’ demonstration project will depend on the source of its energy and hydrogen. 

To be truly green, several projects such as this are relying upon a stable supply of green hydrogen, which is looking increasingly unlikely based on the tumultuous state of the world’s hydrogen market.

Just this week, oil major BP walked away from one of Australia’s largest green hydrogen production facilities destined for WA, after shifting its business strategy to double down on fossil fuels.

In similar news, Fortescue also confirmed this week that it had scrapped plans for its flagship green hydrogen plant.