Outokumpu invests in pelletizing plant

Biocoke is a renewable raw material produced using biomass from forest and wood industry side streams. In the first stage, the biomass is carbonized in a pyrolysis process into biocarbon, and in the second stage, it can be processed/pelletized into biocoke, i.e. a densified biocarbon.

Biocarbon is used in stainless steel melting and biocoke in ferrochrome smelting to replace fossil coal and coke respectively.

Our determined actions within sustainability such as ensuring high recycled content and low-carbon energy sources have already enabled us to offer stainless steel with the lowest carbon footprint in the industry. Work continues to meet our ambitious climate target to reduce emissions across our value chain by 42 percent by 2030 compared to the 2016 baseline. Fossil coke represents 50 percent of our direct emissions today. Therefore, a concrete step to significantly reduce these emissions is to replace fossil coke with biocoke which is produced using biomass from forest and wood industry residues, said Timo Huhtala, General Manager for the biocoke project at Outokumpu.

Biocarbon pelletizing plant

During the past year, Outokumpu has been studying the feasibility of establishing its own industrial-scale biocoke production facility and worked on a roadmap for building up the supply of biomass-based raw materials for the future comprising a mixture of own production, external sourcing, and partnerships.

The first step on this journey is to invest in a facility to pelletize externally sourced biocarbon into biocoke at Outokumpu’s site in Tornio, Finland with an annual capacity of 25,000 tonnes.

The aim is to start production in mid-2025.

Secured biocarbon offtake with Envigas

Outokumpu works to secure access to high-quality biocarbon through direct purchases and by developing partnerships.

In November 2023, Outokumpu announced an agreement to become a shareholder in Swedish biocarbon producer Envigas AB, one of the first large-scale producers of biocarbon in the Nordics.

The investment secures a right to 50 percent of Envigas’ current and future production.

Biocoke is a Best Available Technology

The biocoke will be subsequently used in the ferrochrome operations as a reductant to replace fossil coke. This will help to reduce fossil carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by an estimated 82,000 tonnes.

According to Outokumpu, biocoke currently represents the Best Available Technology (BAT) to replace fossil coke in ferrochrome production. Unlike in carbon steel manufacturing, hydrogen cannot be used as a reductant in ferrochrome smelting due to the high temperatures required.

The Tornio pilot plant enables Outokumpu to further develop the process and product so that a possible scale-up later could be possible.

The use of biomass-based raw materials offers exciting new possibilities to cut direct emissions. We achieved great milestones earlier this year with successful production tests with biocoke, which has given us the confidence to take the next step of building our own pelletizing plant, said Timo Huhtala.

In parallel, Outokumpu also continues to plan for further investments to capacity for biocoke production in the future.

As a second phase, the company will continue to develop the concept for a biocarbon production pilot plant including how to utilize process side stream gases most efficiently.

Further investment decisions are planned to be made during 2024 provided that the financial feasibility is proven.

In the longer term, Outokumpu is investigating other potential technologies to replace fossil coke.