CiSMA: Circular Steel for Mass Market Applications

Scrap-based production of Steel using Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) with possibility of 100 % scrap charges, offers a Circular Economy-based solution to reduce CO2 emissions when compared to the integrated Blast Furnace (BF) + Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) route (1.81 tCO2/tsteel for BOF vs 0.23tCO2/tsteel for EAF).

However, EAF production of sheet steel is currently not a reality due to the effect of undesired residual elements in the scrap.The aim of CiSMA is to introduce scrap-based EAF steel products into mass-market sheet metal consumer goods with high-quality requirements, currently served with BOF steel (96 % of the market).First, by generating fundamental knowledge on how residual elements, and Copper in particular, interact with sheet Steel and its performance.

This will be done combining state-of-the-art methodologies with specialized resources, such as Synchrotron, to design Steel grades and determine safe residual thresholds.Next, scrap as a raw material will be studied together with methodologies to improve its quality and maximize the use of low-quality scrap, through the use of techniques that separate undesired inclusions from the main stream of steel.Finally, by generating a toolbox of enabling technologies to introduce recycled sheet metal in the industry: 1) fast characterization tests for quality control, 2) online test methodologies that can be applied in the press floor, and 3) the development of Machine Learning-enhanced Finite Element Modelling and Digital Twin that allow adapting production processes to feedstock with high variability.These developments will be showcased in applying four steel compositions into two pilot trials for mass-market applications: automotive and white goods.

These trials will ensure that the material and production route developed can be readily accepted by the market, demonstrate the developed toolset of enabling technologies, and quantify the environmental improvements achieved compare to the current product.