Andritz AG and Tata Steel have entered into an agreement for the design, supply and commissioning of an Acid Recovery Plant (ARP) at Port Talbot.
Andritz’s ARP will be part of a new Pickle Line at the site in South Wales, with the plant designed to recover and recycle the hydrochloric acid used to clean the coils of hot-rolled steel.
ARP project manager, Paul Boxer, said: “The new plant will be a closed-loop system that will regenerate the used acid, providing a consistent quality acid, removing the need for importing vast quantities of acid from overseas and exporting the spent liquids.”
The new plant is designed to meet the highest environmental standards and support the planned expansion of the site’s pickling line capacity.
The agreement is part of Tata Steel’s £1.25 billion project to achieve low-CO₂ steelmaking at Port Talbot.
Programme manager, Andrew McGregor, added: “This is a big step to decarbonise our pickling operations, with the significant reduction of acid deliveries from Europe through to the ability to recover and reuse the acid once the new facility is commissioned.
“So, not only is this good news for our own process stability and costs, but it’s also good for the environment, reducing our acid deliveries and collections from around 25 tankers a week to maybe 2 or 3 a month.”
The new plant is due to be built in January 2027, with commissioning planned later that year.
