Metso opens pilot DRI facility in Finland

The new facility will allow customer-specific pilot-scale testing to demonstrate the applicability and results of industrial-scale DRI smelting with Metso’s Outotec^® DRI Smelting Furnace technology, says the company.

“This new pilot facility is yet another example of Metso’s cutting-edge solutions that support the minerals and metals processing industry in the quest to implement new sustainable technologies. Metso’s DRI Smelting Furnace substitutes traditional blast furnaces used in iron and steel making and enables a significant reduction of emissions when combined with a direct reduction plant,” commented Jyrki Makkonen, vice president, smelting at Metso.

“The investment into the DRI Smelting Furnace pilot facility supports the rapidly increasing customer demand for reliable testing when planning a transition to emissions-free smelting. With the pilot facility, we can reliably test various types of customer materials for industrial scale-up. The construction of the pilot plant and equipment installations have gone extremely rapidly and smoothly. Hot commissioning of the equipment will take place soon, and then we will be ready for customer testing,” added Mari Lindgren, director, smelting research and development at Metso.

The new DRI Smelting Furnace, launched in 2022, substitutes traditional blast furnaces in the production of hot metal, making it a ready solution for primary steel producers who are aiming for a reduction in their CO₂ emissions with minimal changes to the rest of the steel plant. The furnace can be integrated with Metso’s hydrogen-based Circored^TM process or other direct reduction processes.