On March 15, the "Forging New Paths with Innovation, Greening the Future—HIsmelt Technology Application and High-Quality Development Forum" hosted by Shandong Panjin Steel Pipe Manufacturing Co., Ltd., was held in Hangzhou. Jia Lijun, Head of the Hydrogen Metallurgy Project Development Department at SDM, was invited to attend the forum and delivered a special report titled "Progress and Application Prospects of HIsmelt Smelting Reduction Ironmaking Technology."                                                                         

This forum, themed "Forging New Horizons with Green Innovation," brought together experts, scholars, and corporate representatives from domestic steel enterprises, universities, and related equipment manufacturing sectors. They engaged in in-depth exchanges on hot topics such as the innovative practices, engineering applications, and low-carbon pathways of HIsmelt technology, jointly exploring the high-quality development path of this smelting reduction technology in the context of green metallurgy.

In his report, Jia Lijun pointed out that after nearly four decades of research, development, and industrial application validation, HIsmelt technology has achieved industrial production successively in Kwinana, Australia, and Shouguang Maolong, China. Despite facing numerous challenges in the initial stages of process design, equipment selection, and process control, through continuous technological optimization and system improvements, the early plants have achieved breakthrough progress with a daily output exceeding 2,000 tons and a cumulative hot metal production of approximately 2 million tons. The report further clarified that HIsmelt technology offers advantages such as a concise process flow, broad raw material adaptability, environmental friendliness, high product purity, and significant smelting efficiency. It particularly conducted a comparative analysis between its smelting efficiency and operational flexibility and those of the traditional blast furnace process. The report emphasized that special attention must be paid to foam slag and furnace temperature management in HIsmelt process control. In contrast to the traditional blast furnace, this technology does not need to address multiple technical challenges such as uneven gas flow distribution, hearth freezing, hanging, collapse, and tuyere slag flooding, making its control operations simpler and more flexible.

In the field of HIsmelt technology improvement, Jia Lijun elaborated on the innovative achievements of SDM in process optimization, equipment upgrading, and intelligent control. By optimizing the gas purification system, improving the SRV furnace structure, and enhancing the localization rate and intelligence level of equipment, the upgraded system has achieved significant breakthroughs in key indicators such as operation rate, fuel consumption, production capacity, and production costs: the improved technology reduces carbon emissions per ton of iron by more than 30% compared to the traditional blast furnace process, with daily production capacity increased to 2,360 tons, monthly output reaching 66,000 tons, and cost per ton of iron reduced by over 100 yuan compared to the traditional blast furnace. It has also achieved the key technical indicator of continuous operation for 90 days without shutdown. Additionally, it can produce high-purity pig iron with low phosphorus and low silicon, precisely meeting the needs of high-end casting and special steel production, successfully realizing the upgrade iteration of HIsmelt 2.0. This Rev. breakthrough has established its prominent advantage in the ironmaking field.

The forum shared an overview and progress of SDM in the field of HIsmelt technological innovation and R&D: The company collaborated with Luli Steel to conduct an industrial pilot test of fluidized bed pre-reduction and completed the construction of related equipment. The R&D and application of fluidized bed technology are the core keys to achieving breakthroughs in the HIsmelt process toward version 3.0.

The report further envisions diversified application scenarios for HIsmelt technology. In the future, the innovative "HIsmelt + electric arc furnace" smelting model is expected to become a significant supplement to the development of electric arc furnace steel, helping to address the industry challenge of harmful element accumulation in scrap. Meanwhile, this process also holds broad application prospects in areas such as high-purity pig iron production, non-ferrous metal smelting, and resource utilization of high-iron red mud, positioning it as one of the key technologies driving the green and low-carbon transformation of the steel industry.

Against the backdrop of increasing global pressure for carbon emission reduction and tightening resource constraints, HIsmelt smelting reduction technology is gradually emerging as a crucial pathway to break through the bottlenecks of traditional ironmaking technology and promote the sustainable development of the steel industry, leveraging its core advantages of low carbon, flexibility, and high efficiency. As an authorized engineering technical service provider for HIsmelt smelting reduction ironmaking technology and a strategic partner of Luli Steel, SDM has long relied on a mature market promotion system to actively forward the application of this technology within the industry. HIsmelt technology has gained widespread recognition from industry experts due to its notable strengths, including strong adaptability to raw material & fuel, excellent environmental performance, low energy consumption levels, and the ability to produce high-quality products. To date, the company has provided high-end consulting services to dozens of key domestic and international enterprises, and the detailed design for the HIsmelt smelting reduction ironmaking project at Xingtai Steel is nearing completion. In the future, SDM will continue to deepen technological innovation, promote the industrial application of HIsmelt technology across multiple industries and scenarios, and provide solid support for building a green, intelligent, and efficient modern metallurgical system.