Industrial process heating systems supply necessary heat to produce goods used by consumers and industries. The heat is supplied mainly from fuels, steam and electricity used in various types of heating equipment, such as furnaces, ovens, heaters and kilns.

BHP and global engineering firm Hatch signed an agreement to design an electric smelting furnace (ESF) pilot plant in Australia. The facility will aim to demonstrate a pathway to lower CO₂ intensity in steel production using iron ore from BHP’s Pilbara mines. The small-scale demonstration plant would be used to collaborate with steel producers and technology providers with the aim of accelerating scale-up of ESF plant designs. The ESF allows for greater flexibility in input raw materials, addressing a key barrier to wider adoption of other lower-CO₂ emissions production routes, such as use of electric-arc furnaces (EAFs), which are designed for scrap steel and high-grade DRI only. The ESF also has the potential to be integrated into a steel plant’s existing downstream production units.

WS is a globally leading manufacturer of high-efficiency and low-emission self-recuperative and self-regenerative burners for the steel and heat-treating industries. We are proud to be the inventors of the game-changing Flameless Oxidation (FLOX®) technology, which enables high air preheat temperatures with low NOx emissions.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. entered into a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the Better Climate Challenge initiative, a new government-sponsored effort challenging organizations to set ambitious, portfolio-wide GHG emission reduction goals. As part of the partnership, the DOE will provide technical assistance and opportunities to learn and share actionable best practices for carbon reduction. Through the Better Climate Challenge, Cleveland-Cliffs remains committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 25% by 2030 from 2017 levels. This goal represents combined Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) GHG emission reductions on a mass basis across all operations.

Across nearly every industry and region of the world, OEMs and end users are looking for ways to improve their heat-treat equipment and processes. They are facing increasingly stringent NOx emissions regulations while also being challenged to be more eco-friendly by reducing fuel usage and lowering their carbon footprint.