Conveners
Integration of Renewable Energy & Biochar Applications
- Carlo Mapelli (Dipartimento di Meccanica - Politecnico di Milano)
- Silvia Barella (Politecnico di Milano)
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Carsten Gondorf (IOB - RWTH Aachen University)13/05/2026, 08:30EEC 4.D Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electric steelmaking processesKeynote Presentation
Electric arc furnaces (EAFs) rely on carbonaceous materials (e.g., anthracite, coke breeze, or synthetic graphite) for slag foaming, oxygen refining, and energy efficiency. Replacing fossil-derived carbon with hydrochar, produced via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of biogenic residues, could lower the environmental footprint of steelmaking. Yet the net benefit depends strongly on feedstock...
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Bernhard Voraberger (Primetals Technologies)13/05/2026, 08:50EEC 4.C Waste management and by-product utilizationOral Presentation
The steel industry’s transition towards lower CO2 emission is accelerating the shift from BF/BOF routes to direct reduction and electric arc furnace (EAF) operations. This green steel transformation will significantly increase EAF-related byproducts such as slags and dusts. Unlike BF slag, widely used as a secondary cementitious material (SCM), EAF slag faces limited utilization due to...
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Gianluca Dall'Osto (Politecnico di Milano)13/05/2026, 09:10EMECR 4. Circularity and by-product management in steel industryOral presentation (paper for Ironmaking & Steelmaking special issue)
This study presents an innovative system developed within the AdriatiCO2 Project for the direct reduction of iron ore via a smelting process. The system substitutes conventional coking coal with sustainable carbon sources and/or biochar—a renewable reducing agent produced from biomass pyrolysis—and integrates efficient CO₂ capture to minimize the carbon footprint of steelmaking.
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In the... -
Paul Trunner (Primetals Technologies)13/05/2026, 09:30EEC 4.E Compliance with environmental regulations and standardsOral Presentation
The global transition toward green steelmaking has accelerated the adoption of Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) in both standalone and integrated steel plants. While EAF technology offers flexibility in raw material use and supports decarbonization goals, its implementation introduces significant environmental and operational challenges. Compliance with increasingly stringent regulations on...
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Thomas Griessacher (Stahl- und Walzwerk Marienhütte GmbH)13/05/2026, 09:50EEC 4.A Carbon footprint reduction strategies.Oral Presentation
In electric arc furnaces typically fossil coal in form of petrol coke or similar is used to create slag foaming in the refining phase. This is responsible for roughly 5-10 % of total CO2-emissions in electric steel production, which means potential savings of 30–60 kg CO2/t steel if carbon neutral sources are applied.
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Therefore, a fundamental investigation of the reaction behaviour of... -
Gangadharan Seenivasan (Luleå University of Technology)13/05/2026, 10:10EEC 4.B Integration of renewable energy sources in electric steelmakingOral presentation (paper for Ironmaking & Steelmaking special issue)
Utilizing biochar in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking has become a crucial step towards reducing fossil CO2 emissions. The present research examines the interaction between V2O5 and TiO2-containing EAF slag and pinebark-derived biochars, which were pyrolyzed at two different temperatures (600 °C and 800 °C). Optical dilatometry (OD) and thermogravimetry (TG) studies, supported by X-ray...
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