New Successful Step Towards the Demonstration of the INITIATE Concept

Last month, to demonstrate the INITIATE concept at TRL7, the pilot Basic Engineering Package was successfully reviewed in Luleå, Sweden. This was part of the design-end engineering phase of the pilot.

INITIATE, is a European project bringing together industrial players and research organisations and demonstrating the valorisation of residual gases from the steel production into urea, the most common fertiliser.

The design combines different technologies from the project partners SWERIM, NextChem, Stamicarbon and TNO, using functional material supplied by Johnson Matthey and Kisuma Chemicals. The entire Basic Design has been reviewed on functionality, operation and safety.

This achievement represents a relevant step towards ensuring that piloting will successfully demonstrate the INITIATE concept of producing ammonia from Basic-Oxygen-Furnace-Gas (BOFG) and Blast-Furnace-Gas (BFG).

Important functionality is the advanced control architecture that has to be implemented to minimise the effect of the BOFG composition variability on the whole chain towards ammonia production.

The next steps will be the completion of the Basic Engineering Package, feeding into the detailed engineering.

The INITIATE consortium consists of major steel and chemical industrial players (ArcelorMittal, SSAB, Stamicarbon, NextChem), functional material suppliers (Johnson Matthey, Kisuma Chemicals B.V.), research organisations (TNO, Swerim AB, Politecnico di Milano, Radboud University) and experienced promoters of CCU, circularity and industrial symbiosis topics (CO₂ Value Europe).