The 9th European Coke and Ironmaking Congress ECIC 2024 was held in Bardolino from 16 to 18 October 2024. The latest technologies and research results in the fields of coke production, biochar and biocoke production, sintering, pelletising and ironmaking (blast furnace, direct reduction and smelting reduction) were presented and discussed at the event. The EU target of CO2 neutrality by 2050 and the intensive efforts of the steel industry to achieve this were the subject of intense discussion among the more than 230 participants from 26 countries. Prof. Johannes Schenk from the Chair of Ferrous Metallurgy co-chaired ECIC 2024 with Prof. Carlo Mapelli, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
In line with the topic of CO2-neutral steel production, four presentations were given on hydrogen plasma melting reduction. This technology is being developed in joint research and development projects between the Montanuniversität Leoben, K1-MET and voestalpine. Daniel Ernst from the Chair of Ferrous Metallurgy and K1-MET staff members Michael Zarl, Cameron Quick and Bernhard Adami presented the latest research results on hydrogen plasma smelting reduction to an interested audience of experts. Furthermore, Michael Zarl chaired the H2 and Syngas Exploitation session.
Jan Eisbacher-Lubensky presented the research results of a gradual substitution of coke breeze with charcoal to mitigate the fossil CO2 emission in the sintering process. He also chaired one of the Sintering and Pelletising sessions.
ECIC 2024 was excellently organised and provided a good platform to discuss solutions for achieving CO2-neutral steel production.
