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Deadline expired

The deadline for this call has expired.

Call key data

Low carbon-dioxide emission technologies for melting iron-bearing feed materials OR smart carbon usage and improved energy & resource efficiency via process integration (Clean Steel Partnership)

Call number

HORIZON-CL4-2023-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-43

deadlines

Opening
08.12.2022

Deadline
20.04.2023 17:00

Funding rate

60% (NPO: 100%)

Call budget

€ 23,000,000.00

Estimated EU contribution per project

between € 4,000,000.00 and € 6,000,000.00

Link to the call

ec.europa.eu

Link to the submission

ec.europa.eu

Call content

Call objectives

Proposals should aim at one of the following two aspects, corresponding respectively to the points 1) and 2) outlined under the expected outcomes section:

  1. Proposals should address novel and adapted low-CO2 emission technologies for pre-treatment, pre-heating, and melting of iron-bearing feedstock materials with variable content of carbon and variable metallisation including, among others, low-value iron-based sources (i.e., >5% of acidic gangue), or dust and sludge from de-dusting systems. The focus is on the three technological routes of blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF), electric arc furnace (EAF), and direct reduced iron / hot briquetted iron form (DRI / HBI) including the refining and casting processes.

Multidisciplinary research activities should address one or more of the following:

  • Adding variable percentages of steel scrap and/or a wide range of iron-bearing feed materials with variable content of carbon and variable metallisation to the melting process, including low-value iron-based sources (i.e., >5% of acidic gangue and/or residue) without prejudice to the yield of the metallic charge;
  • Adaptations on existing melting processes to replace the traditional use of carbon and hydrocarbons (e.g., for re-carburisation of the liquid, for promoting slag foaming or charge heating) with climate-neutral sources and/or hydrogen;
  • Reduction of the specific consumption of the melting step to achieve a low carbon process by optimisation of energy inputs (electrical vs. chemical) depending on the charge mix (scrap, DRI, HBI, pig iron, low-value iron-based sources) and/or by pre-heating of the iron-bearing feed materials;
  • Handle a variability of iron-bearing feedstock in the melting process by methods to assess the material quality within production chains, to recover metal contents from low-value iron-ore feedstock or residues by pre-reduction or reduction smelting with H2, biogas, CO2-lean electricity, and carbon-bearing residues;
  • Controlling of tramp elements in molten liquid obtained by low iron-bearing feedstock to ensure quality and castability of melted steel and improvement of yield and quality of process and product;
  • New sensors and tools for real-time management inside the melting process such as liquid metal and slag temperature and composition and/or reliable energy forecasting to optimal setup and process control.

OR

  1. Proposals should aim at the reduction of fossil fuel and reductant used in both BF-BOF and EAF / DR-EAF steel production and, in turn, curtailing CO2 emissions, using process technologies for gas injection e.g., for BFs, DR plants, but also for EAFs. New control techniques will also have to be developed considering process needs, safety issues, and economic aspects. Gas injection options have the potential for very low CO2 emissions but need intermediate steps before being ready for full industrial deployment (e.g., injection of high percentages of hydrogen in BF and EAF). To achieve the objectives, it could be relevant to consider technology improvement along with developing appropriate business models.

Multidisciplinary research activities should address one or more of the following:

  • Process integration through injection of metallurgical gases or biogas or O2 and H2 (H2-rich gases or pure H2) into metallurgical reactors (e.g. BF, DR, or EAF) to minimise the need for fossil carbon, including new developments regarding the related process technology and control technology;
  • Utilisation and recycling of gases as substitutes in existing steel processes such as, but not limited to, coking plant, sinter plant, BF, DR, BOF, EAF;
  • Consider techniques and tools, which support the immediate decrease of the carbon footprint on the industrial level, with measures such as, but not limited to, involve the production cycle, the energy, and materials supplied;
  • Adapt gas handling and distribution to new gas properties and amounts and consider process needs, safety issues, and economic aspects;
  • Integrate new measuring technologies and/or digital tools for monitoring and control inside the novel architectures of ICT covering the processes considered (existing and new processes), conditions and resources; the extensive use of Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) approaches should allow the easy and fast integration of the new measurement techniques into the set of data streams to be monitored and offline / online used for process setup and control and knowledge extraction;
  • Provide concepts addressing the re-optimisation of the process integration in future integrated steelworks based on clean steel production technologies and considering the stepwise transition of production lines from current conventional iron and steelmaking to future low carbon technologies including relevant intermediate states with mixed production chains.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on Clean Steel.

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Expected results

Projects outcomes will enable achieving the objectives of the Clean Steel Partnership (CSP) by contributing to one of the following two aspects:

  • Integrating the next-generation iron-bearing feed materials melting technologies into an existing and optimised steelwork, to further push the transformation towards a low-CO2 production site (related to the CSP Building Block (BB) 3: Melting of pre-reduced and reduced ore, scrap, and iron-rich low-value residues for clean steel production);
  • Curtailing CO2 emissions generated by the steel industry by smart carbon usage - process integration (SCU-PI), which allows reducing fossil fuel (e.g., coal) used in blast furnace - basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF), electric arc furnace (EAF) and direct reduction - EAF (DR-EAF); this includes, among others, the (partial) replacement of coal by e.g. biogas, or hydrogen, or the advanced management of the energy streams and process gases (e.g., off gases released from EAF / BF-BOF; relevant relations to the CSP BB 1 “Gas injection technologies for clean steel production”; BB 4 “Adjustment of today’s production to prepare for the transition towards climate neutrality”; BB 7 “Heat generation for clean steel processes”, and BB 10 “Enablers e.g., skills, digitisation, for clean steel development”).

Projects related to the above point 1 are expected to contribute to one or more of the following outcomes:

  • Innovative or improved melting processes for next-generation clean steel production, such as, but not limited to, charging and pre-heating technologies for iron-bearing feedstock to reduce the CO2 emission by at least 20 % compared to current state of the art;
  • Integration of next generation melting technologies into an existing and optimised steelwork, with the objective to enable transformation towards a low-CO2 production site. Proposed solutions should consider also the supply chain to strongly reduce the environmental footprint of the steel melting process;
  • Enhance the use of iron-bearing feedstock intermediate products with variable content of carbon and variable metallisation, including low-value iron-based sources. (e.g., DRI, recovered by-products) in melting processes.

OR

Projects related to the above point 2 are expected to contribute to one or more of the following outcomes:

  • Use advanced information and communication technology (ICT) to achieve process and energy integration and optimisation of the efficiency of steelmaking and downstream processing (heating and treatment furnaces) in steel plants;
  • Improve the injection of metallurgical gases, as well as hydrogen-rich gases (e.g., a mixture of hydrogen and methane) and/or hydrogen, within the steel making processes;
  • Adaptation of gas handling systems to new gases and their related properties;
  • Utilisation and recycling of gases (e.g., carbon-containing process gases, oxygen, external gases, such as but not limited to, waste gases from a neighbouring chemical plant or syngas produced from an external pyrolysis plant) in integrated plants with mixed technology routes;
  • Enhance production and energy management of integrated plants with mixed technology routes (e.g. blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF), direct reduction-electric arc furnace (DR-EAF)), to drastically reduce the consumption of coal and the CO2 emissions.

 

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Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

EU Member States, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom

eligible entities

EU Body, Education and training institution, International organization, Natural Person, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)

Mandatory partnership

Yes

Project Partnership

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
  • third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries

Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

  • at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
  • at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.

A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.

Specific cases:

  • Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
  • Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
  • Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
  • Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
  • Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.

other eligibility criteria

Activities are expected to start at TRL 5 and achieve TRL 6 by the end of the project.

For the Technology Readiness Level (TRL), the following definitions apply:

  • TRL 1 — Basic principles observed
  • TRL 2 — Technology concept formulated
  • TRL 3 — Experimental proof of concept
  • TRL 4 — Technology validated in a lab
  • TRL 5 — Technology validated in a relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
  • TRL 6 — Technology demonstrated in a relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
  • TRL 7 — System prototype demonstration in an operational environment
  • TRL 8 — System complete and qualified
  • TRL 9 — Actual system proven in an operational environment (competitive manufacturing in the case of key enabling technologies, or in space)

Additional information

Topics

Air Quality, Biodiversity & Environment, Climate & Climate Change, Water quality & management, 
Competitiveness of Enterprises, Employment/Labour Market, SME & entrepreneurship, 
Digitalisation, Digital Society, ICT, 
Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy

Relevance for EU Macro-Region

EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region

UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)

Additional Information

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.

Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.

The application form will have two parts:

  • Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
  • Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.

Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).

The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.

To ensure a balanced portfolio covering the two technology areas in the scope below, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking, but also to at least one project in each technology area, provided that the applications attain all thresholds.

 

Call documents

HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 4, Destination 1HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 4, Destination 1(661kB)

Contact

National Contact Points for Horizon Europe
Website

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