Feasibility Studies

Find more information about Feasibility Studies funded through the SUSTAIN Hub

SUSTAIN Third Call for Feasibility Studies - Winter 2024 Funded Projects

Thank you to all those who submitted an application to this Call and to everyone who gave their time to support this activity. We are delighted to announce the following feasibility studies have been funded:

Optimising thermo-mechanical processes for recycled steel alloys to enhance cyclic fatigue resistance in end user components

Dr Nicolò Grilli - University of Bristol
Dr Younes Belrhiti - University of Bristol

Grand Challenge area - Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking

Scrap steel is a valuable resource that has the potential to be increasingly recycled and used in domestic manufacturing. As recycling rates increase, industry will become more reliant on recycled steel produced using electric arc furnaces (EAF). One of the primary challenges in reusing scrap steel is the presence of unknown elements from the mixing of various steel types, along with non-ferrous and non-metallic contamination, which introduces impurities. This issue is particularly serious for safety-critical industries where the structural integrity of mechanical components is very important. As a result, there is increasing demand for low residual scrap, and improving understanding of the effects of higher levels of residual elements on the mechanical properties.

This feasibility study will endeavour to embed recyclability into the design of steel thermo-mechanical processes to optimise the structural integrity of recycled steel components, particularly those subjected to cyclic fatigue, for the aerospace, civil and automotive industry. The main research hypothesis is that by combining and further developing modern microscale modelling techniques, it will be possible to determine optimal heat treatments and chemical compositions that can mitigate the negative effects of impurities present in steel scrap on the mechanical properties of the final fatigue-resistant steel components. This research vision will be achieved through the completion of the following objectives:

1. Develop a simulation technique based on microscale modelling to predict the low and high cycle fatigue behaviour of a model alloy, with a simple ferritic microstructure, containing typical impurity levels found in UK scrapyards.

2. Execute simulations to predict the synergistic effects of precipitates, grain size and solid solution content on the cyclic fatigue life of impure alloys.

3. Predict bespoke heat treatments, including quenching, tempering and annealing processes, that can enhance the cyclic fatigue life of such model alloy in presence of impurities.

4. Experimentally validate the models by producing samples made of the single-phase ferritic model alloy with controlled impurity levels, followed by electron microscopy analysis and mechanical testing.

Many countries are prioritising the development of emission reduction technologies in the steel industry, and there is a growing trend focusing on innovative and fundamental reforms within steel companies, for example electrolysis or hydrogen enabled ‘green steel’. Hydrogen-based direct reduction (e.g. through the Midrex process) is being heavily pursued by many in the industry. However, hydrogen-based direct reduction has challenges with compatibility for low grade iron ores as well as exposure to volatile hydrogen prices and ensuring a supply of green hydrogen. Though lower TRL compared with hydrogen-based technologies, molten oxide or salt electrolysis (MOE or MSE) represent highly promising electrochemical methods using electricity directly, which offers potential benefits over green hydrogen derived steel. MOE/MSE is an electrometallurgical technique that enables the direct production of metal in the liquid state from oxide or salt feedstock. Compared with traditional methods of extractive metallurgy, it offers a substantial simplification of the steel making through its potential to be vertically integrated and a significant reduction in energy consumption.

To support electrolytic clean steel production, the aim of this feasibility study is to design, demonstrate and understand alloys that could be used as inert anodes in the Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE) / Molten Salt Electrolysis (MSE) industry, aiming at financial advantages and high performance comparing to the alloys currently used.

MOE using clean electricity is a promising method to reduce the carbon footprint of metal production as it offers environmental benefits, minimal pretreatment of feedstock, the production of molten iron ready for casting, and the potential to create alloys directly. However, the challenge lies in finding suitable anode materials that can withstand extreme conditions. Consumable anodes are possible but can introduce impurities into the product. Developing inert alloys that can resist high temperatures and anodic conditions with mechanical durability for molten oxide cells is crucial to improve the economics and quality of iron and steel production without net carbon dioxide emissions.

Research in this study will focus on:

• Alloy design, production and characterisation of new MOE/MSE anodes materials

• Evaluation of the performance and durability of new anode alloys in MOE/MSE cells

• Characterisation of tested anode and steel produced by MOE/MSE and to gain insight into the mechanisms

e-RAMS is grounded in interdisciplinary research principles to tackle critical challenges in automotive steel recycling, with a special focus on the needs of steel users. The primary objective is to enhance the quality of recycled steel by effectively removing contaminants, Nickel (Ni) and Tin (Sn), which are residual or tramp elements that accumulate over multiple recycling cycles and are challenging to eliminate once introduced into the steelmaking process.

This feasibility study will target the challenge of residual accumulation in recycled steel, which affects steelmaking processes and the quality of steel products for the end users in the automotive industry. By developing innovative methods to remove contaminants such as Ni and Sn from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), we aim to:

• Improve the Quality of Recycled Steel: Enhance the suitability of recycled steel for high-value automotive applications, ensuring that steel end users receive materials that meet their stringent performance and safety standards.

• Promote Sustainability and Value for End Users: Support circular economy principles by facilitating steel reuse without degrading properties, allowing automotive manufacturers and their suppliers to produce environmentally friendly products that are safer, more reliable, and have a lower environmental impact, meeting both regulatory requirements and customer expectations.

• Optimise the Supply Chain: Reduce reliance on virgin materials and improve resource efficiency within the steel supply chain, leading to a more resilient and cost-effective supply chain for steel end users.

This focus aligns with the goals of reducing environmental impact, enhancing the sustainability of steel production, and ensuring the resilience of the automotive manufacturing supply chain, ultimately delivering significant value to steel end users.

SUSTAIN Second Call for Feasibility Studies - Summer 2022 Funded Projects

Thank you to all those who submitted an application to this Call and to everyone who gave their time to support this activity. We are delighted to announce the following feasibility studies have been funded:

This feasibility project aims to answer the following research question: how to flexibly schedule the electric power system and industrial processes in a steelmaking plant in a smart way which addresses the complexity and uncertainties in the context of the net zero transition of the electricity system? The objective of this project is to develop a digital twin with a mechanism-based model to generate the day-ahead operation schedule of a steelmaking plant and a data-driven model to re-schedule some key electric power devices to tackle the impact of uncertainties, ultimately reducing the electricity costs and emissions at the same time satisfying the steel production requirement. Digital twins, which are virtual replicas of physical objects in the digital place, are systems of advanced sensing, communication, simulation, optimisation and control technologies, and have great potential in facilitating the smart and flexible operation of industrial plants. The proposed approach will be deployed and tested on a digital twin test platform in the laboratory at Cardiff University.

Towards the use of CO2 and heat from steel industry emissions to prepare new/improved photocatalysts for upcycling of plastic waste
Dr Maria Grazia Francesconi - University of Hull
Dr Carolina Font-Palma - University of Hull
Grand Challenge area - Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking

This work focuses on carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) as well as heat waste utilisation via advances of materials chemistry. We propose to use captured CO2 and waste heat to modify the structures of selected materials to generate a family of photocatalysts for the upcycling of plastics. CO2 will be the structure modifying agent and the energy for the solid-gas reaction will be provided by waste heat. This approach addresses the need to decarbonise steelmaking and in doing will generate new environmentally-beneficial materials.

Photocatalysis is a process that uses semiconductors (photocatalysts) to capture light to initiate and drive reactions that initiates and drives reactions. One current main application of photocatalysis is purification of water by breaking large molecules of pollutants. Photocatalytic upcycling of plastics is an emerging technology with potential to convert plastic waste into value-added products sustainably.

We trialled MO3 (M = Mo, W, Re), reported as photocatalysts potentially activated by visible light,  in the upcycling of plastic materials with incoherent results. MO3 materials can show different polymorphs; however, the crystal structure, normally a factor, does not have a major influence on the photocatalytic properties. Instead, the oxygen anions are the main parameters for the photocatalytic efficiency and researchers are using the oxide stoichiometry to study the influence of photocatalytic activities. Our approach is radically different from previous methods. The reaction of the MO3 oxides with CO2 is expected to lead to oxide-carbonates of different carbonate stoichiometries, depending on parameters such as time, temperature and gas flow. The formation of oxide-carbonates is caused by the CO2 molecule “settling” in the structure and involving selected oxide anions in new bonds to form carbonates anions, (CO3)2-. This will impose changes of the environment for these oxide anions and influence the photocatalytic properties.

SUSTAIN First Call for Feasibility Studies - Summer 2020 Funded Projects

Thank you to all those who submitted an application to this Call and to everyone who gave their time to support this activity. We are delighted to announce the following feasibility studies have been funded:

Ultra-High Temperature Reliable Electronics Development (UHTRED)
Dr Alton Horsfall and Dr Andrew Gallant – University of Durham
Grand Challenge area – Smart Steel Processing

In the steel industry, operating temperatures above 400 °C are commonplace and the monitoring of materials and systems in these conditions is essential for quality control, process improvement and safety. However, such temperatures are beyond the current state-of-the-art operating conditions for the microelectronic systems used for wireless sensor nodes. The problem is that the ubiquitous semiconductor-based transistor is fundamentally unsuitable for use in extreme temperature environments and a paradigm shift in the technology is required.

This 6 month feasibility study aims to provide the underpinning know-how required to initiate such a shift through the exploration of materials, designs and circuit models based around microscale vacuum channel transistors. The target is to produce device and circuit designs which are capable of operating over a wide temperature range from 25 to 1000 °C; and to identify a pathway for operation at higher temperatures which may be comparable to those found in the blast furnace and teeming ladles.

Techno-economic Feasibility of Net-Zero Emission Solutions for Metal Heating (THERMOS)
Dr Yukun Hu – University College London
Project Partners: WMG, Air Products, SWERIM
Grand Challenge area – Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking

This feasibility project will demonstrate the potential to significantly improve the UK Steel Industry’s Carbon Footprint through direct changes and augmentation of systems and processes, and is highly aligned with GCRA 1 – Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking. Specifically, THERMOS project will focus on the metal heating process and the proposed sustainable net-zero emission solutions (i.e. H2 fuelled metal heating processes and H2 use in reheat furnaces) are identified as complements to the existing SUSTAIN research activities.

This project will investigate if the UK could therefore introduce carbon-free heating for furnaces at all its rolling mills and thereby drastically reduce its already world-leading low carbon footprint from cradle to gate. Investing in the technological transition requires significant scientific consideration of challenges, prioritisation, risks and uncertainties. In THERMOS, to assess the techno-economic feasibility, a furnace ‘digital twin’ will be used to demonstrate the proposed net-zero emission solutions. The digital twin will be based on zonal modelling of radiative heat transfer, and analyses combustion behaviours (e.g. ignition and NOx formation) and scale formation with the aid of computational fluid dynamics and reaction kinetics models to provide new insights into the transition pathway of reheating furnaces that might be systemic weaknesses in a green steel economy.

Drop-tube Furnace to Investigate Novel Reductants for the Decarbonisation of Ironmaking
Dr Julian Steer – Cardiff University
Project Partners: Tata Steel
Grand Challenge area – Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking

The aim of this project is to carry out collaborative research between Cardiff and Swansea Universities, with TATA Steel UK and N+P recycling, to test the feasibility of using a non-recyclable carbonaceous waste (Subcoal®) as a novel alternative reductant material for potential injection in a blast furnace.

Subcoal®, is a non-recyclable paper and plastics product high in carbon, supplied by N&P Recycling as compressed pellets. Our aim is to compare the Subcoal reactivity (as a non-fossil fuel alternative) to coal-based reductants. If successful, this will reduce the reliance on mined coal; reduce the landfilling of non-recyclable paper and plastic; and demonstrate the potential to significantly improve the UK steel industry’s carbon emissions footprint as 50% of the Subcoal® carbon is derived from biomass.

This would be a novel route to ‘waste’ recycling and reuse which is not carried out in the UK and fits well with current moves towards a circular economy. It would benefit society, creating a new supply chain with new jobs, reducing raw material costs and CO2 emissions improving the sustainability of essential blast furnace ironmaking in the UK.