Finnish stainless steel manufacturer Outokumpu has opened a new EUR 30 million biocox agglomeration plant at its integrated production site in Tornio in northern Finland, which will allow the company to replace fossil coke in ferrochrome production and reduce direct CO2 emissions.
In a statement released on August 14, Outokumpu said that the plant processes biochar into bio-coke, a substitute for fossil coke used in ferrochrome smelting, based on biomass. The company said that when operating at full capacity, the plant can reduce direct CO2 emissions by up to 82,000 tons per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of approximately 8,000 Finnish citizens.
The company does not disclose the capacity of the biocox plant beyond its stated potential emissions reductions.
"This investment is a concrete step forward in our efforts to reduce the climate impact of our operations," Juha Erkilya, head of Outokumpu EvoCarbon, said in a company statement. "Tornio has already started production of biocox, which is produced both for our own needs and for external customers."
The investment contributes to Outokumpu's goal of reducing CO2 emissions across the entire value chain by 42% by 2030, compared with the 2016 baseline. The company stated that biocox is a key tool for reducing the intensity of direct emissions from ferrochrome production, and linked the Tornio project to its broader strategy for developing low-carbon stainless steel. Factory
Outokumpu in Tornio is an integrated complex for the production of stainless steel and ferrochrome. According to the June investor presentation, the company's ferrochrome operations are supported by the EU's only chromium mine in Kemi and an integrated ferrochrome plant in Tornio. Company
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Author: Euan Is Sad,,
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