As of September 30, 2016, the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies program at MIT has closed. The website is being kept online as a reference but will not be updated.

ULCOS Florange Fact Sheet: Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project

Company/Alliance: ArcelorMittal and ULCOS (Ultra-Low-CO2-Steel).

Location: Lorraine, France

Start Date: On hold. (original start date of 2016)

Size: 0.7 to 1.2 Mt/yr

CO2 Source: Post-combustion industrial separation from steel production through solid-based process

Storage: Onshore deep saline formations

Motivation/Economics:

The project applied for NER300 funding from the European Commission but it was withdrawn in late 2012 (for technical reasons) despite being the last project to meet the NER300 requirements.

ArcelorMittal would have invested 180 million euros in the project. Total cost of the project was not specified. The budget for the ULCOS research consortium is 75 million euros over a 6 year period.

Comments:

Despite the withdrawl from the NER300 project competition in 2012, ArcelorMittal has committed to keeping the plant available for carbon capture demonstrations at a later date if needed. As a result the project is currently on hold.

The proposed retrofit would have reduced the emissions by up to 50%. The captured CO2 will be compressed and transported by a pipeline 50-100 km that will be built specifically for this project. The project will store at least 0.7 MT/Yr and up to 1.2 MT/Yr. Over the projected 10 year lifetime that amounts to approximately 10 MT of CO2.

Construction was planned to start in 2012/2013; Injection testing to start in 2014; and full scale operations to start in 2016.

ArcelorMittal has established a subsidiary company, ArcelorMittal Geo Lorraine to manage the capture, transport and injection on behalf of the ULCOS consortium. The blast furnaces at the Florange site are at the end of their lifespan and will be closed if the ULCOS is abandoned. ArcelorMittal announced om December 2012 that the site will continue to keep the site in working order for future use in the ULCOS project.

ULCOS stands for Ultra–Low Carbon dioxide(CO2) Steelmaking. It is a consortium of 48 European companies and organizations from 15 European countries that have launched a cooperative research & development initiative to enable drastic reduction in Carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions from steel production.

Project Link: ULCOS Website

Other Sources and Press Releases:
ArcelorMittal says not permanently ditching ULCOS plan (December 2012)
France announces ArcelorMittal steelworks deal (December 2012)
ArcelorMittal pulls French bid for EU steel project (December 2010)