News: BHP ArcelorMittal, MHI launch pilot CO2 capture unit at Gent blast furnace

TOKYO, May 21 (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal MT.LU , Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) 7011.T , and partners said on Tuesday that they have started operating a pilot carbon dioxide capture unit on the blast furnace at ArcelorMittal's Gent steel plant in Belgium.

The move comes as an effort to reduce CO2 emissions in steel production, which accounts for about 7%-9% of global CO2 emissions. Efforts to cut these emissions are one of the key targets in the global fight against climate change.

ArcelorMittal and MHI have been working on the project since 2022 with partners, BHP (BHP) and Mitsubishi Development, a unit of Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T . The companies, however, did not give any financial details of the project.

The pilot unit will operate for 1-2 years at Gent to test the feasibility of progress to full-scale deployment of the technology, which would be able to capture a sizeable portion of the Gent site emissions, if successful, they said in a statement.

ArcelorMittal is facilitating the trial in Gent with MHI supplying its proprietary carbon capture technology and supporting the engineering studies. BHP and Mitsubishi Development, as key suppliers of steelmaking raw materials to ArcelorMittal's European operations, are supporting trial funding.

"The main ambition is to achieve completely carbon-free processes," ArcelorMittal Belgium's CEO, Manfred Van Vlierberghe, said.

"A radical change is difficult, so we embrace every step that takes us towards our goal."