Hi-smelt could solve Whyalla’s steel crisis: expert

A pioneering technology could be the answer to the troubled Whyalla steelworks’ future, according to an industry veteran with more than 45 years of experience.

Neil Goodman, who helped design, build and operate the world’s first commercial scale Hi-smelt plant in Western Australia, believes the technology offers significant advantages over traditional steelmaking methods and could be implemented at the South Australian facility within three years.

“Hi-smelt is a direct smelting process that directly injects iron ore powder and carbon powder into liquid iron,” Goodman told @AuManufacturing on Monday. “It replaces a blast furnace, coke ovens and a pellet plant. You can do all that work that three plants do in one furnace.”

The process creates a high-intensity reaction at 1500 degrees Celsius, generating enough energy to smelt ore into liquid iron continuously. This molten iron can then be converted to steel using existing infrastructure at Whyalla.

“In a blast furnace, you have to put the iron ore in solid. It takes 24 days for it to heat up from the top of the furnace to the bottom to melt it. With Hi-smelt, we’re already melted. We just use a powder so it’s directly smelting. It’s much quicker, much more efficient,” Goodman, who is currently CEO of Magnum Mining and Exploration and Director at HILT CRC, explained.

The technology offers several key benefits for Whyalla:

• Lower environmental impact by eliminating pollutants from coke ovens and sinter plants that produce particulates, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and carcinogens
• Reduced capital and operational costs compared to alternatives like direct reduced iron (DRI) and electric arc furnaces, as Hi-smelt could use Whyalla’s existing oxygen furnace
• Greater flexibility with raw materials, allowing use of both high and low-quality iron ore and potential for future hydrogen or biochar integration

Goodman believes implementation timeframes could be reasonable, citing his experience in Western Australia: “We built one in Western Australia in three years. So I think South Australia could match or even beat that.”

He argues that while green steel initiatives in Sweden are producing limited amounts, a successful Hi-smelt implementation at Whyalla could position it as “the world’s biggest plant for green steel” if renewable energy and biochar challenges can be addressed.

“If Whyalla can produce green steel economically, then everyone will be visiting Whyalla. Everybody will want to do trials. It could be a big research centre,” he said.

In this episode of @AuManufacturing Conversations, Goodman shares some fascinating insights on implementation timeframes, environmental benefits, global market opportunities, and more.

Episode guide

00:00 Introduction

2:06 What is Hi-smelt technology?

4:55 Environmental advantages

7:47 Limitations and challenges

8:58 Implementation costs and timeframe

10:14 Comparison with other green steel technologies

11:41 Specific challenges for Whyalla

12:28 Commercial opportunities

13:12 Energy costs in manufacturing