The work of the project is guided by a steering group, in which all consortium members are represented. The project is divided into three work packages. Research seminars will be the main tool for knowledge sharing, both within the consortium and with other stakeholders.
Work packages
Work package 1:
Fossil-free steels’ value chain and recycling, FOVERA
Industrial chairman: Matti Randelin, Hiab Finland Oy
University chairman: NN, Tampere University
The scenario of FOSSA II applies throughout the European steel industry and is in accord with the philosophy of the European Green Deal, thus pledging to stop global warming. In addition, in remote locations of Finland with thinly distributed population, high-cost levels and extensive dependence on largely imported raw materials, the companies can afford to become fundamentally competitive only in specialized high know-how applications, such as advanced engineering solutions and products. In this context, the Finnish Government’s unambiguous intentions to see that Finland becomes carbon neutral by 2035 is even more challenging. However, this becomes one of our chief responsibilities and can also become a real possibility, if we initiate affirmative actions to completely rebuild and reorganize one of our oldest core industries, i.e., steel.
Hence, both Finnish as well as Swedish steel industry will start the revolution in the Nordic countries that will eventually be expanded first in Europe, and finally it will be implemented worldwide during the next few decades. Fossil-free steel production ought to change the value chains, revenue logic and business models of the existing companies, and also create some new ones for the fossil-free value chain. In this new world order, steel production and applications will emerge critical such that the companies must renew their revenue logic towards value-driven thinking instead of cost-based pricing. This also requires rejuvenation of strategies from the policy makers and other stakeholders as well.
Tasks:
- Fossil-free steels’ markets
- Fossil-free steel ecosystem
- Fossil-free steel recycling
Work package 2:
Fossil-free steel applications and economic growth, FOSSE
Industrial chairman: Saara Mehtonen, SSAB Europe Oy
University chairman: Tuomas Skriko, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology
Task: Fossil-free steels for smart applications
Solutions generating renewable energy rely strongly on steel: e.g., towers, engines, transmissions in wind power, support systems for solar power, vessels and tubings for solar heat transfer, and many other applications. In renewable energy generation, steel emphatically provides the characteristic solutions needed and is available in huge quantities to enable rapid deployment for providing various solutions, thus contributing to the enhanced renewable energy supply of the future. The CO2 emission reduction via the production of renewable energy (compared to gas/coal-based generation) overrules the CO2 intensity of the steel-based equipment in less than a year, thus further optimization potential is put in place.
In the field of mobility, the design and deployment of light weight components and advanced high strength steel solutions enable the transport of both the goods as well as people with low specific energy requirements. In such a case, steel is the best compromise between safety, economics, life cycle aspects and manufacturing technologies. The development of modern high strength steel grades in combination with advanced technologies for assembling, allows further optimization of the use of steel in buildings and infrastructure, thus facilitating realization of similar characteristics with reduced amounts of steel and simultaneously, lowering the CO2 impact of the overall structure.
Task: Multi-resistivity of Fossil-free Steels
Not only is steel one of the strongest materials in the world today, it is also the best automotive material in terms of its design flexibility, cost effectiveness, low emissions during manufacture, recyclability, affordability etc. Hence, the development of multi-resistivity fossil-free steels will be based on the preferred properties for a particular application, and this suggests that the realization of a desired property combination is possible to meet the requirement of the end users. Until now advanced high strength (AHSS) and ultra-high strength (UHSS) steels have been in use in the automotive industry for about 25 years with great success. Technically, the present AHSS grades have been developed over the years and the present view is that the future development must follow three key principles: multiphase, multiscale and metastable (M3). While multiphase structures are required to control the forming properties, multiscale structures are required to impart the desired yield strength and ductility. On the other hand, the finely divided metastable phase provides the transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) effect leading to the transformation of austenite to martensite, thus enabling control of uniform elongation and tensile strength. A combination of these principles in industrial production requires an accurate control of both the composition as well as process parameters, i.e. the higher the strength and the better the required formability are, the stricter the control must be. It is expected that the fossil free steel production will enable further improvement in the composition accuracy and overall purity of steel grades, particularly in respect of trace and gas impurities. The accuracy of the composition is a significant quality issue in steel production, as it has direct effects on mechanical properties and, in the case of con-tinuous hot dip galvanizing, on the coating structure, quality and outlook.
Work package 3:
Virtual steel production and CO2 footprint calculation platform, VISPCO
Industrial chairman NN, Indalgo Oy
University chairman: Antti Kaijalainen, University of Oulu
Virtual steel production platform (VISPCO) is a tool which will be used to optimize the steel processing, manufacturing and properties by taking the fossil-free steel’s value chain and applications into account for sustainable growth. The platform will be based on the knowledge and research work of the consortium taking into account various advanced characterization methods and modeling solutions to obtain a fundamental understanding of the physical phenomena governing the steel production and properties. VSPP consists of three modules (Vi-tual steelmaking, Backward design, Smart applications and energy efficiency) and allows a sustainable way to test virtually new steel grades, components, structures and plant settings (no risk of destruction, no resource consumption) parallel to production, thus taking into account the requirements of new fossil-free steels. The whole steel manufacturing chain can be studied virtually on one platform using the virtual steelmaking module without the need of any expensive development and arduous experimental work. The requirements of end-products and users are taken into account by using a backward design module. Besides, energy efficient solutions for components and structures are solved via smart applications and an energy efficiency module.
Tasks:
- Virtual steelmaking
- Backward Design (BD)
- Smart applications and energy efficiency
- CO2 footprint calculations