Molten Industries Leads Strategic Partnership With U. S. Steel and CPFD Software to Pioneer Carbon-Neutral Steel Production

Published 5 months ago via Business Wire

$5.4M Grant from the Department of Energy Fuels Innovative Project with a Focus on Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization

Molten Industries (“Molten”) will spearhead a collaborative effort with United States Steel Corporation (“U. S. Steel” ) (NYSE: X) and CPFD Software (“CPFD”) to design, build, and test a pilot-scale system aimed at eliminating carbon emissions from iron reduction under a U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) grant.

The $5.4M grant, awarded and funded through the DOE’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office and Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, will catalyze the groundbreaking project focused on carbon-neutral steel production while creating good-paying jobs and building a stronger, more competitive U.S. industrial sector. The project's main objective is to demonstrate the integration of methane-pyrolysis-driven hydrogen production with a pilot direct reduced iron (DRI) shaft furnace at Molten's facility. Anticipated outcomes include significant energy, carbon intensity, and cost reductions—a pivotal stride toward sustainable steel production.

The innovative approach harnesses hydrogen derived from methane pyrolysis as a reducing agent. Molten’s technology uses renewable electricity to break down methane from natural gas or waste sources into hydrogen gas and solid graphite, offering a 75% reduction in energy intensity compared to water electrolysis, an alternative for zero-carbon hydrogen. This grant was awarded shortly after Molten announced its $25M Series A fundraise, which will only further propel the development of its technology.

The project leverages U. S. Steel’s expertise as a vertically integrated steel producer. U. S. Steel will contribute its Minnesota iron ore for the project and potentially showcase clean steel production in an electric arc furnace using the DRI made with clean hydrogen. The technology has the potential to eliminate up to 60 million tons of CO2 from the 84 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. crude steel production.

Molten Industries CEO, Kevin Bush, expressed enthusiasm for the project, stating, "This collaboration with U. S. Steel and CPFD Software is an exciting first step in Molten’s mission to decarbonize the world’s heavy industries. Our process delivers hydrogen at high temperatures required for ironmaking and steelmaking, saving energy and cost for steel manufacturers. We are confident that our joint efforts will pave the way for a future where carbon-neutral steel production is not just a possibility but a reality."

��Achieving U. S. Steel’s 2050 net zero emissions goal requires the development and commercialization of various technologies, some of which have yet to be available on a broad scale,” said Christian Gianni, U. S. Steel Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. “This collaboration, thanks to the DOE grant, is an investment in the future of sustainable American steel.”

“It is exciting to see Barracuda Virtual Reactor used to accelerate the scale-up and commercialization of Molten’s unique technology in partnership with U. S. Steel,” said Peter Blaser, CPFD’s Vice President of Operations. “This project is indicative of a broad energy transition underway spanning multiple industrial sectors, and we are pleased to see our technology and expertise contribute toward the decarbonization of American steel production.”

To learn more about Molten’s technology, visit its website. For more information about the DOE's funding selections under the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization funding opportunity, click here.

About Molten Industries:

Molten Industries develops methane pyrolysis technology to decarbonize the world’s heavy industries. Molten’s simple process cracks methane at blazing hot temperatures into hydrogen and graphite using renewable electricity. We create no carbon dioxide, instead producing hydrogen gas and graphite that can be used in batteries. Our methane is responsibly procured from certified low-emissions sources and waste streams such as dairy farms, waste-water treatment plants, and landfills. This leads to hydrogen and carbon that are carbon-neutral or carbon-negative. Hydrogen’s versatility and potential to decarbonize heavy industries makes it essential to reaching net zero. Molten’s technology unlocks this potential. Learn more at www.moltenindustries.com.

About U. S. Steel:

Founded in 1901, United States Steel is a leading steel producer. With an unwavering focus on safety, the Company’s customer-centric Best for All® strategy is advancing a more secure, sustainable future for U. S. Steel and its stakeholders. With a renewed emphasis on innovation, U. S. Steel serves the automotive, construction, appliance, energy, containers, and packaging industries with high value-added steel products such as U. S. Steel’s proprietary XG3® advanced high-strength steel. The Company also maintains competitively advantaged iron ore production and has an annual raw steelmaking capability of 22.4 million net tons. U. S. Steel is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with world-class operations across the United States and in Central Europe. For more information, please visit www.ussteel.com.

About CPFD Software:

CPFD Software is advancing multiphase simulation and technology. CPFD’s flagship product, Barracuda Virtual Reactor®, is a physics-based engineering software package that simulates the three-dimensional, transient, fluid-particle hydrodynamics, heat balance, and chemical reactions in industrial fluidized bed reactors and other fluid-particle systems.

Virtual Reactor™ enables researchers and engineers working with diverse sustainability, renewables, and decarbonization technologies to explore a broad range of ideas, reduce physical testing costs, and minimize development risk, all while accelerating commercialization, scale-up, and overall time to market. The simulation results provide an objective basis for effectively communicating technological merits to partners, customers, and investors, while increasing market exposure and bolstering patent applications. The Virtual Reactor technology can be accessed via software licensing, services, or custom collaborative arrangements.

Learn more about Barracuda Virtual Reactor for sustainability applications on CPFD’s Clean Technologies and Renewables page here: https://cpfd-software.com/applications/clean-technologies/.

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