Europlasma Commits Alongside Arcelor Mittal to Reducing the Carbon Footprint of the Steel Industry

BORDEAUX, France, February 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Europlasma announces its participation in the "IGAR" (Reducing Gas Injection) project, led by world steel leader Arcelor Mittal.

This project aims to validate at a pre-industrial scale, then to deploy at industrial scale, a plasma solution allowing steel production to meet the challenges of energy transition by reducing its carbon footprint.

Through the General Secretariat for Investment (SGPI), the French government has granted this project a financial contribution under the "Investissements d'Avenir" Program.

An innovative solution

This plasma solution will have a dual purpose:

• Drastically reduce CO2 emissions by reusing carbon from process gases (reducing CO2 production by 90 to 180 kg per ton of steel);
• Reduce fossil fuel energy consumption of the steel furnace by reforming and recovering process gases.

The proposed system consists in injecting the gases from blast furnaces (rich in CO2, and containing CH4) into a plasma reactor (Turboplasma type) allowing, after cracking and reforming of the molecules, to generate clean and directly recoverable synthesis gas. This clean syngas (CO + H2), with a high energy value, similar to that produced by CHO Power, can then be reinjected into the blast furnace, thus reducing fossil fuel consumption.

After a phase of studies and successful tests performed since 2015, and upon the definitive signing of the Consortium agreement with all stakeholders on IGAR project, the pre-industrialization of the process will be initiated.

Important ecological and economic stakes

Given the current European steel production, the deployment of this plasma solution would prevent the release into the atmosphere of 10 to 20 million tons of CO2 per year, comparable to the volume of CO2 emissions generated by car traffic in the greater Paris region.

By seeking to reduce its carbon footprint and its fossil fuel consumption, Arcelor Mittal is actively contributing to the energy transition and ensures economic sustainability of its operations, particularly in Europe.

Arcelor Mittal's confidence in Europlasma demonstrates once again the industry's interest in plasma technology, and constitutes a tangible recognition of the group's innovation efforts on carbon footprint reduction. Europlasma is assessing the extension of this plasma solution to other CO2-emitting industries, such as coal power plants.

About EUROPLASMA

At the heart of environmental issues, Europlasma designs and develops innovative plasma solutions for renewable energy production and hazardous waste recovery, as well as tailored-made applications for companies wishing to reduce their environmental footprint. Europlasma is listed on Euronext Growth Paris (FR0000044810-ALEUP / LEI 969500WYVNHBV1ABQ250). For more information: www.europlasma.com

Important notice 

The information or statements contained in this press release have to be considered as management's estimates made on the date of their publication. Such information is submitted to risks and uncertainties hardly predictable and generally outside of the Group's scope of action. These risks enclose the risks listed in the Reference Book available on the company's website www.europlasma.com. The group's future performance may therefore slightly vary from the forward-looking information revealed. The Group takes no responsibility for the achievement of these forward looking statements.

Shareholders contact:
Anne BORDERES - Communication Manager
Tel: + 33 (0)5 56 49 70 00 - contactbourse@europlasma.com

Media contact:
Luc PERINET MARQUET - LPM STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 50 40 35 - lperinet@lpm-corporate.com

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