This startup just hit a large landmark for the production of green steel

The latest Milestone means that Boston Metal is close to a step near its technology business. The company’s process uses electricity to make steel, and depending on the source of electricity, it means clearing the production of one of the most pollutant materials on the planet. The world produces about 2 billion metric tonnes of steel every year, emitting 3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in the process.

There are still many goals left before reaching the scale required to make a pit in the steel industry, the latest run shows that the company can scale its process.

Boston Metal launched its Industrial Dysfunction Reactor for steelmaking in January, and after it lasted for several weeks, the company had about a ton of content on February 17. (You can see a Video of a melted metal here. It’s really nice.)

Work on this reactor has been going on for a while. Visit Massachusetts’ Wobburn facility in 2022, when construction was almost done. In subsequent years, the company has been working to test it to make other metals before re -making it for steel production.

Boston Metal’s approach is very different than a traditional steel plant. Steelmaking usually includes an explosion furnace, which uses a coal -based fuel called coke to operate the reactions needed to convert the iron ore into iron (the key ingredient in the steel). In the Cock combines with oxygen drawn from carbon iron ore, which is released as carbon dioxide.

Instead, Boston Metal uses electricity in the process called molten OX butterfly electrolysis (MOE). The iron ore is loaded into the reactor, mixed with other ingredients, and then the electricity is driven by it, heating the mixture around 1,600 ° C (2,900 ° F) and running the reactions required to make iron. It can be turned into steel after iron.

Critically for the climate, this process is out of oxygen instead of carbon dioxide (it is notorious greenhouse gas). If used as a renewable electricity source such as wind and solar or nuclear power, this approach can virtually cut the climate effect from the production of steel.

MIT The MOE was developed in, and Boston Metal was established in 2013 for the commercialization of technology. Since then, the company has worked to carry it from a lab scale, with the size of a coffee cup with reactors, up to large people who can produce tons of metal at a time. It is crucial for the industry that works on a scale of billions of tons every year.