Aktuell

• 01.06.2026

The European steel industry is undergoing a profound transformation. As a key sector within the framework of the Clean Industrial Deal, it must consistently decarbonise production while remaining internationally competitive. As a partner in the newly funded Horizon Europe project “DiversEAFy”*, Professor Hauke Springer from the University of Duisburg-Essen will make an important contribution to this transformation over the next four years. The aim is to ensure that steel production remains technologically and economically viable under the conditions of a circular economy.

Traditionally, steel has been produced using the so-called blast furnace route – a process associated with particularly high CO₂ emissions. In future, production is expected to rely increasingly on Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs), which generate significantly lower emissions. In this process, the required energy is supplied primarily by electricity rather than by burning coke. If this electricity is generated from renewable sources, steel can be produced in an almost climate-neutral way.

EAFs are also generally smaller, more modular and can be ramped up or down more quickly than conventional blast furnace plants, making it easier to respond to changing market conditions. In addition, electric arc furnaces use steel scrap and direct reduced iron (DRI/HBI), which is more climate-friendly because the oxygen in the ore is removed not with coal, as in blast furnaces, but with natural gas or – in the future – hydrogen.

However, the transition also brings new challenges. The availability of high-quality scrap is limited, while production processes increasingly have to handle input materials of varying and sometimes lower quality. Undesirable trace elements can impair the quality of the final product. At the same time, the properties of by-products – particularly so-called slags, which are reused for example in the cement industry – are also changing.

This is where DiversEAFy comes in. The European consortium, coordinated by the research institute VITO NV (Belgium), is developing technologies that will enable a wide range of fluctuating raw material qualities to be processed efficiently. The aim is both to safeguard the quality of the steel produced and to treat by-products in such a way that they can be used safely and marketed effectively. In doing so, the project also contributes to conserving resources and closing industrial material loops.

At the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Professor Hauke Springer is investigating within the project how metals – particularly steel – can be produced reliably and economically under the conditions of a circular economy. His research focuses on how so-called DRI pellets made from differently composed ores can be reduced as efficiently as possible. The aim is both to improve steel quality in the EAF process and to optimise the subsequent use of the resulting slag. His team analyses how accompanying minerals influence the process and, based on experimental findings, is developing an advanced model that will better account for variations in raw material quality in future.

DiversEAFy stands for Diverse Electric Arc Furnace steelmaking innovations towards systemic carbon neutrality.

Further Information
Image caption: Photographs of the experimental electric arc furnace setup used during preliminary trials. The blue colouring results from the filter used during imaging.

Professor Hauke Springer
Faculty of Engineering
University of Duisburg-Essen

Tel.: +49 201 183 3462
hauke.springer@uni-due.de