Steel production in Ukraine: current state and prospects (review)

Steel production in Ukraine: current state and prospects (review)Under the European Green Deal initiative, the research of carbon-neutral technologies for producing steel based on hydrogen reduction and electrolysis of iron from ore materials are actively conducting around the world.New technologies are seen as integrated into the technological route of electric steelmaking, which should displace carbon-based blast furnace and converter processing from the steel market by 2050.Steelmaking complex of Ukraine does not meet the spirit of Green Deal because of the outdated technological structure with small volume of electric steel melting products (up to 5 %).The biggest challenge in the history of industry equalizes the positions of world leaders in metallurgy and enables Ukraine, along with economic recovery after hostilities, to overcome the technical backlog of the industry in context of energy efficiency and environmental engineering.The solution that meets global trend lies in the transition to steel mini-mills and a strategy to minimize economic and environmental costs.The implementation of mini-mill technological route in the "large" metallurgy based on remelting in electric arc furnace (EAF) of iron ore metallization products (DRI/HBI), obtained in the shaft reactor from domestic raw materials using a low-carbon, at the first stage, technology, will reduce specific CO 2 emission by 1.45-2 times in the medium term.This will create the basis for subsequent transition to carbon-neutral hydrogen metallurgy.In the light of Green Deal, domestic developments on improving the energy efficiency of EAF and environmental engineering are considered, for both promising mini-mills and "small" metallurgy, as well as the foundations of innovative electrolysis process of iron-containing wastes in electric furnace with bottom electrodes.