The aim of E-ECO Downstream is to enable a clean steel production by developing advanced and breakthrough technologies for the steel making downstream processes. This will decisively support the EU in achieving its goal towards climate neutrality by 2050. E-ECO Downstream focuses on the efficient utilization of hydrogen, biogas, and electricity to substitute carbon-based fuels and drastically lower the carbon footprint of the steel production. Energy efficiency is pursued to enable sustainable utilization of volatile green energy. Currently installed burners of reheating furnaces will be enabled to utilize green H2 by integration of newly designed and 3D-printed burner components instead of replacing entire burner systems. To increase fuel flexibility hybrid heating concepts (H2 and electricity) will be investigated in a pilot walking beam furnace. Since the mentioned solutions will change the waste heat streams and their heat recovery in future downstream processes must be reevaluated. This will be done by analysing the partners processes and plants, development and testing of waste heat recovery concepts and recuperators regarding their suitability to new fuels and their off gases, while considering their impact on materials/product. Energy efficiency potentials of downstream processes will be evaluated by case studies for the application of hot charge from casting to hot rolling by covering of the slabs with passive and active panels. The elaborated solutions will be assessed by techno-eco-environmental analysis to evaluate their applicability and to increase their acceptance in the steel community. The E-ECO Downstream consortium has a deep and shared knowledge of iron and steel making, downstream processes and heating technology, materials engineering, numerical simulation, experimental investigations, economy, and life cycle analysis.

ELECTRA demonstrates that electric heating can substitute fossil fuels in the cement, lime, and pulp industries. ELECTRA develops and validates in real life emission-free, electrically heated cement and lime production process in MW scale capable of reaching temperature up to 2000°C. By using low-emission electricity instead of combustion for decomposing calcium carbonate, and by capturing the carbon dioxide produced in the production process, it is possible to run a cement plant with close to zero carbon dioxide emissions providing even negative-emission cement and lime products for the society. Successful implementation of ELECTRA will eliminate fuel-related CO2-emissions from the industries targeted by 30-50% of total process emissions, depending on the industry and mode of operation. Scalability and replicability is showcased by the platform-based solutions offering modularity, and the possibility is there to run in various hybrid modes in a transition period, lowering initial CAPEX. They allow for both new electric installations and revamping of old ones. Platform-based modular automation practices can potentially accelerate electrification by up to 5 years. Different applications also require different properties for lime and therefore variations of electrically heated processes are developed to support and complement MW scale demonstration. Replacing combustion processes with electricity-based solutions and significantly increasing emission-free electricity production is an effective means of mitigating climate change. As one of the ingredients for concrete, cement is the world's most used building material and globally the largest CO2 emitter of all industrial sectors. The results of ELECTRA contribute directly to the ambitious goal of eliminating direct CO2 emissions from the lime, paper and cement industries. The developed fully electrified solutions for calcination and clinkering will offer the cheapest option for decarbonation for these industries.