SUPERHEAT: Improving Energy Efficiency and Flexibility of Steel Reheating by Partial Electrification
Research Fund for Coal and Steel, 1 March 2026 — 31 August 2030
Project description
The SUPERHEAT project is being coordinated by the Department of Industrial Furnaces & Heat Engineering (IOB) at RWTH Aachen University, in close collaboration with Outokumpu OYJ, Tenova SPA, SIN A/S, the European Steel Technology Platform ESTEP, GSW (Global Steel Wire SA) together with its affiliate CELSA OPCO, and SNAM S.p.A. (Fig. 1). The consortium investigates the flexible, partial electrification of steel reheating furnaces while enabling the use of pure hydrogen or mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas as a clean fuel source. The aim is to reduce energy consumption, cut CO₂ emissions (up to 100 % in a full hydrogen scenario) while retaining product quality performance across existing hot rolling lines.
Figure 1: Map of the project consortium
The background for SUPERHEAT is directly linked to the EU‘s climate policy. As per the Green Deal the steel sector must contribute to at least 55% greenhouse‑gas reduction by 2030 and net‑zero emissions by 2050. Reheating furnaces for hot‑rolling are presently powered by fossil‑fuel burners, accounting for a large share of the steel industry’s CO₂ footprint. Reducing these emissions demands the decarbonization of process heat in hot rolling through electrification, hydrogen or other low‑carbon fuels, coupled with improved circularity and material efficiency.
Hot rolling is a core process in modern steel production, where slabs, blooms or billets are reheated to over 1000 °C and rolled into strips, plates and bars for a plethora of applications. Today’s state‑of‑the‑art hot rolling mills combine high‑efficiency walking‑beam furnaces, advanced process control and sensor systems, and optimized cooling strategies to deliver tight dimensional tolerances and tailored microstructures while reducing energy use and fuel consumption. The reheating furnaces and downstream rolling line account for a significant share of an integrated mill’s energy demand, meaning that choice of fuel, furnace efficiency, waste‑heat recovery and digital optimization are paramount for cutting emissions.
SUPERHEAT proposes a breakthrough partial‑electrification concept that combines high‑power‑density electric superheating modules (Fig. 2) with an ultra-low‑NOx eBurner system. By superheating the combustion air (and eventually the fuel) to up to 1000 °C, the technology can insert electric energy into the reheating process, cut specific energy consumption by ≈ 6 %, and achieve up to 100 % CO₂ elimination when operated with green H₂ – all while preserving the heating curve, temperature homogeneity and surface quality of the steel.
Figure 2: Sintex HoneyComb [1]
The demonstrator for the SUPERHEAT solution is the Walking‑beam furnace 2 (WBF2) at Outokumpu (Tornio, Finland). One zone of the furnace will be equipped by a fleet of eBurner modules with the newly developed superheating honeycomb modules. The project also carries out a virtual full‑retrofit of this furnace and a second long‑product furnace at GSW (Santander, Spain), extends the concept to 100 % H₂ operation, and produces a full techno‑economic, life‑cycle and business‑case portfolio for industrial roll‑out.
Figure 3: Kick-Off Meeting March 2026
[1] Sintex: Metal Powder Extrusion, URL: https://sintex.com/sintered-components-in-stainless-steel/powder-extrusion/ (23.07.2026)
Project goals
- Develop high-power-density superheating modules that can electrically preheat combustion air (and later the fuel) to ≈ 1000 °C.
- Design, prototype and validate the ultra‑low‑NOx, flame‑less eBurner.
- Integrate the eBurner into an existing industrial reheating furnace and demonstrate partial‑electrification at TRL 8
- Perform 3D full‑furnace numerical simulations to
- Conduct baseline assessment of state-of-the-art furnace
- Predict the performance of the partially‑retrofit demonstrator
- Conduct a virtual full‑retrofit of both the OUTO and GSW furnaces (including H₂ operation).
- Following ISO 14040/14044 standards, IOB leads a comprehensive cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) alongside a techno-economic analysis to evaluate the environmental impacts and business cases of all operating scenarios, including a natural gas baseline, partial electrification, a hydrogen-natural gas blend, and 100% green hydrogen.
Project participants
- RWTH Aachen University – Department of Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering (IOB)
- Outokumpu O.Y. (OUTO) | Finland
- Tenova SPA (TEN) | Italy
- SIN A/S (SIN) | Denmark
- ESTEP (ESTEP PLATEFORME TECHNOLOGIQUE EUROPEENNE DE L’ACIER) | Belgium
- Global Steel Wire SA (GSW) & CELSA OPCO, SA| Spain
- SNAM S.p.A. (SNAM) | Italy
Contact
Manuel Sanders, M.Sc.
+49 241 80–26066
Dr.-Ing. Nico Schmitz
Nada Mohamed, M.Sc.
Tom Jose, M.Sc.
Funding
This project was funded by the European Union’s Research Fund for Coal and Steel under the Grant-ID 101254442.The funding was granted within the call “RFCS‑2025‑CSP – Big Tickets for Steel”.