Helix Carbon says it can make iron cheaper by recycling blast furnace pollution
Helix Carbon says it can cut ironmaking costs and emissions by recycling carbon dioxide from blast furnace exhaust. Its system converts the gas into carbon monoxide and feeds it back into the furnace, reducing the need for coke, the coal-derived fuel used in iron production.
The company proposes replacing 33% of coke and says this would save iron producers $14 per tonne, though studies disagree on how much coke the process could ultimately displace. Helix says its electrolyser can handle untreated furnace exhaust, unlike many existing systems; because blast furnaces can operate for decades, it plans to seek earlier revenue from specialty chemicals made using waste streams.
- Helix Carbon recycles blast furnace carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide.
- It estimates a 33% coke replacement could save $14 per tonne of iron.
- The company plans to target specialty chemicals while steel adoption takes time.
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Iron is commonly made in a blast furnace, where iron ore is heated with coke, a fuel made from coal. The coke helps remove oxygen from the ore, but the process releases carbon dioxide and contributes to industrial emissions.
Helix Carbon is a company developing a system that turns carbon dioxide in furnace exhaust into carbon monoxide, which can be fed back into ironmaking. It says this could reduce coke use, though estimates differ on how much can be replaced and the cost savings achieved.
Blast furnaces are expensive to build and may run for decades, so changes to them can take time. Helix also plans to pursue specialty chemicals made from waste streams as a possible source of earlier income.
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The case for
If Helix’s system works at industrial scale, reusing exhaust carbon monoxide could reduce coke consumption, emissions and production costs, making it attractive to steelmakers. Its claim that the electrolyser can use untreated furnace exhaust may also avoid costly gas-cleaning steps, while specialty chemicals could provide revenue as plants gradually adopt the technology.
The case against
The projected savings and the share of coke that can be replaced remain uncertain, and estimates of the process’s potential differ. Blast furnaces are long-lived assets, so integrating a new system may be difficult and slow; if it cannot reliably handle real-world exhaust or deliver the claimed savings, producers could face costs without meaningful emissions reductions.
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