University of Utah Receives $3.4 Million for Low-Emission Iron Powder Research

The University of Utah Powder Metallurgy Research Laboratory, in partnership with the Center of Powder Metallurgy Technology and National Technology Laboratory, was selected for an award of $3.4 million to develop a powder metallurgy-based process technology to produce iron and steel products with drastically reduced energy consumption and carbon dioxide gas emissions. This project represents an opportunity to demonstrate to the manufacturing industry how powder metallurgy can be a gateway to sustainability. The funding is one of the larger federal investments in powder metallurgy in recent decades.

The award was part of the April 18, 2024, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announcement of $28 million in funding for 13 projects across 9 states to advance zero-process-emission ironmaking and ultra-low life cycle emissions steelmaking. The transformative technologies funded through this program would be the first to meet both emissions and cost parity goals, meaning the new, transformative concepts must be cost competitive with existing technologies.

The teams announced today—managed by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) under the Revolutionizing Ore to Steel to Impact Emissions (ROSIE) program—support the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals to reduce harmful, climate-change fueling emissions and imports of iron and steel products.

“Iron and steel production are among the most difficult industrial sectors to decarbonize, which is why ARPA-E is laser focused on accelerating game-changing technological breakthroughs to lower emissions from these critical sectors,” said ARPA-E Director Evelyn N. Wang.

Learn more about the 13 selected projects by visiting: https://arpa-e.energy.gov/news-and-media/press-releases/us-department-energy-announces-28-million-decarbonize-domestic-iron