According to an announcement Monday, Dastur will design and engineer the blast furnace system for a North American integrated mill. The project, the first such industrial-scale carbon capture project for the North American steel sector, is meant to enable 2 million tons of low-carbon-emissions steel. 

Dastur is the award's prime recipient and will be supported by Boulder, Colo.-based ION Clean Energy Inc. and the University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences. 

Dastur said the project goal is to develop an industrial-scale and cost-effective carbon capture solution and provide a hydrogen-rich gas stream for meeting the energy needs of the steel plant. The company’s proposed approach aims to reduce capture and disposition costs to around US$45/metric ton of CO₂, a significant improvement over current solutions, which are in the US$60/metric ton to US$100/metric ton range, the company said. 

“As a beachhead project, it has the potential to demonstrate U.S. leadership and innovation in decarbonizing integrated steel plants around the world. I believe it can also serve as a reference design for clients in the heavy manufacturing and industrial sector looking for effective decarbonization strategies,” said Dastur president and chief executive Atanu Mukherjee.