COOPHS project to boost the production of low-carbon steel to contribute to the sustainability and decarbonization of the automotive industry

• The project seeks to minimize CO₂, emissions from the automotive industry, in line with the objectives of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel Research Programme and the European Green Deal Roadmap.  
• The consortium, coordinated by the Eurecat technology centre, is participated by seven European entities including actors from the steel industry, the automotive safety sector and research organizations. 

The European consortium COOPHS, led by the Eurecat technology centre, works to improve the production of low CO₂ steel for the automotive sector, through the development of more sustainable processing methodologies that will contribute to its decarbonization. 

“The production of high-performance steel through recycling will make it possible to minimize CO₂ emissions from the automotive industry, as well as advance in the sustainability and competitiveness of the European steel market, in line with the objectives of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) Research Programme and the European Green Deal Roadmap”, points out the project coordinator and head of the Line of New Processes for Advanced Materials of the Metallic and Ceramic Materials Unit of Eurecat, Jaume Pujante. 

The project focuses on evaluating an eco-friendlier production of Press-Hardened Steels (PHS), a light and resistant structural material, essential in the safety components of today’s cars. In particular, throughout the project the implications of implementing the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) replacing the blast furnace as the main production route will be studied. 

The goal of COOPHS is to deepen the complex effects introduced by residual elements common in EAF production routes on material microstructure and properties. In addition to the structural performance of the material, these trace elements have a great impact on the surface treatments and coatings necessary to achieve a long service life of the component. One of the main objectives of the project is to determine the acceptable amounts of these residual elements in an industrial deployment of these solutions. 

On the other hand, a tool will be designed to guarantee a emissions-product compromise to facilitate the progression of low CO₂ steels in the PHS automotive market. COOPHS research will also compare various existing solutions and propose optimized low-emission steel processing routes. 

The COOPHS project will thus contribute to advance the state of the art in optimising press-hardened steels and of Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS) in general. 

The consortium, coordinated by Eurecat technology centre, is participated by seven entities, including actors from the steel industry, the automotive safety sector as ArcelorMittal, Gestamp HardTech AB and Letomec; and research organizations as Aix-Marseille University, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and ALBA Synchrotron (ALBA-CELLS).