The objective is the design, construction and commissioning of a single column STEPWISE pilot installation. The pilot consists of 3 sections:

The required WGS catalyst and CO₂ adsorbent will be tuned to operate with BFG and then produced at industrial scale. For the pre-shift section, initially a commercial Fe/Cr-based catalyst will be tested in the novel split-flow configuration, paying special attention to the sulphur present in the BFG. An advanced catalyst, tuned for low steam operation will be tested and compared. For the SEWGS section, the hydrotalcite-based adsorbent material will be produced at tonnage scale. Two test campaigns in the pilot unit, focusing on long duration behavior, will provide valuable feedback for reactor model optimization, the techno-economic assessment and the life cycle analysis.

The testing program in WP-2 leads to optimized models for the WGS and SEWGS section. With the SEWGS model, cycle optimization will be performed to define the optimal sizing and configuration of the STEPWISE reactor vessels, to reduce the capture costs and to minimize the steam use while attaining the CO₂ purity and CO₂ avoidance target. The optimized cycle, in its turn, is incoroporated into the techno-economic process integration studies to allow comparison with other CO₂ removal solutions. It will identify the optimum layout to minimize the energy efficiency penalties related to CO₂ capture while maximizing economic benefits. Another important facet of WP3 will be the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), which will compare the environmental footprints of the STEPWISE configuration to other CCS solutions that are applicable in the iron and steel industry (e.g. gas-liquid absorption).

The aim is to make a basic design and an accurate costs estimate for full scale SEWGS plant for CO₂ capture from BFG. The optimized plant configuration from WP-4 together with the results of long term testing in WP-2, the sorbent optimization and costs of WP-3 will form the basis for this work. This work package will develop a comprehensive exploitation plan for the commercialization of the outcomes and developments within the project. Key will be the development of a business cases, including a public engagement strategy for implementing this technology, as part of the overall communication strategy.

The project takes dissemination very seriously, and will aim activities at multiple levels, e.g. scientific community, public audiences and industrial community. At each level, there are several target audiences that have been identified. Activities will include website maintenance, press releases, meetings workshops, outreach to industrial platforms, scientific papers, national and international conferences and patents.

The project will be managed by the Project Coordinator as head of the Project Steering Committee, with representatives from each of the work packages and the participating organisations. Beside Project Management, Risk management forms an integral part of the whole project and is channelled through the Risk Manager.