The HELIOS – MSCA DN project is proud to be represented by Ankur Agnihotri (University of Oulu), one of our PhD researchers.
At the EASES 2025 symposium in Ljubljana, Ankur presented his paper “Modeling the Thermal Properties of H-DRI During Melting in an Electric Arc Furnace,” where he combined high-temperature DSC experiments with FactSage simulations to measure and validate the solidus and liquidus temperatures and enthalpy of hydrogen-reduced iron pellets. He then generated a synthetic dataset of 500 HDRI compositions and applied machine-learning multiple linear regression to predict those melting temperatures, alongside Shomate-equation fits for enthalpy and specific heat. These new thermochemical functions will be built directly into our lab-scale EAF models to provide the crucial data needed for cleaner, more efficient steelmaking.
The symposium also gave Ankur the chance to connect with key players in the steel industry and learn about the latest advancements in mathematical modelling and simulation, slag valorisation, hydrogen plasma smelting reduction, CO₂-reduction strategies and environmental impact, and EAF process efficiency and optimisation.
