CISERA is a not-for-profit organization that continues to demonstrate a successful collaboration between the Canadian coal and steel members and the Federal Government. This relationship has existed since 1965.

CISERA is a well managed organization and has been a very key partner to Canadian coal and steel industry over many years. The CISERA has historically met the challenges to meet its members technical needs.  One of the keys for CISERA success is its ability to change with changing industry priorities.  Historically our program has addressed the needs pertaining to coal, coal marketing, cokemaking, coke quality and BF performance, PCI, and PCI burnout.  More recently we have been very active in the development and application of bio-based carbon for cokemaking and ironmaking and have also started investigating the use of biocarbon for EAF slag foaming to reduce the carbon footprint of the steel production processes.

Part of CISERA mandate is align our R&D activities with the Federal Government policies and goals, which is to currently decarbonise the steel industry in Canada.  With the announcements from two of the three-member steel companies that have publicly committed to achieve decarbonization by altering their steel production routes from the traditional cokemaking/ironmaking route to scrap/DRI and EAF, the CISERA road map for guide R&D activities needs to change.

To reach net-zero emissions, facilities such as the EAF, reheat furnaces, and many other smaller points of fossil fuel use still must be addressed. Alternative fuels will play a key role in this (H2, biofuels/RNG), but CCU and CCS must also be pursued to meet the needs of all steel members, as well as other heavy industry partners.

The CISERA recognizes that all industrial sectors are seeking technical solutions to decarbonize, and steel is one of these sectors. We must also recognize that other heavy industries are facing similar challenges.  Many industries have common challenges so we should work together.

Overall, CISERA must be visionaries during this transformational change period and prepare for the future.  The Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) see the CISERA as a technical leader in research and implementation of solutions for their members going forward.  CISERA has a long history and successful collaboration with CanmetENERGY-Ottawa in technology development. This collaboration will continue and extend to other Canmet Laboratories at NRCan (CanmetENERGY-Ottawa, CanmetENERGY-Varennes and CanmetMATERIALS-Hamilton) to work on boarder scope of technology transformation and implementation for coal producers, steel producers, and other heavy industries.

The CISERA program is updated to meet the current challenges. The Net Zero Emission Process Development program was added to the existing Blast furnace process enhancement program. The new CISERA program consists of the following:

  • Blast furnace process enhancement
    • Fundamentals of coal science
    • Cokemaking and Coke Quality
  • Net Zero Emission Process Development
    • Supply of Alternate Reductants and Alternative Fuels
    • Utilization of Alternative Reductants (Biocarbon, H2, Electrons)
    • Utilization of Alternate Heating (Renewable Fuels and Non-Emitting Electricity)
    • CO2 Capture, Utilization , Transportation and Storage
    • System Integration and Optimization

The CISERA Board of Directors will continue to evolve the activities with input from all perspective parties.

 

Jason Halko,

Board Chairman Canadian Iron & Steel Energy Research Association

CISERA

2025