U.S. Steel Gary Works Plant Carbon Capture Project

The Gary Works carbon capture project was preceded by a US Department of Energy–funded FEED study that evaluated deploying CarbonCapture Inc.’s direct air capture system at U.S. Steel’s Gary Works facility using waste heat from steel operations. The study was led by the University of Illinois with participation from U.S. Steel, CarbonCapture Inc., CarbonCure, Ozinga, Sargent & Lundy, and Ecotek Engineering. The design integrated DAC units at the steel mill, CO₂ liquefaction and trucking logistics, and downstream utilization at nearby ready-mix concrete plants operated by Ozinga using CarbonCure’s mineralization technology. The FEED scope included full process design, constructability review, lifecycle analysis, logistics planning, and cost evaluation. The system was designed to remove more than 5,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year, with waste heat integration used to reduce capture energy requirements. Building on that technical groundwork, U.S. Steel and CarbonFree signed a definitive agreement in April 2024 to deploy CarbonFree’s SkyCycle™ capture system at the Gary Works integrated steel mill. The commercial facility is designed to capture up to 50,000 metric tons of CO₂ annually from blast furnace emissions and convert it into mineralized calcium carbonate for use in industrial products. The agreement includes a 20-year operating term, with construction targeted to begin in 2024 and startup expected in 2026.