1. Introduction According to data from the World Steel Association, crude steel production has increased more than threefold, rising from 595 million tons in 1970 to 1,952 million tons in 2021. While a significant portion of this production is carried out by China, global steel production is expected to grow annually by 1–2% in the future. In 2019, of the 1,875.3 million tons of crude steel produced worldwide, 70.8% was produced in blast furnaces and 5.9% through direct reduc