Imagine a giant oven used to heat steel before it's shaped. Right now, these ovens burn natural gas, which releases a lot of pollution. This project is swapping that gas for hydrogen, like switching a car from petrol to a cleaner fuel, to stop CO2 from entering the air.
Steel downstream processes rely almost entirely on natural gas, creating a massive carbon footprint. Current hydrogen solutions are mostly limited to upstream processes, leaving a gap in the decarbonization of rolling and finishing lines.
A hybrid heating system featuring innovative multifuel burners and an electrolyser installation for industrial testing.
If you are an integrated steel mill dealing with high CO2 emissions in downstream rolling lines — this project developed hybrid heating technology that can reduce emissions by 7.5 to 25 Mt per year.
If you are a furnace manufacturer dealing with the shift toward green energy — this project developed innovative multifuel burners that allow a progressive transition from natural gas to hydrogen.
If you are a hydrogen provider dealing with the need for industrial-scale demand — this project developed a system for downstream steel processes that requires approximately 50 Nm3 of gas per ton of steel.
Based on available project data, current natural gas costs about 0.6 €/Nm3. Replacing it with hydrogen at 4€/kg (0.36€/m3) would cost 1.08 € per Nm3 of gas replaced, but this drops to 0.16 €/m3 (1.8€/kg) in future forecasts.
The project is testing the technology at TRL 7 using three demo cases and an electrolyser installation at Tenova premises.
Based on available project data, no specific patent or licensing agreements are mentioned, though the project involves 10 industrial partners including Tata Steel and Arcelor Mittal.
The project identifies optimum processing parameters to ensure that primary scale and associated scale defects do not persist in the final steel product.
Snam has identified the relevant normative and standards applicable in the European Union regarding safety for these systems.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven, with 10 industrial partners (91% ratio) and only 1 research entity. This indicates a strong focus on commercial viability and immediate industrial application, featuring global steel giants like Tata Steel, Tenaris, Arcelor Mittal, and SSAB.
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