Ovako, a European producer of metal and one of many largest metal recyclers within the Nordic nations, is inaugurating the hydrogen plant at its Hofors mill. (Earlier submit.) Ovako’s hydrogen plant is the world’s first facility for producing fossil-free hydrogen to warmth metal earlier than rolling. This reduces emissions from this manufacturing step to almost zero.
Sizzling rolling mills use reheating furnaces to convey the metal feedstock (e.g. billets, blooms, slabs) to a uniform temperature of about 1000 to 1300 ˚C till the metal is plastic sufficient for the rolling course of. A 2020 examine by Zanoni et al. stated that furnaces for metal reheating are answerable for a considerable amount of vitality consumption, the place lower than 50% of the vitality provided to the furnace (primarily gaseous gasoline) is internet vitality of metal heating, the remaining is misplaced.
The plant in Hofors can also be Sweden’s largest electrolysis plant, with a 20MW alkaline electrolyzer system from Nel ASA. Nel’s A Sequence atmospheric alkaline electrolyzers function a cell stack energy consumption as little as 3.8 kWh/Nm3 of hydrogen fuel produced, as much as 2.2 MW per stack. The A Sequence electrolyzer system at Hofors can produce as much as 3,880 Nm3/h of hydrogen—simply over 8 tonnes per day.
Electrolyzer system at Hofors. The big cylinders are the electrolyzer cell stacks; the white tanks seen on the rear are the hydrogen and oxygen separation tanks.
Our metal mill in Hofors was based as early because the 16th century, and with the brand new hydrogen plant, we start a brand new chapter in Swedish metal historical past. Heating metal merchandise has beforehand required massive quantities of fossil fuels. We are actually the primary on the earth to warmth metal with fossil-free hydrogen earlier than rolling, decreasing the emissions on this manufacturing step to nearly zero.
—Marcus Hedblom, President and CEO Ovako Group
The fossil-free hydrogen produced in Ovako’s new facility will likely be used to warmth metal at adjoining rolling mills, considerably decreasing carbon dioxide emissions to almost zero. Along with metal heating, the hydrogen will likely be used for fueling gasoline cell-powered vehicles, and the surplus warmth from the plant will likely be used for district heating.
The fossil-free hydrogen plant in Hofors is the most important in operation in Europe. This resolution for industrial heating know-how holds the potential for substantial international emissions reductions, not restricted to the metal business, the corporate says.
Ovako is collaborating with companions such because the Volvo Group, Hitachi Power, H2 Inexperienced Metal, and Nel Hydrogen. The event of the hydrogen plant has been supported by the Swedish Power Company and the European Union.
Ovako’s plan is to make use of native hydrogen manufacturing in all Ovako items the place metal is rolled by 2030, supplied there’s good entry to fossil-free electrical energy to energy the electrolysis course of.
Ovako is a subsidiary of Sanyo Particular Metal and a member of Nippon Metal Company, one of many largest metal producers on the earth.
Assets
S. Zanoni, I. Ferretti, L.E. Zavanella (2020) “Power financial savings in reheating furnaces via course of modelling,” Procedia Manufacturing, Quantity 42, Pages 205-210 doi: 10.1016/j.promfg.2020.02.071 Open entry.
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