At Sidenor, we develop various research projects that directly focus on decarbonization in the industrial sector. Within the energy transition in which we are currently immersed, various lines of work have been initiated that aim to replace the fossil carbon sources used throughout our production process. In the case of natural gas, although in a low TRL, the use of green hydrogen as an energy vector has been actively explored over the last 3 years.
Thanks to our participation in the H2PLAN project, we have been able to advance the knowledge and technological development of hydrogen for its use in high temperature heating processes.
The H2PLAN project is part of the Department of Science and Innovation’s Supplementary Energy and Renewable Hydrogen Plans. It was defined with two Elkartek projects from the 2021 program: H2BASQUE (Technologies to boost the hydrogen economy in the Basque Country: Generation of green hydrogen) and ERABILH2 (Advanced solutions for the integration and optimal operation of hydrogen-based devices in final applications: mobility and industrial use).
The approach of the ErabilH2 project consists of three levels or layers of integration of H2-based devices: from the device (hydrogen burner in the case of industrial use), to integration (considering aspects related to the burners’ additional components), until reaching the system vision (the industrial process itself in the industry part).
As an industrial case, the reheating furnace of the Basauri rolling mill was chosen, as it is the main natural gas consuming facility in Sidenor.
Firstly, 2 types of hydrogen burners have been designed in the project: a micro-mixture diffusion burner and a premix burner. Both technologies reduce the risk of flame flashback and NOx formation. Furthermore, their technical feasibility has been positively demonstrated on a laboratory scale.
On the other hand, CFD simulations have been developed that model the behavior of the new H2 atmosphere, both at the burner and combustion chamber level. The temperatures obtained are uniform but, at a technical level, it is still necessary to continue researching other metallurgical aspects related to the use of H2 in furnaces, such as:
- Analysis of the new heating conditions at flame level in the design of heating cycles.
- Impact of the new atmosphere resulting from combustion with H2 on the surface quality of the steel.
- Impact on the rest of the components within the installation itself.
To answer these questions, Sidenor participates in the Elkartek project of the 2023 program, ERABIL+.
Finally, regarding hydrogen consumption, it is important to highlight that we must further work to increase the availability of supply and reduce the high manufacturing costs involved in order to achieve any type of industrial implementation of this technology.