Spanish steelmaker Sidenor claims that its participation in the H2PLAN project, has enabled the company 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 and was defined with two Elkartek projects from the 2021 programme: 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).

An example of an industrial case would be the reheating furnace of the Basauri rolling mill in the municipality of Biscay in the Basque region. This was chosen, claims Sidenor, as it is the main natural gas-consuming facility within Sidenor.

First, two types of hydrogen burners have been designed in the project: a micro-mixture diffusion burner and a premix burner. Both reduce the risk of flame flashback and NOx formationand their technical feasibility has been positively demonstrated on a laboratory scale.

On the other hand, CFD simulations have been developed that model the behaviour 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, claims Sidenor, 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.
  • The impact of the new atmosphere resulting from combustion with H2 on the surface quality of the steel.
  • The impact on the rest of the components within the installation itself.

To answer these questions, Sidenor participated in the 2023 programme of the Basque Government-funded Elkartek project of the 2023 programme, ERABIL+, which examined technology solutions for integrating H2-based systems in mobility and industrial use.

Where hydrogen consumption is concerned, Sidenor believes it is imperative to recognise the importance of further work aimed at increasing the availability of supply and reducing the high manufacturing costs required to achieve any type of industrial implementation of this technology.

Sidenor has developed various research projects that directly focus on decarbonization in the industrial sector. Within energy transition, for instance, the company is currently immersed in various lines of work with the aim or replacing the fossil carbon sources used throughout its production process. In the case of natural gas, although in a low level of technology readiness, the use of green hydrogen as an energy vector has been actively explored over the last three years, it is claimed.