New electrolyser to facilitate energy transition An innovative electrolyser is being demonstrated in an EU-backed project as a stepping stone to helping lower emissions in the steel industry. Climate Change and Environment Industrial Technologies © Dmitry Kovalchuk/stock.adobe.com The EU-funded HyTecHeat project is adopting hybrid technologies for the low-emissions production of steel. As part of this project, Italian multinational electrochemistry company Industrie De Nora S.p.A. is supplying a new 1-MW-capacity Dragonfly® on-site electrolytic hydrogen generation system to play a part in reducing emissions in a sector in urgent need of decarbonisation. In the steel industry, hydrogen is currently only replacing natural gas in upstream (raw steel production) processes, while enjoying very limited application in downstream finishing lines where raw steel is turned into final steel products. The thermal treatment and reheating processes involved in making such steel products – whether with new or recycled steel – consume about 50 normal cubic metres of natural gas per tonne of produced steel. HyTecHeat aims to use hybrid heating technology – based on natural gas with progressive and increasing use of low-carbon hydrogen – to help reduce carbon emissions in these downstream processes. Testing, testing This is the first use case of the new Dragonfly® electrolyser, in which the use of DSA® electrodes, also developed by De Nora, maximise the electrolyser’s performance and efficiency. HyTecHeat partner Tenova, Italy, will host the demonstration with the support of another Italian project partner, Snam, which will oversee the hydrogen storage system. The Tenova demo involves the testing of a hybrid burner to assess the system’s advantages and any possible risks that need to be mitigated. A small unit designed to be installed at the end customer’s facility, the Dragonfly® electrolyser is not limited to steel production processes. It could be used to meet the needs of many other industries requiring on-site hydrogen generation, including the chemical, pharmaceutical, biogas, oleochemical and refinery industries. The system has been undergoing testing at an industrial site for over a year and has obtained all necessary certifications to operate. De Nora CEO Paolo Dellachà commented in a De Nora press release: “We are proud to announce our participation as a partner in this project of European significance, which will represent the first use case of the new Dragonfly® electrolyzer, a versatile and high-quality product that will make our role as facilitators of the energy transition even easier. The market launch of this solution is the tangible result of our significant investments in R&D, which is key to maintaining our position as a company at the forefront of the sectors where we operate.” The HyTecHeat (HYbrid TEChnologies for sustainable steel reHEATing) project will carry out another two demos to form a complete picture of hybrid technology potential in the steel industry. One will involve Dutch project partner Tata Steel, in which case a natural gas burner will be adapted to see up to which limit current systems can be pushed to work in hybrid heating gas atmospheres without reducing system performance. The third demo will be hosted by another Italian project partner, steel mill Nunki Steel, where a hybrid heating system will be tested to assess its effect on the quality of refractory material in preheating systems. For more information, please see: HyTecHeat project website Keywords HyTecHeat, steel, carbon, emissions, electrolyser, hydrogen, hybrid heating
