Page 17 - Best of 2019 English

Into the future with hydrogen
Salzgitter AG is pioneering low-carbon, hydrogen-based steel production Swith its projects SALCOS®, WindH2 and GrInHy2.0
teel production is energy-intensive – in gen-based steel industry. On October 30 2018, terms of the process itself, there’s essentially Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, industrial gas supplier no room for maneuver. The blast furnace Linde AG and Avacon Natur GmbH, a specialist in route is used today for 95 % of primary steel the construction and operation of gas and power
production and it already runs at maximum effi- networks, signed a contract for the “Wind Hydro-
“We regard the ‘Wind Hydrogen Salzgitter’ project as a key building block along the way to more climate-friendly steel production”
Prof. Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, CEO of Salzgitter AG
ciency. By using renewable energies and hydrogen instead of coal, however, it is possible to produce steel sustainably and with low emissions.
The blast furnace route used in Europe involves iron ore reduction using almost nothing but coke and pulverized coal. Carbon dioxide is generated in the process which could be deposited under- ground (“Carbon Capture and Storage”, CCS) or else converted into other substances and recycled (“Carbon Capture and Usage”, CCU). From the outset, Salzgitter AG was the first steel producer to opt for a more sustainable approach that is now attracting more and more supporters throughout the industry: decarbonization of steel production using hydrogen and renewable electricity.
The SALCOS® project – a better way
Salzgitter AG has come up with the term “Carbon Direct Avoidance” (CDA) to describe this process. The economically ambitious goal is to largely avoid generating CO2 altogether. The aim is to use hydrogen instead of coke and coal in the extraction of iron from iron ore – the hydrogen is to be produced by means of electrolysis using electric power from renewable energy sources.
The SALCOS® (SAlzgitter Low CO2-Steelmaking) project sets out to implement this transformation process for the integrated steelworks in Salzgitter, a collaborative venture being undertaken with part- ners from industry and research including Tenova and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The core element of the project is the direct reduction process (DRP), using hydrogen and natural gas as reducing agents. The process is not new in principle – in fact it is already employed on a large scale, though most-
ly outside Europe in places where natural gas is cheaply available. SALCOS® aims to make increas- ing use of hydrogen produced using climate-neu- tral techniques. Nowhere in the world have direct reduction plants been flexibly operated in this way using natural gas and hydrogen on an industrial scale. According to large-scale test findings to date, however, no fundamental difficulties are expected to be encountered.
Of course, the hydrogen required for this pur- pose has to be produced in a climate-neutral way using renewable energies. This is where another exciting and highly promising corporate project comes into play: “Wind Hydrogen Salzgitter”. Involving an investment of EUR 50 million, this project takes a further step towards a hydro-
gen Salzgitter” project, also known as WindH2. The aim here is to produce hydrogen in Salzgitter by means of PEM electrolysis using electricity from wind power (see page 15). The pure water re- quired for this purpose will come from the Group's own plant, i.e. processed industrial water from
the steelworks. In addition to the hydrogen, the oxygen produced by the electrolysis process might also be used for operational purposes.
Under legislation as it currently stands, the elec- tric power generated by the wind turbines has to be fed into the public grid. Project partner Avacon is responsible for operating and connecting the wind turbines. Meanwhile, Linde is involved in the WindH2 project primarily to secure the supply of hydrogen.
The future project GrInHy2.0
As an alternative to established electrolysis tech- nology, the research project “Green Industrial Hydrogen” (GrInHy – pronounced “green high”) is testing a climate-friendly hydrogen production system linked to an integrated steelworks in which Salzgitter AG has a participating interest. Togeth- er with Sunfire GmbH and partners from five
EU countries, Salzgitter AG was involved in this successful EU research project from March 2016 to February 2019.
GrInHy employs high-temperature electrolysis (HTE) for hydrogen production, relying on the steam generated during steel production that has a temperature of around 150°C. Since it makes use of waste heat, the process offers a significantly higher degree of electrical efficiency than other electrolysis technologies.
A pilot plant went into operation on the steel- works premises in October 2017, and in January 2019 Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, Salzgitter Man- nesmann Forschung GmbH and Sunfire GmbH launched the follow-up project GrInHy2.0 with new partners. Plant manufacturers Paul Wurth
S. A. and Tenova S. p. A. are likewise involved in the project, as is the French research center CEA. The total budget amounts to EUR 5.5 million. The project is supported by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking and the European Commis- sion. GrInHy2.0 aims to increase efficiency from 78 % to at least 84 % (in terms of calorific value), thereby boosting the electrolysis capacity from
150 to 720 kWe (kilowatt electric). WindH2 and GrInHy2.0 form the basis of the SALCOS® project,
“At the same time, SALCOS® is also a way of securing the future viability of Salzgitter as steel manufactur- ing location, including the jobs it provides”
Ulrich Grethe, Member of Salzgitter AG Group Management
HYDROGEN 17