Hydrogen as a Substitute for Natural Gas

Hydrogen as Natural Gas Substitute Novelis Inc., a leading provider of sustainable aluminium solutions and a leading firm in aluminium rolling and recycling, announced that it has been awarded GBP 4.6 million in funding to conduct hydrogen combustion trials at its Latchford facility in the United Kingdom. This funding is part of the UK Government's GBP 1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) and the GBP 55 million Industrial Fuel Switch Competition, which falls within the broader regional HyNet project. Novelis joined HyNet in 2017 and, in addition to supporting the development of the regional infrastructure project, is conducting its own technical feasibility studies on the use of hydrogen as a direct substitute for natural gas. Emilio Braghi, Vice President and President of Novelis Europe, stated: "The transition to renewable energy sources is an important initiative to advance on our journey toward carbon-neutral production. This collaboration is driving industrial decarbonisation not only for our own facilities, but for the entire North-West region across the United Kingdom." With the grant recently provided by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Novelis' Latchford facility will test hydrogen use in one of its recycling furnaces during a demonstration phase in 2024. Allan Sweeney, Plant Manager at Novelis Latchford, stated: "We are proud to be among the pioneers using hydrogen in the aluminium industry, and we believe these trials at Latchford will also advance research into the feasibility of integrating hydrogen energy into our recycling operations worldwide." Established in collaboration with Progressive Energy, an independent British energy company, the trial requires the installation of new burners and regenerators capable of operating on either hydrogen or hydrogen/gas blend inputs, as well as replacement of furnace lining material with a hydrogen-compatible material.

Depending on the final configuration, replacing natural gas with hydrogen to fuel the remelting furnace could reduce CO2eq emissions by up to 90% compared to the same amount of natural gas consumption.

Suzanne Lindsay-Walker, Vice President of Sustainability at Novelis Inc., stated: "Decarbonising our melting processes is a critical lever to reach our sustainability targets of reducing our carbon footprint by 30% by 2026 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner." In addition to its contribution to HyNet, Novelis' global research and development teams are also exploring the capability to use plasma, electricity and biomass to power production activities. Source