GHG Emissions, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables - February 26, 2025
Novelis Tests Hydrogen Use in Recycling Furnace
Novelis Inc., a sustainable aluminum solutions manufacturer, announced that it has successfully tested using hydrogen fuel to power a recycling furnace at its U.K. plant in Latchford, Warrington.
The tests were carried out as part of a U.K. government decarbonization program and in collaboration with Progressive Energy, an independent UK energy company, and required the installation of new burners, regenerators and furnace lining material. Using hydrogen instead of the same amount of natural gas when operating a melting furnace can reduce CO2e emissions by up to 90%.
"Exploring renewable energy sources, such as hydrogen, making first mover investments, and reducing energy intensity are part of our 3x30 vision to advance aluminium as the material of choice with circular solutions," says Emilio Braghi, Executive Vice President, Novelis Inc., and President of Novelis Europe, in a statement. "With the significant expansion of our local recycling capacity, we are transforming the Latchford site into a prototype for high-recycled content and decarbonized aluminum production."
Several series of tests were conducted by blending different percentages of hydrogen with natural gas (30%-100%) to evaluate the impact on existing infrastructure and equipment compatibility. During the trial campaign, several hundred tons of 3000 series scrap aluminum alloy were re-melted and cast into sheet ingots. In addition, all relevant parameters were measured to assess any impact on the product, process, operating environment, and environmental emissions.
Further downstream processing, including rolling and finishing, will be now completed at other Novelis plants in Europe to establish the real “end-to-end” parameters of a hydrogen-based, recycled alloy production process. Following the full post-trial evaluation and assessments, a report will be released as part of the U.K. government's Industrial Fuel Switching program later this year.
The demonstration project at Novelis Latchford is part of the U.K. government's Industrial Fuel Switching Competition program. Supported with a grant of £4.6 million, as part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and the wider regional HyNet project, the program is designed to support industry to decarbonize their operations through a switch from natural gas to low carbon hydrogen.
Novelis is also conducting its own technical feasibility studies into the use of hydrogen as a direct replacement for natural gas.
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