Norsk Hydro has produced the world’s first aluminum where green hydrogen was used to fuel the smelting process.
The Norwegian firm, which is one of the largest aluminum companies globally, smelted 225 tonnes of recycled aluminium at its facility in Navarra, Spain, with three batches fueled by a blend of hydrogen and fossil gas and six by pure hydrogen.
It now plans to assess how differences in the way hydrogen burns compared to methane will affect both the overall smelting process or metal quality, with results to be published this autumn. The company also plans to use the test batches of aluminium to make further products.
The test was conducted and led by Hydro Havrand, Hydro’s green hydrogen subsidiary, in partnership with Fives, an industrial engineering group that contributed design and supply of the hydrogen burner technology. Reportedly, the tests used around 33,000 normal cubic metres (2,966kg) of hydrogen produced via electrolysis, which was supplied by Nippon Gases. However, given this is one of the first tests of aluminium smelting fired by hydrogen, the company is reluctant to extrapolate from the small volumes involved to comment on the cost gap with the conventional process of firing fossil gas.
REGlobal’s Views: Green metals and materials like green steel, green aluminium and green cement are key areas of discussion as companies and corporates strive to accelerate their net zero agendas. Thus, manufacturers are now also focusing on adopting green materials in their processes and construction activities to reduce carbon emissions. With massive green hydrogen and green ammonia projects coming up across the world, more such announcements can be expected in the near future.
