Novelis Inc. says it has reduced CO2e emissions produced by the aluminium recycling furnace at its UK plant in Warrington by up to 90% by replacing natural gas with hydrogen fuel.
The recent trial found using hydrogen instead of the same amount of natural gas when operating a melting furnace can reduce CO2e emissions by up to 90%.
The aluminium recycler Novelis Inc. installed new burners, regenerators, and furnace lining material as part of the tests at its plant in Latchford, Warrington, which are part of a UK government decarbonisation programme.
The demonstration project at Novelis Latchford is part of the UK government’s Industrial Fuel Switching Competition programme.
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 programme aims to support industry to decarbonise their operations through a switch from natural gas to low carbon hydrogen.
We are transforming the Latchford site into a prototype for high-recycled content and decarbonised aluminium production.
Commenting on the trial, Emilio Braghi, Executive Vice President, Novelis Inc., and President, Novelis Europe, said: “With the significant expansion of our local recycling capacity, we are transforming the Latchford site into a prototype for high-recycled content and decarbonised aluminium production.”
Novelis said it conducted several series of tests, which involved 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 tonnes of 3000 series scrap aluminium alloy were remelted and cast into sheet ingots, Novelis said.
Novelis now plans to complete further downstream processing, including rolling and finishing, at its other plants in Europe to establish the “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 UK government’s Industrial Fuel Switching programme later this year.
