Hydrogen fuels aluminium recycling in Novelis tests

Novelis has successfully tested the use hydrogen fuel to power a recycling furnace.

Research at the aluminium giant’s UK plant in Latchford, Warrington was carried out as part of a UK government decarbonisation programme.

The scheme is in collaboration with energy company Progressive Energy and required the installation of new burners, regenerators and furnace lining material. Using hydrogen instead of the same volumes of natural gas when operating a melting furnace can reduce CO₂e emissions by up to 90%.

Vision

Novelis says exploring renewable energy sources such as hydrogen and reducing energy intensity is part of its vision to make production of the metal more sustainable.

‘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,’ says Emilio Braghi, president of Novelis Europe.

The tests were conducted by blending different percentages of hydrogen with natural gas (from 30%-100%) to evaluate the impact on existing infrastructure and equipment compatibility. Several hundred tonnes of 3000 series scrap aluminium alloy were remelted and cast into sheet ingots.

Further testing

Further processing, including rolling and finishing, will be completed at other Novelis plants in Europe to assess a hydrogen-based, recycled alloy production process.

‘The use of hydrogen is not common in the aluminium industry today and we are very proud to be one of the pioneers to have tested this new fuel at an industrial scale and in a real-world environment,’ adds Allan Sweeney, plant manager, Novelis Latchford. ‘The results from Latchford will drive further research into the potential deployment of hydrogen in our recycling operations worldwide.’

The demonstration project at Novelis Latchford is part of the UK government’s Industrial Fuel Switching Competition programme.