3 minute read
Survey: Baking with green hydrogen energy?
Baking with green hydrogen energy?
“What is your position on the use of hydrogen technology to fuel ovens in bakeries?” This is the question we put to oven manufacturers in Europe and the USA. The WP Bakerygroup, Reading Bakery Systems and the Bühler Group came back with their statements.
By Helga Baumfalk
Hydrogen (H2) is basically a perfect fuel, since its combustion with oxygen (O2) generates no carbon dioxide (CO2), but only water (H2O). Hydrogen can be obtained from methane (CH4), although that does produce CO2 again. Another method is the electrolysis of water (H2O). This involves passing a direct electric current through water between two electrodes immersed in the water. Two gases, hydrogen and oxygen, are evolved at the two electrodes – separated from one another – but no carbon dioxide. In conjunction with electricity generated from wind or the sun, this allows the ‘storage’ of a large amount of the electrical energy that is generated. So, when considering this energy chain – the generation of hydrogen from wind or solar energy, and the production of the energy needed in the baking oven from hydrogen – this really forms no CO2 in the entire process. However, using hydrogen is not entirely problem-free on safety grounds. There is a good reason why a mixture of two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen is called detonating gas: it is highly explosive! An added factor is that although hydrogen burners already exist, they are available only for 600 kW and above, i.e. for rather large plants. Developments are also ongoing for burners up to 40 kW. Currently, in the baking ovens area, there are still no practicable solutions with burner powers in the range between 60 and 200 kW. As soon as these become available, everything really favors the use of hydrogen in the baking ovens area. The costs required for this remain to be seen.
© Wp Bakery Group
Dr.-Ing. Christoph Adams
Dr.-Ing. Christoph Adams, Technical Director at W&P Lebensmitteltechnik GmbH (Werner & Pfleiderer), Dinkelsbühl, Germany
© RBS While a 30% hydrogen/natural gas mixture could be considered a bridge technology to a more sustainable green fuel in the future, burning pure hydrogen gas in ovens has the challenges of a more complicated combustion process and high-pressure on-site storage systems. The energy vector required to produce hydrogen, transport it to site, pipe
it to combustion equipment then burn it to create heat makes the process only 60-70% efficient. Because compressed hydrogen gas has one of the highest energy densities of all potential fuels, mass transportation may be the most suitable use for the hydrogen. Oven manufacturers will increasingly use electrically driven solutions of induction, radio frequency, ultrasonics and resistance heating as the zero greenhouse gas fuel of the future.
Joe Zaleski, President of Reading Bakery Systems, Robesonia, Pennsylvania/USA
“Bühler Group aims to save 50% water, 50% waste, and 50% energy in its customers' value chains by 2025. This is how we are combating climate change with our innovations,” says Sonja Jeßberger, Head of Product Management Business Unit Wafer at Bühler. “Based © Bühler Group on these goals, we are con tinuously testing various tech Sonja Jeßberger nologies to reduce energy consumption, replace fossil fuels, and avoid CO2 emissions. The next few years will show whether hydrogen technology is suitable for our applications to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. We are closely monitoring developments in this sector.” Pietro Aresta, Director of Product Management Business Unit Biscuit at Bühler, adds: “Hydrogen as a heating power still not only raises different questions today in terms of use, maintenance, © Bühler Group and safety, but also in terms Pietro Aresta of effective CO2 reduction. The path to green hydrogen is not yet immediately tangible.” However, Sonja Jeßberger makes it clear: “We are continuously working on further alternative heating technologies for our wafer baking ovens. In doing so, we are focusing both on our sustainability goals and on increasing overall equipment effectiveness for our customers.”
Sonja Jeßberger, Head of Product Management Business Unit Wafer, Bühler Group, -Leobendorf/Austria, and Pietro Aresta, Director of Product Management Business Unit Biscuit, Bühler Group, Skovlunde/Denmark +++
KOENIG Motiv4 NTS 91x53.qxd 12.02.2007 11:10 Uhr Seite 1
ADVERTISEMENT
Quality-brand and freshness with long tradition
The Nut specialists
Almond- Hazelnut- and Peanut-Products, roasted, sliced, diced and slivered. Hazelnutfilling and Multi-Crunch.
Please ask for products meeting your specifications.
