Hydrogen in Glassmaking preview 16 speakers to discuss hydrogen’s potential

Hydrogen in Glassmaking conference

The Hydrogen in Glassmaking conference takes place next month. Here we preview some of the 16 presentations that will take place at the two day digital conference.

A two-day digital conference will investigate the potential use of hydrogen in the glass manufacturing process.

Hydrogen in Glassmaking will include 16 speakers ranging from energy providers to suppliers of hydrogen burners. Speakers include Heineken, glass manufacturer Steklarna Hrastnik, energy provider Shell as well as hydrogen consortiums organised by CelSian and DNV as well as the VERCANE group consisting of Saverglass, Verescence, Fives and ENGIE.

Here we preview some of the papers:

HEINEKEN, ERIC GILJAM, CATEGORY LEADER GLASS: MAKING HEINEKEN BOTTLES GREENER: CARBON NEUTRAL GLASS PRODUCTION BY 2040

Heineken has an ambition to decarbonise its own production by 2030 by maximising energy effi ciency and renewable energy. In close partnership with suppliers, also by 2030, Heineken aims to cut emissions by 30% across its entire value chain from a 2018 baseline. Looking ahead to 2040, the company is the fi rst global brewer to aim for carbon neutrality in its full value chain. As approx. 30% of Heineken emissions come from packaging materials, of which a big part from glass packaging, Heineken calls upon the glass industry to decarbonise glass production.

Eric Giljam

STEKLARNA HRASTNIK, PETER CAS; CEO AND TILEN SEVER, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, GLASS PRODUCTION DECARBONISATION UTILISING HYDROGEN

Steklarna Hrastnik will present a project for optimisation of energy conversion to replace the share of fossil fuels used for industrial glass melting with hydrogen. Project introduced renewable energy sources (use of solar cells), the production and storage of green hydrogen gas, and the partial addition of the latter to the natural gas feed to make a further fi rst step towards renewability. System prototype demonstration in operational environment included the full fuel ramping from the non-renewable natural gas to hydrogen, simultaneously considering the fl exibility of operation, the quality of product and the profi tability of manufacturing. Tilen Sever

Peter Cas

DNV/CELSIAN, SANDER GERSEN (DNV), OSCAR VERHEIJEN (CELSIAN): HYDROGEN AS FUEL FOR THE GLASS INDUSTRY, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?

The glass industry has a huge challenge in decarbonizing heating processes. A fast and sustainable route to reduce the carbon intensity of these processes is to replace natural gas with hydrogen. Within this presentation the role of hydrogen in the future energy system will be described and potential hydrogen markets will be presented. Furthermore, the state-of-the-art knowledge with regard to hydrogen and hydrogen/natural gas combustion and burner performance will be discussed to allow a gradual transition from natural gas to hydrogen within the glass industry. Furthermore, briefl y modeling of hydrogen/natural gas combustion will be addresses during the presentation. Oscar Verheijen

Sander Gersen

VERCANE PROJECT : LUDOVIC FERRAND, FUTURE INDUSTRY LAB MANAGER, ENGIE LAB CRIGEN INNOVATIVE METHODOLOGIES TO PAVE THE WAY TOWARDS NEUTRAL CARBON GLASS.

ENGIE, Fives, Saverglass and Verescence are jointly developing the VERCANE R&D project. The purpose of VERCANE is to support container glassmakers partners in their efforts to decarbonise glass production. A key challenge of decarbonisation is the ability to identify carbon neutral energy vectors available on the territory of glass plants. To address this challenge, the partner are developing innovative methodologies, focusing on three mains vectors : hydrogen, bioresources and electrifi cation. A multi-criteria analysis is developed to assess possible scenarios. In complement, VERCANE explores the adaptation of melting furnaces to the new vectors, to prepare industrial projects at scale. The project includes concrete case studies at production sites of Saverglass and Verescence.

Ludovic Ferrand

GWI-ESSEN/BV GLAS: JÖRG LEICHER, TEAM MANAGER, GWI-ESSEN HYGLASS - HYDROGEN UTILIZATION AS A DECARBONIZATION MEASURE FOR THE GLASS INDUSTRY

LINDE INC, SHRIKAR CHAKRAVARTI, R&D DIRECTOR, GLASS PREPARING FOR SUSTAINABLE GLASS PRODUCTION – TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC INVESTIGATION OF HYDROGEN SUPPLY FOR GLASS MELTING

Decarbonisation is a major challenge for the glass industry. Different options are being discussed, among them full electrification or the use of hydrogen to partially or even completely substitute natural gas. In a publicly funded research project GWI and BV Glas investigate the impact of hydrogen on combustion processes, using semi-industrial combustion experiments and CFD simulations to assess the impact of natural gas / hydrogen blends or pure hydrogen on various combustion processes in the glass manufacturing process. Also, the impact on glass quality is analysed. This presentation will give an overview on the project’s results and findings so far.

Jörg Leicher

To qualify glass operations to be CO2 – free, clean hydrogen production with low carbon intensity must be used. Two common clean H2 production methods currently under consideration are NG-based steam methane reforming with carbon capture and sequestration (blue H2) as well as electrolysis with renewable power (green H2). H2 requirements will be determined by multiple factors including furnace size, number of furnaces and cullet rates. Technoeconomic assessments for use of clean H2 will be presented. Factors affecting techno-economic feasibility are NG prices and potential for CO2 sequestration and/or CO2 utilisation for blue H2 and availability and prices of renewable power for green H2.

Shrikar Chakravarti

SHELL, ROBERTO MARIA PATTUMELLI, HYDROGEN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAN HYDROGEN IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION

The presentation aims at sharing with the audience the importance of clean hydrogen in the energy transition and the relevance for hard to abate sectors decarbonisation journey. We will then touch upon how we think the hydrogen market will develop in Europe and describe a couple of flagship projects currently under development. Roberto Maria Pattumelli

GLASS FUTURES, DR PALMA GONZÁLEZ GARCÍA IS INNOVATION PROGRAMME MANAGER HYDROGEN: AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL FOR GLASS FURNACES

Dr Palma González García is leading the Glass Futures’ Industrial Fuel Switching (IFS) Phase 3 programme, funded by BEIS. This project aims to research the economic, environmental and technical aspects of a range of alternative fuels to enable the decarbonisation of the glass sector. Hydrogen, one of the explored alternative fuels, is considered by Glass Futures as a key enabler for the transition to a low carbon glass industry. The many different facets of hydrogen in glass furnaces are being explored in the IFS programme, from the combustion properties of the gas to the effects of hydrogen in gas melts.

Dr Palma González García

AIR LIQUIDE, LUC JARRY, GLASS AND METAL MARKET DIRECTOR HYDROGEN AS A SOURCE OF COMBUSTION ENERGY

For energy-intensive industries using high-grade heat, hydrogen could be one feasible and efficient route to decarbonisation among others like electrification. It is possible to enhance the energy input ratio brought by hydrogen, while it is therefore difficult to substitute all energy with electric boosting for many glass tanks. Industry already uses about 7.7 EJ of hydrogen annually. Clean hydrogen could replace other fossil fuels. If some technical challenges remain to introduce Oxy-Hydrique flame into the furnace (heat transfer, fining...), they will be overcome. But the economical balance as well as real CO2 reduction impact, considering different ways and solutions for glass melting is to be investigated. Indeed, hydrogen can be produced through steam reforming with or w/o CCS, from electrolyser or even by renewables converting and storing curtailed electricity. The presentation will disclose outcomes of an internal study, based on a LCA approach, figuring out the CO2 reductions for H2 combustion produced by different technologies, pure or mixed with natural gas, and compared to CCS solutions on regenerative air furnaces or Oxy-fuel furnaces. Study is performed for various types of glass segments in different countries to assess impact of CO2 factor and costs.

Luc Jarry

HYDROGEN IN GLASSMAKING TAKES PLACE JUNE 15 AND 16 DIGITALLY, VISIT: WWW.GLASS-INTERNATIONAL.COM/HYDROGEN-IN-GLASS-MANUFACTURING/ABOUT-THE-EVENT