The tests were carried out as part of a UK government’s decarbonisation programme in collaboration with Progressive Energy, an independent UK energy company.
The trial saw new burners, regenerators and furnace lining material installed at the facility.
Novelis said that the use of hydrogen instead of the same amount of natural gas when operating a melting furnace can reduce CO2e emissions by up to 90%.
Emilio Braghi, executive vice president of Novelis and president of Novelis Europe, commented: “Exploring renewable energy sources, such as hydrogen, making first mover investments, and reducing energy intensity are part of our 3×30 vision to advance aluminium as the material of choice with circular solutions.
“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.”
Several tests were carried out prior to the hydrogen pilot project. They blended different percentages of hydrogen with natural gas (30%-100%) to evaluate the impact on existing infrastructure, and equipment compatibility.
Several hundred tonnes of 3000 series scrap aluminium alloy were then remelted and cast into sheet ingots. These were tested to ensure they met the same specifications as those produced using natural gas.
Next steps for Novelis
Novelis now plans to complete further downstream testing, including rolling and finishing. These tests will be conducted at other Novelis plants in Europe to establish the real “end-to-end” parameters of a hydrogen-based, recycled alloy production process.
Allan Sweeney, plant manager at Novelis’ Latchford facility, added: “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. The results from Latchford will drive further research into the potential deployment of hydrogen in our recycling operations worldwide.”
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.
Novelis is also investing approximately $90 million to double the recycling capacity for used beverage cans (UBCs) at the plant in Latchford.
Industrial Fuel Switching Competition programme
The government’s Industrial Fuel Switching Competition programme is supported by a grant of £4.6 million and forms part of its wider £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and the HyNet project.
It is designed to support the industry in decarbonising their operations through a switch from natural gas to low carbon hydrogen.
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