NEDO entrusts Kobe Steel with demonstration of hydrogen utilization in combustion industrial furnaces for decarbonization of factories that mainly consume energy as heat, as part of the Technology Development Project for Creating a Hydrogen Society

Kobe Steel, Ltd. announces that Kobe Steel and Kobelco E&M Co., Ltd. implemented the study on hydrogen utilization model for decarbonization of factories that mainly consume energy as heat^*1—the research on potential for hydrogen production and utilization concerning the Development of Technologies for Realizing a Hydrogen Society (Development of Technologies for Regional Hydrogen Utilization), which was entrusted by the New Energy Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The implementation period was from December 2021 to March 2023.

In this study, we examined the potential of hydrogen utilization and its model case using actual facilities in operation at our company’s Takasago Works (Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan) to explore the utilization of CO₂-free hydrogen in boilers and heating furnaces, which are the major energy consuming facilities. The obtained results show that there is a potential for hydrogen utilization of up to 36,000 tons/year by replacing fossil fuels consumed by more than 100 heating furnaces with hydrogen.

In order to promote decarbonization through fuel transition to hydrogen in the future, we developed a project plan for the “Demonstration of hydrogen utilization in industrial furnaces for decarbonization of factories that mainly consume energy as heat,” aimed at demonstrating the utilization of hydrogen in boilers and heating furnaces of the same scale as actual equipment using the hybrid-d type hydrogen gas supply system^*2. It was submitted to NEDO fiscal 2023 first public call for proposals for the Regional Model Building Technology Development as part of the Development of Technologies for Realizing a Hydrogen Society, Development of Technologies for Regional Hydrogen Utilization, and adopted in June 2023 with an implementation period set for fiscal 2023–2025.

Assuming a gradual transition to hydrogen in line with the availability of the hydrogen supply system in Japan, this project aims to demonstrate the hydrogen co-firing and single-fuel firing operation using industrial furnaces of the same scale as actual equipment, including the hydrogen supply system through the liquid hydrogen vaporizer, and contribute to the development of a supply chain from hydrogen supply to utilization.