Green Hydrogen Burner for Mineral Processing

Key Benefits

Cleaner mineral processing
Potential to eliminate CO₂ emissions from fuel
Flexible applications
Huge economical and sustainable impact

What we offer

Go clean, go green with the H2 burner

Many of our customers are already looking for ways to reduce or capture CO₂ emissions in order to meet environmental targets and avoid climate disaster.

Discover your plant's potential

Our H2 burner has the potential to supply green energy to business areas that were previously considered difficult to decarbonize. It’s a significant milestone, but also a process challenge – which is why we are offering a pilot plant to enable you to test whether and how you can operate your plants with hydrogen, and what impact this has on your product quality.

Transitioning from natural gas or coal to green hydrogen is a big step. We offer our customers and partners our support on this journey to ensure the best possible results.

Our pilot plant is used for thermal treatment of various ores and raw materials. Whereas, until now, we had to use natural gas, coal, or oil to treat the materials, our pioneering work makes it possible to use up to 100% green hydrogen.

What is in it for our customers?

While it assumed that existing kilns and furnaces that currently emit CO₂ from fossil fuels can be converted to hydrogen, testing gives you clarity on the impact switching to hydrogen might have on your process. Our service includes material tests as well as initial analyses of how you can optimise your process technology.

The advantages of switching fuels are clear. Continuing to burn harmful amounts of fossil fuels is becoming increasingly unattractive, both environmentally and economically. Introducing hydrogen to your process reduces damaging emissions, and if you are able to completely substitute natural gas, coal, or oil for hydrogen, you will achieve the total elimination of fuel-related CO2 emissions, since the reaction of hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen produces only water as a combustion product.

Our tests give you the reassurance that you can proceed on your journey to “green” production, which will future-proof your organisation.

Key benefits

Hydrogen firing for future-proof operations

In the long-term, all industries need to decarbonize. Our Green Hydrogen Burner for mineral processing gives you the opportunity to be proactive about fuel switching, and profit from cleaner and cheaper energy, sooner.

CO₂-free fuels: Carbon dioxide emissions are harmful to the environment and are also becoming increasingly unattractive economically. The use of hydrogen in burning leads to a reduction in those emissions. With the complete substitution of natural gas, coal or oil by hydrogen, fuel-related CO₂ emissions are completely eliminated.
Subsidised plants for our European customers: The price per tonne of CO₂ emissions has significantly increased in recent years. In Europe in particular, this is a problem for our customers and partners as plants with high CO₂ emissions cannot be subsidised. Reducing the amount of these emissions by switching to green hydrogen will lead to enormous savings and possible subventions.
Flexible fuel transition: The burner used on our pilot plant is suitable for operation with 100% natural gas firing as well as 100% hydrogen firing. Any combination of those is also possible to make the transition to green hydrogen easier for you.
Insights that you can act on: Our test offer gives you the chance to analyse whether and how you can operate your plants with hydrogen and what effects this has on the quality of your product. Furthermore, we are offering initial analyses on how you can optimize your process technology.

Product features

Mineral processing with hydrogen

This pilot plant is designed specifically to test the impact of burning up to 100% hydrogen in place of natural gas, coal or oil, on your product quality.

The rotary kiln pilot plant is designed for the thermal treatment of various ores and raw materials. For this purpose, the material is heated to extreme temperatures – either fed directly into the kiln or via a cyclone preheater. By using the new burner, it is possible to test the use of hydrogen and hydrogen/natural gas mixtures for treating the ore in addition to natural gas operation, and to compare the results.

On your side, you receive information as to whether and how you can operate your plants with hydrogen in the future and what effects this could have on your product. Furthermore, we’ll give you some basic information on how to optimize or adapt your process technology, e.g. for optimal flue gas composition or emissions.

We’ll help you investigate the influence of hydrogen fuel on the thermal treatment/calcination of various test materials. This burner is suitable for operation with 100% natural gas firing as well as 100% hydrogen firing and can also operate with any mixtures between the two extremes. This is the first time that the rotary kiln system and burner have been used in this size, and the first time this hydrogen supply technology has been applied.

This is a milestone on the way to clean, green mineral processing.

Which customers and industries can benefit a Green Hydrogen Burner?

The goal is to support customers who have been using natural gas or coal in their transition to ‘green’ energy. That does not mean we think it is currently possible to replace that one-to-one, but we want to help customers get on their way.

Many customers are looking for CO₂ saving methods. If the hydrogen is obtained from regenerative sources or is produced as a by-product in other processes, for example, hydrogen provides a very efficient solution because there would be no CO₂emissions from the fuel.

All customers who use rotary kilns for mineral processing can profit, especially those from Europe. In particular, producers of lime, magnesite and dolomite products (carbonate rocks), who can only reduce their emissions by changing fuel due to the CO₂ released from the rock.

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