The process of greening metallurgy is the trend of 2019. Until recently, traditionally, metal smelting was considered a process that cannot be made environmentally friendly, but attempts to replace some of the processes during smelting with more environmentally friendly ones have begun. Moreover, not only gas is replaced, but also the source of its production. More details under the "cat".
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A contract was signed with Siemens Gas and Power for the construction of an 2.2 MW electrolysis plant that will operate on wind turbines and ultimately produce hydrogen.
Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH (SZFG) plans to use a proton exchange membrane electrolysis unit (PEM) as a key step in the production of hydrogen-based steel in its German facility. It is expected that the plant will be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The required electrical power will be generated by seven 30 MW wind turbines. They will be installed by Avacon AG at the Salzgitter Group site and will also be commissioned in 2020.
“We are proud to be pioneers in the industrial use of hydrogen in the steel industry,” said Heinz Jörg Furmann, Chairman of the Board of Salzgitter AG. “As our SALCOS project demonstrated, we are technologically capable of achieving significant reductions in CO2 emissions using hydrogen.
“The Salzgitter Wind Hydrogen project is an important building block on the path to green steel production. Now it’s the turn of politicians to create the right conditions to support the transformation into a low CO2 industry. ”
A plant will be built in Salzgitter, which will produce 400 Nm³ of hydrogen at full capacity. PEM technology is ideal for using wind and solar energy. The highly dynamic mode of operation allows stations to respond to requests arising from a rapidly fluctuating power source.
Gabriele Schmidel, Executive Vice President of Hydrogen Solutions at Siemens Gas and Power, explained: “Reducing CO2 emissions in all industries is our primary goal if we want to meet medium-term and long-term climate goals. Renewable energy production and innovative technologies, such as the production of green hydrogen by electrolysis, are important components. We are pleased to join Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH to promote the use of green hydrogen in the steel industry. ”
PS - It seems that next year the answer will be found to the question “how many windmills are needed for steel production?”. Perhaps the answer will be found to the question "what to do with the generation saw?".