Fortescue starts works on Green Metal Project
18 August 2024
Fortescue has started works at its Green Metal Project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (WA). Located at the Green Energy Hub at Christmas Creek, the US$50-million project is expected to produce more than 1,500 tonnes per annum of green metal, with first production anticipated in 2025.
The plant will use green hydrogen produced at Fortescue’s gaseous and liquid hydrogen facility, the largest of its kind in Australia (earlier post), together with an electric smelting furnace to produce high purity green metal. This will be suitable for use in almost any steel plant globally.
Fortescue’s recently commissioned green hydrogen plant can produce around 530 kilograms of hydrogen gas per day, or around 195 tonnes annually. Powered partly by solar during the day, the plant comprises a gaseous hydrogen refueling station (HRS) to refuel a fleet of 10 fuel cell electric vehicle hydrogen-powered coaches. The gaseous HRS was supported by the WA Government’s Renewable Hydrogen Fund through a $2-million grant.
The Green Energy Hub also contains a hydrogen liquefaction facility, liquid hydrogen storage, and a liquid-hydrogen refueling station, along with Fortescue’s zero emissions decarbonization prototypes.
The liquid hydrogen plant will be used to power Fortescue’s Offboard Power Unit and its hydrogen-powered haul truck prototype which recently arrived at Christmas Creek.
The Green Energy Hub also hosts Fortescue’s prototype battery electric haul truck and a three-megawatt fast charger prototype.
Fortescue’s Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak sites are partly powered by 160,000 solar panels.
The Hydrogen Refuelling Station consists of two 700kW electrolyzers and are designed to produce around 530 kilograms of hydrogen gas per day. The liquid hydrogen plant can produce around 350 kilograms of liquid hydrogen per day at a temperature of around -244˚C.
Any liquid hydrogen that boils off in the storage tank is captured as a gas and returns to the liquefaction container to be reprocessed.
Fortescue has set a target to achieve real zero terrestrial emissions (Scope 1 and 2) across its Australian iron ore operations by 2030 without the use of voluntary carbon offsets.
'Any liquid hydrogen that boils off in the storage tank is captured as a gas and returns to the liquefaction container to be reprocessed.'
GTL reckon that they have got a handle on how to greatly reduce boil off in liquid hydrogen transfer anyway:
https://www.gtlcompany.com/2024/08/13/new-gtl-breakthrough-composite-tubing-achieves-liquid-hydrogen-flow-in-two-seconds/
It does not allow me to copy and paste, but it means that aircraft ( and trucks ) can be refuelled in minutes with very small amounts of boil off, easily handled.
Since they are very lightweight, they also facilitate liquid hydrogen transfer on board, particularly important for aircraft where weight is king.
Posted by: Davemart | 18 August 2024 at 02:37 AM
This is an example where hydrogen makes sense. The site is isolated, baking in the sun all day, and has considerable energy demands.
Posted by: Bernard | 19 August 2024 at 05:22 AM
Bernard:
They are smelting it, which works fine with hydrogen.
There are hopes to be able to do it with just electricity, but there is nothing at all been produced that way yet.
It is a research project, not a technology ready to roll out.
If you want low carbon steel, that means hydrogen at the moment and for years yet.
Posted by: Davemart | 19 August 2024 at 12:51 PM