CSIRO electrolyzer pilot demonstrates efficiency and durability at Bluescope Steel Plant
28 November 2024
CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has successfully trialed its hydrogen production technology at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks in New South Wales, demonstrating affordable and renewable hydrogen can be generated at scale to help decarbonize heavy industry.
CSIRO’s tubular solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) technology has clocked 1000 hours of successful operation in the trial with BlueScope Steel which commenced in October 2024.
Unlike conventional hydrogen electrolyzers, which rely heavily on electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, CSIRO’s advanced SOE technology uses both waste heat (for example, steam from the steelworks) and electricity to produce hydrogen with greater efficiency.
Dr. Sarb Giddey, Senior Principal Research Scientist and Group Leader in CSIRO, said the trial produced hydrogen with an electrical input of less than 36kWh per kilogram of hydrogen, by using the steam produced in the plant by the steelmaking processes.
CSIRO spinout Hadean Energy has licensed CSIRO’s SOE technology and is on a mission to accelerate industrial decarbonization. Chris Rowland, CEO of Hadean Energy, said the tubular SOE technology has a further advantage of being inherently less expensive to build because of the simplified manufacturing process and more readily available materials.
While CSIRO is trialing the tubular SOE electrolyzer in the field with Bluescope, Hadean Energy is testing the long term durability and performance of the modular design at CSIRO’s Hydrogen Technology Demonstration Facility. Following these successful trials, Hadean Energy is preparing to showcase a 5kW demonstration unit as part of the Australia-UK Renewable Hydrogen Innovation Partnerships. This will serve as a stepping stone toward a large-scale industrial pilot.
Here's a catalyst advancement that makes more hydrogen at a lower temperature it produces carbon nanotubes as a byproduct
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/new-catalyst-for-hydrogen-production
Posted by: SJC | 30 November 2024 at 02:38 PM
Interesting and maybe a better catalyst for hydrogen production. However, you do not need hydrogen for making green steel. I believe that Boston Metal's solution of direct electrolysis of molten iron ore will win because it is more energy efficient and requires less capital equipment (cheaper and greener).
See https://www.bostonmetal.com/green-steel-solution/
Posted by: sd | 01 December 2024 at 12:29 PM
I couldn't figure any other place to post it so I put it there
Posted by: SJC | 01 December 2024 at 04:16 PM
The point being you can make hydrogen from methane without releasing CO2 you turn it into your carbon you can use carbon for lots of things let's get creative I think outside the box.
Posted by: SJC | 03 December 2024 at 05:57 AM
@sd,
Great point that electricity can be used to reduce iron oxide into pure iron metal directly without the use of an reducing agent like hydrogen or coal. However, this would best be coupled with a steady output of a nuclear power plant in order to maximize investment into expensive electrolytic cells that require very high temperature materials that is operating at the maximum operating temperature of ceramics that cannot tolerate the rapid temperature swings of on-off operation with the use of intermittent solar or wind energy.
The use of green hydrogen for steel making means that existing furnaces can be used without major investments into expensive molten metal electrolytic cells, and that very low-cost solar and wind energy can be used, instead of much more expensive nuclear energy.
Posted by: Roger Pham | 03 December 2024 at 10:12 PM
And it's usually the case of the next step in the evolution they don't want to invest a huge amount of capital to get to the end goal they will do it incrementally.
Posted by: SJC | 04 December 2024 at 12:00 PM