- Big step for climate-friendly special glass production
- First glass made from exclusively hydrogen-heated melting tank
- Lack of green hydrogen infrastructure delays industrial use
The next milestone on the path to climate-neutral production has been reached: After the technology group SCHOTT successfully tested glass production with 100 percent hydrogen on a laboratory scale last spring , the eagerly awaited use on an industrial scale has now followed.
For three days, the special glass expert melted optical glass for the first time in a melting tank in Mainz using the new technology – completely without natural gas. SCHOTT is currently conducting its tests with gray hydrogen because green hydrogen, produced from renewable energies, is not yet available in sufficient quantities. The large-scale test received excellent marks, and the quality of the glass is now being analyzed.
“The test with 100 percent hydrogen in the Advanced Optics area is pioneering work for the specialty glass industry. If the tests show that the quality of the glass is also correct and the glass properties remain unchanged, hydrogen would actually be a suitable technology option,” explains SCHOTT project manager Dr. Lenka Deneke.
The head of the experiment emphasizes that the experience from last year’s tank tests with initially up to 35 percent hydrogen by volume helped a lot with this success, but she also knows that there are still many open questions for research. For example: How does the use of hydrogen affect the complex melting processes and the quality of the different products? Or how can hydrogen be used optimally in operations instead of natural gas and what infrastructure needs to be adapted for this?
To answer these questions, SCHOTT chose an optical glass as its first test product. Background: The technology group produces over 100 types of optical glass from high-quality raw materials for various areas of application, such as consumer goods and measurement technology, but also optical systems in research and development. The challenge is that the glasses must have the highest homogeneity and transmission properties. This also applies to the currently melted glass, which undergoes strict quality testing.
If it meets the high product requirements, it goes to the customers. “We would then have confirmation that the use of 100 percent hydrogen instead of fossil energy delivers the same quality under industrial conditions,” says Deneke. For a permanent change, further long-term tests would be needed, as well as a continuous supply via a hydrogen pipeline. Only then would the group have taken another important step towards its strategic goal of climate-neutral glass production by 2030. In this context, climate neutral means: no Scope 1 and 2 emissions according to the “Greenhouse Gas Protocol”. SCHOTT is pursuing this goal with activities in four areas of action: technological change (such as the switch to green electricity and hydrogen), expanding energy efficiency, switching to 100 percent green electricity and, as a final step, compensating for remaining emissions through commitment to climate protection projects.
SCHOTT has already achieved the switch to 100 percent green electricity, and energy efficiency is being continuously and systematically increased. The technology change is primarily about replacing natural gas to operate the melting tanks. Either through electrification with green electricity or, in the future, green hydrogen. To this end, SCHOTT had already carried out the first large-scale trials with local partners towards the end of 2022 with 35 percent hydrogen added to natural gas, before laboratory tests with 100 percent hydrogen use followed in spring 2023 , which paved the way for large-scale industrial use.
Infrastructure challenges: green hydrogen is in short supply
For the large-scale tank test with 100 percent hydrogen heating, the hydrogen tank at SCHOTT in Mainz was filled three times – but with gray, not green, climate-neutral hydrogen. Because hydrogen produced with renewable energies is currently still in short supply. “We consciously decided to use it so as not to waste any time testing technical feasibility. This is sufficient for our experiments, but we urgently need green energy for climate protection,” says Dr. Frank Heinricht, CEO of SCHOTT and responsible for the group’s sustainability strategy. The appeal to politicians: “Companies from energy-intensive sectors need to set the course for the rapid development of a functioning infrastructure for green electricity and green hydrogen in Germany. Then our commitment will be worthwhile for the climate and for the competitiveness of our industry in Germany.”
In addition to its own investments, SCHOTT receives financial support from various institutions for its development work on the topic of hydrogen. The tests were supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF and the project management agency DLR in the Maga project and financed by the European Union-NextGenerationEU. Together with the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility Rhineland-Palatinate, the project “H2 Industry – Use of Hydrogen in Industrial Combustion Processes” was funded by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund. The Kopernik
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