Success for Ovako in green steel hydrogen trial

In collaboration with Linde Gas, Swedish steel maker Ovako conducted a trial in which the metal alloy was heated to 1200^oC using hydrogen instead of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) before rolling at the mill in Hofors.

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Subsequent testing of the steel showed that heating with hydrogen does not affect the quality. The company believes that with the right conditions it could introduce hydrogen heating for furnaces at all its rolling mills.

A spokesperson from Ovako told The Engineer that LPG and hydrogen behave differently in ignition and combustion systems. The company is using the same fuel delivery system for both fuels, leading to a change in the company’s control philosophy to achieve the same heating performance.

Ovako has modified the software program used in its control system, with changes made to account for mass flow calculations, ratio control and power control.

According to the spokesperson, the control system switches smoothly and efficiently between fuels with no process downtime or transient oscillations, which describe the variation in pressure that could take place when stepping from one pressure point to another. By avoiding these oscillations, Ovako said it can maintain tight control over the thermal conditions in the pit furnace.