Técnicas Reunidas leads the project to decarbonise the ceramics industry through research into green hydrogen.
Técnicas Reunidas is leading the H2togreenceramicsproject: applied research for the development of alkaline electrolysers to enable the decarbonisation of the ceramic cluster in the Autonomous Region of Valencia, and to promote decarbonisation in the ceramics industry through research into green hydrogen.
The project involves two technology centres in the Autonomous Region of Valencia, namely the Technical Institute of Ceramics (ITC, Castellón) and the Technology Institute for Children's Products and Leisure (AIJU, Alicante), and the company Proying XXI Ingeniería, which manufactures frit kilns and burners and is an end-user producer of frits.
The soon-to-be-completed first phase of the project involves integrating a 50 kW alkaline electrolyser developed in the project into the ITC Low Carbon Plant in Almassora (Castellón), specifically in the combustion chamber, as the aim of this project is to integrate an advanced alkaline electrolyser into a ceramic frit manufacturing company.
Once the electrolyser has been successfully installed in the ITC pilot plant, the hydrogen produced by it will be channelled to the burner, where experimental tests will be conducted to study the continuous operation of the electrolyser-burner-combustion chamber system. Subsequently, the technical feasibility of the partial or total substitution of natural gas for hydrogen as a fuel in the firing of ceramic tiles will be analysed.
In a second phase, based on the results at pilot scale, an advanced 500 kW electrolyser will be integrated and installed in a ceramic frit manufacturing company to validate the technology in an industrial environment. In this case, a pre-industrial scale study will be conducted by integrating both the hydrogen and oxygen generated by the electrolyser into the company's natural gas distribution network, with blends of hydrogen of up to 20% by volume, and making all the necessary adjustments and adaptations to be able to operate an existing oxy-combustion furnace with guarantees. Experimental tests will then be conducted to assess the melting of frits.
Source: Técnicas Reunidas
