Kobelco Group to start hydrogen supply/combustion tests with hybrid-type hydrogen gas supply system

Kobe Steel. Ltd. announces that Kobe Steel Group (also known as the Kobelco Group) started a demonstration test of the hybrid-type hydrogen gas supply system at the Company’s production site Takasago Works (Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan) in March as scheduled and a hydrogen co-firing test with a hydrogen supply to the test boiler in June. The demonstration of the system is partly supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) as a project for the Development of Technologies for Realizing a Hydrogen Society^*1.

Our Group’s hybrid-type hydrogen gas supply system will be a key solution for small- to medium-scale hydrogen users who seek for stable and economical hydrogen production in the energy transition to hydrogen. The hybrid system is based on our Group’s three distinctive products/technologies: (1) Intermediate Fluid Vaporizer (IFV)^*2 capable of cold energy recovery from liquid hydrogen, (2) High-purity Hydrogen Oxygen Generator (HHOG)^*3, and (3) Operation management system^*4.

In terms of stable hydrogen supply and effective use of renewable energy during the transition period until a large amount of economical green hydrogen becomes available, it is important to promote the use of liquid hydrogen in combination with the hydrogen produced by water electrolysis using small-scale renewable energy power generation. In addition, in promoting carbon neutrality, it is considered essential to recover and use the cold energy of liquid hydrogen. We believe that our Group's hybrid system can also contribute to solving these issues.

In the hydrogen combustion test using our demonstration test facilities, we stated co-firing natural gas with 5–20% hydrogen in test boilers in June 2023. For the demonstration of hydrogen utilization in combustion-type industrial furnaces for decarbonization of factories that mainly consume energy as heat, adopted by NEDO in June 2023 with an implementation period set for fiscal 2023–2025, we plan to conduct hydrogen supply/utilization demonstration tests on a practical scale by supplying hydrogen from the test facilities to combustion industrial furnaces. In addition, we also plan to establish an operation management system that can provide stable and economical hydrogen supply by trying out simultaneous operation of IFV and HHOG in demonstration tests and evaluating the hydrogen cost, the amount of CO₂ emissions generated, and carbon intensity during hydrogen supply.

Through these demonstration tests, we are exploring optimal solutions for both hydrogen producers and users. For hydrogen producers, we aim to provide solutions toward the realization of a hydrogen society through the mutual utilization of the management resources between the machinery business and engineering business in collaboration with Kobelco Eco-Solutions. And, for hydrogen users, we will work to address challenges in achieving the energy shift to hydrogen in industrial furnaces, taking advantage of our position as a business operator aiming for energy transition from fossil fuels to hydrogen in industrial furnaces in the advanced materials business field. As a unique business entity that can provide solutions from the perspective of a hydrogen producer as well as user, we will continue to leverage the integration of Kobelco Group’s distinctive technologies, aiming to realize a world in which people, now and in the future, can fulfill their hopes and dreams while enjoying safe, secure, and prosperous lives.