SMS group is developing and offering hydrogen-based solutions for industrial applications at its hydrogen competence center at Paul Wurth, Luxembourg. In 2019, Paul Wurth became a strategic investor and technology partner of Sunfire, a leading electrolysis provider, which has developed a highly efficient process for high-temperature electrolysis; the Solid Oxidizer Electrolyzer Cell (SOEC) uses steam instead of liquid water. Sunfire and Paul Wurth are working together on delivering hydrogen units – consisting of the Sunfire electrolyzer and the downstream hydrogen processing unit (HPU) by Paul Wurth – for several projects in different industrial applications. The projects GrinHy2.0 in Salzgitter and MultiPLHY in Rotterdam are two best practice examples of the SOEC-HPU technology integration in existing plants, with the difference being that each project uses the produced hydrogen for a different application. Both projects achieved important milestones in the past months.
GrInHy2.0: green hydrogen for green steel
Successful project completion with record hydrogen production rates
Paul Wurth designed GrInHy2.0 hydrogen processing unit and Sunfire’s SOEC electrolyzer have successfully produced almost 100 tons of green hydrogen at the Salzgitter steelworks. This milestone and excellent results mark the successful completion of the EU project after two years of operation of the GrInHy2.0 plant.
The EU-funded GrInHy2.0 (Green Industrial Hydrogen) project, which is an important cornerstone of Salzgitter’s innovation project SALCOS® – Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking, has been started in 2019 with a subsequent plant commissioning in March 2021. Since then, the GrInHy2.0 HPU has been demonstrating stable and continuous operation. The renewable hydrogen produced has been sent directly into Salzgitter Flachstahl's hydrogen grid; until today, approximately 100 tons of the gas have been used in annealing operations and galvanizing factories for steel finishing.
Paul Wurth contributes as consortium partner together with the electrolysis company Sunfire, Salzgitter Flachstahl, Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung, TENOVA, and French research institute CEA. GrInHy2.0’s high-temperature electrolyzer, developed and produced by Sunfire, which is integrated with Paul Wurth designed HPU, is considered the world’s largest one currently installed in an industrial environment. The electrolyzer cell has been able to reach new efficiency standards throughout the project’s duration with a high electrical efficiency and record-high renewable production rates.
MultiPLHY – producing green hydrogen for high-quality biofuels
Successful erection of hydrogen process unit
Another important milestone has been reached in the MultiPLHY project. Paul Wurth successfully completed the erection of an HPU at Neste’s renewable products refinery in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The MultiPLHY project, which stands for Multi-megawatt high-temperature electrolyzer to generate green hydrogen for the production of high-quality biofuels – has been launched in January 2020 with the objective to install, integrate and operate the world’s first high-temperature electrolyzer (HTE) system in multi-megawatt-scale. The project consortium consists of five partners: Neste, world’s leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, responsible for site integration and use of hydrogen in the project, research and technology partner CEA, the energy utility ENGIE, HTE provider Sunfire and Paul Wurth.
Similar to the recently completed GrInHy2.0 project in Salzgitter, Paul Wurth will supply and commission the HPU, which will condition more than 60 kg/h of renewable hydrogen supply to the refinery’s existing hydrogen grid at a pressure of 30 bar. The HPU receives hydrogen from Sunfire’s SOEC (solid oxide electrolyzer) technology and includes buffering, compression, cooling, drying and quality monitoring of the gas. MultiPLHY is the first demonstration of an HTE in an industrial refining process, with a nominal power input of 2.6 MW, achieving an electrical efficiency of up to 85% AC to LHV H2.
Commissioning of the HPU unit is expected in the first quarter of 2023. The electrolyzer is estimated to be in operation by the end of 2024, avoiding large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions in NESTE’s refinery process. The project supports the most promising Carbon Direct Avoidance (CDA) approach by substituting grey hydrogen currently generated via steam-methane reforming (SMR) by certified green hydrogen.
Our engagement in both projects highlights SMS group’s competence in designing and delivering hydrogen processing units for the integration into existing plant configurations – whether it's in the iron and steelmaking industry or any other area, as the refinery sector. Hydrogen will become increasingly essential to achieve decarbonization, so in our hydrogen department in Luxembourg, we are building up the competences to work with this promising energy carrier and reducing agent and implement it in various industrial applications.
