Speira has reached another milestone in its sustainability journey: As part of the EU-funded HyInHeat project, the aluminium recycling and rolling group has successfully converted a melting furnace with a capacity of 1.5 tonnes to hydrogen operation. Initial tests with various scrap types show promising results with no impact on melt quality.
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“Sustainability is central to Speira’s mission,” says Dr Paula Camean Queijo, Head of Research and Development at Speira. “While we already rely heavily on recycling to lower our carbon footprint, the use of hydrogen allows us to make the production process itself more environmentally friendly.”
Launched in 2023, the HyInHeat project brings together 30 partners from twelve European countries to explore hydrogen’s potential for decarbonising heat-intensive processes in the aluminium and steel industries. With €24 million in funding from the European Union, the initiative aims to develop efficient hydrogen combustion systems that address nearly the entire process chain of these energy-intensive industries.
Initial tests of the retrofitted 1.5-tonne capacity furnace using various types of aluminium scrap demonstrated that the quality of the melted metal remains consistently high: “Our early trials have been very encouraging,” reports Galyna Laptyeva, Senior Scientist and Project Lead at Speira. “We’ve proven that hydrogen is fundamentally suitable as a fuel for our melting furnaces. This is a major step towards reducing the carbon intensity of our production.”
To further increase efficiency, Speira has now equipped the test furnace with even more advanced technology. Instead of using normal air, hydrogen is now burned with pure oxygen – a process known as "oxyfuel."
“Oxygen is a by-product of hydrogen production anyway. By using it for combustion, our calculations show we can save approximately 30 per cent of fuel,” explains Laptyeva. “This makes the process not only more environmentally friendly but also more economical.”
Another advantage of hydrogen combustion is that, ideally, no harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) are produced. In practice, however, small leaks and impurities can cause minimal amounts of these pollutants. Researchers will closely examine how to reduce these emissions to a minimum in upcoming tests.
“Our commitment to research and development is an essential component of our sustainability strategy,” emphasises Camean Queijo. “With projects like HyInHeat, we are pioneering a more environmentally friendly aluminium industry while strengthening Germany’s position as an innovation hub.”
With the successful conversion of the melting furnace to hydrogen operation, Speira has made an important contribution to researching low-emission production processes. The results from the HyInHeat project are intended not only to advance the company's own operations but also to provide new approaches for more sustainable production across the entire industry.
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