CIRCE achieves milestone with 100% hydrogen combustion in industrial furnace

CIRCE-Technological Center has achieved for the first time the controlled combustion with conventional burners of 100% hydrogen in an industrial furnace. This breakthrough marks a milestone in the transition to a more sustainable future and a major step towards the decarbonization of the industry, because it will allow further development of technology to be applied in even more innovative solutions.

This achievement not only highlights CIRCE's innovation and leadership in sustainable technologies, but also promises to radically transform the industry towards a carbon-free future. It also represents a significant opportunity for industry leaders to rethink and reshape their energy strategies. With this new technology, industries can play a crucial role in decarbonization and the drive towards a greener, more sustainable economy.

A powerful industrial furnace with many possibilities

The test has been carried out in the industrial laboratory facilities, where CIRCE has an industrial scale furnace, equipped with a 60kW burner (nominal power) and with a maximum working temperature of 1300ºC. It has two quartz windows (front and side) for flame vision, which allows the monitoring of combustion by artificial vision, allowing to understand the heat transfer to any process and material. In addition, it allows the possibility of inserting materials that will be exposed to the atmosphere inside the combustion chamber by means of crucibles.

This equipment is designed not only for hydrogen combustion, but also for gas mixtures in different proportions, so the potential for flexibility is very high. Currently, hydrogen mixtures with natural gas (methane) are being tested and their behavior is being studied. Thanks to this equipment, it will be possible to fully characterize combustion in terms of heat transfer and emissions, as well as to evaluate industrial processes up to 1300°C.