ArcelorMittal has taken a significant step toward industrial decarbonization with the installation of a green hydrogen combustion system at its Olaberria plant in Spain, developed and implemented by Sarralle.
The Olaberria facility, one of Europe’s most advanced steel production sites, includes an electric arc furnace, ladle furnace, continuous caster, and section mill. The new system enables the reheating furnace in the rolling mill to run entirely on green hydrogen, replacing natural gas and eliminating CO2 emissions from the combustion process.
Designed and installed by Sarralle in collaboration with Nippon Gases, the hydrogen-based oxy-fuel burners improve thermal efficiency and ensure cleaner steel production, as hydrogen combustion produces only water vapor.
Since reheating furnaces account for up to 80pct of a steel plant’s fuel use, this innovation marks a major advance in decarbonizing steelmaking, a sector responsible for roughly 9pct of global CO2 emissions.
