FIVES AND HYDRO PARTNER TO PRODUCE THE WORLD’S FIRST BATCH OF HYDROGEN-FUELED RECYCLED ALUMINIUM

Worldwide industry leaders Fives and Hydro have partnered to tackle carbon emissions in the aluminium sector. With the expertise of Fives, Hydro has produced the world’s first batch of recycled aluminium using hydrogen, on an industrial scale.

The first successful hydrogen test in aluminium production on an industrial scale
Green hydrogen is one of the most promising emission-free fuels to address the environmental challenges of heavy-polluting industries, including aluminium. The test in Hydro Extrusion’s plant is the world’s first on an industrial scale. Natural gas was successfully replaced with green hydrogen in the recycling of aluminium, a key step towards the decarbonization of Industry.

Indeed, once matured, the fuel-switch technology of hydrogen can be extended to other high-heat processes, such as in glass or cement.




A whole range of technologies and a century of expertise in aluminium melting
To carry out the test, Fives first upgraded the existing high-efficiency North American TwinBed™ II combustion system (regenerative low-NOx burner manufactured by Fives) as well as designed and supplied the hydrogen and natural gas mixing station, and all controls needed to operate the system safely and effectively. Always one innovation ahead, Fives also provided the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis and the data acquisition solution to monitor the performance of the combustion system and ran additional testing in its newly hydrogen-equipped laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.




The aluminium produced in the test will be used in mass-production of recycled aluminium from Hydro Extrusion Navarra, creating the world’s first hydrogen-fueled aluminium billets for extruded products such as car parts and window frames.

A final report from the test is expected to be ready in the fall.