Pilot plant for research in the use of hydrogen in industrial processes

Use of hydrogen is of interest for many processes in industry. To meet the need in industry for effective process and methodology development with reduced risk, research institute Swerim is investing in a pilot plant for hydrogen production in Luleå.

Swedish industry will need new technological solutions to meet the country's climate target for 2045 and fulfil Sweden's ambition to become fossil free. Primary industry is highly dependent on fossil fuels and fossil reducing agents. Hydrogen has often been cited as a fuel with low fossil-carbon-dioxide impact that can be used, for example, as an alternative reducing agent in various metallurgical processes.

Research institute Swerim has recently noted an increased industrial demand for trials for technologies which may be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To meet the need in industry for effective research in these areas Swerim is investing in a pilot plant for hydrogen production.

"We see increasing interest in hydrogen in industry and this is a natural step towards ramping up our pilot facilities to enable further research. We already have the basic infrastructure, including electrical power supply, industrial gases and cooling water, as well as well-established safety procedures. Several of our ongoing research projects are also related to hydrogen," says Per Hellberg, department manager for Pilot and Demo.

Acting Managing Director Göran Carlsson comments on the benefits of the investment for future research and the opportunities it presents:

"Society faces an enormous climate challenge. At Swerim we have longstanding experience from many projects for measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and that is where hydrogen comes in as an exciting medium. We know that it works in laboratory scale and we will now attempt to introduce it into industrial-scale processes," says Göran Carlsson, continuing, “This investment is also well in line with a new project where we, together with RISE, will build a testbed in which various industrial hydrogen applications can be tested and assessed.”

Potential applications in industry include fossil-free production of steel and other metals, hydrogen-based furnace heating, or production 'raw materials' for the petrochemical industry. The plant is also of interest for pilot-scale research in carbon capture and utilization (CCU).

Equipment will be supplied by Norwegian-based HydrogenPro, one of the biggest suppliers of electrolysers on the market today.

"This agreement gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our technology within high-pressure electrolysis. This is strategically very important for us and a highly valued contract," says CEO Richard Espeseth. HydrogenPro looks forward to continued productive collaboration with research institute Swerim.

Since the plant and infrastructure will constitute a permanent and flexible facility at Swerim, there is great potential for offering research services to primary industries both in Sweden and internationally. Hydrogen will be available in all of Swerim's pilot and demonstration facilities. The plant is expected to be operational during the second half of 2019.

Contact: Magnus Lundqvist, magnus.lundqvist@swerim.se, + 46 (0)920-20 19 35

Facts: HydrogenPro

HydrogenPro is a Norwegian-based, globally oriented hydrogen company that provides solutions for producing, storing and distributing hydrogen from renewable energy sources. HydrogenPro offers the largest and most versatile electrolyser plants available on the market today. Hydrogen can be an important energy vector for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in many different sectors, especially in the transport sector, but it also has good potential for power production and as a feedstock in industry.