Hydrogen, a Promising Carbon Substitute in Metallurgy?

Abstract

Minimization of CO₂ emissions has become one of the main topics in our daily life. Especially industry, as one of the biggest emitters, has to contribute essentially to a global CO₂ reduction. When focusing on the metal production sector, one of the most promising solutions seems to be the utilization of hydrogen. Similar to carbon, hydrogen can act as both a reducing agent and an energy source. However, this looks easy only at the first glance. Various aspects such as efficient production, storage, transport, requirement for new processes concepts or a more difficult off-gas treatment underline that such a change will also be a future challenge. The paper gives an overview of hydrogen-production processes with some details about the ongoing development of methane pyrolysis as an effective way to generate hydrogen in huge volumes. Furthermore, it discusses where hydrogen can be used efficiently in metallurgical processes and in which areas alternatives have to be developed.