Project for Decarbonisation of Italian Glass Industry Launched
A working group composed of Snam, RINA, Bormioli Luigi, Bormioli Rocco, STARA GLASS, University of Genoa, Experimental Glass Station, IFRF Italy, SGRPRO and RJC SOFT has started a collaboration aimed at reducing emissions in the glass industry through hydrogen. The manufacture of glass objects, of which Italy is the second largest producer in Europe with over 5 million tons per year, is energy-intensive and difficult to electrify. This is why the "Divina" project, Decarbonization of the Glass Industry: Hydrogen and New Assets, coordinated by Snam, RINA and Bormioli, aims to reduce emissions in the glass melting phase, which represents more than 50% of the overall energy consumption of the entire production process. In this perspective, the availability of an energy vector such as hydrogen can represent a valid solution by optimizing its use in terms of energy and emissions and managing the challenges of production and transport.
The initiative will allow, in the short and medium term, to evaluate the result of the introduction of an increasing percentage of hydrogen mixed with natural gas in existing melting furnaces and in regular production conditions. The opportunity to test significant quantities of hydrogen on operational furnaces will allow to verify the compatibility of hydrogen-based combustion with the glass material in real industrial production contexts and after appropriate experiments in laboratories.
Today the main energy vector used by glass factories is natural gas and CO2 emissions are around 1,500,000 tons per year: overall, about 3.5% of the emissions of the entire manufacturing sector. The use of a 30% hydrogen blend in the glass melting processes nationwide would reduce emissions by 200,000 tons, equal to the equivalent emissions of approximately 100,000 vehicles.
As part of the project, the design rules for future furnaces will also be defined and subsequently optimized - the so-called "4.0 Furnaces" - capable of guaranteeing the best performance even with higher percentages of hydrogen, up to 100%.
The all-Italian working group is representative of the entire supply chain as it involves specialists in the energy sector, first-level glass groups, players in the field of fuel production and transport, leading companies in certification and in the integration of complex systems. , design companies for glass melting furnaces and university and research centers.
Source - Strategic Research Institute