FISC is working with industry to help them solve problems relating to six key themes. In this case study FISC partner Glass Futures is exploring the adoption of alternative fuels.

FISC THEME: Alternative Fuels
Supporting the Foundation Industries (FI) in the adoption of lower carbon and less polluting fuels such as hydrogen and biofuels.

What problem/s does industry have?
Typically, 75-80% of CO2 generated by the glass sector within the Foundation Industries comes from fuel combustion so green energy and less polluting fuels like hydrogen and biofuels are seen as one of the solutions to decarbonise.

But the challenge of moving away from fossil fuels is great as many FI processes need to maintain high temperatures and the risk of new fuels, possible impacts on large-scale and expensive plant equipment and product quality make trying new fuels commercially unviable.

How is FISC helping solve the problem/s?
Materials are the foundation of everything. Glass, metal, paper, cement, ceramics and chemicals are essential to everyday life, every supply chain and every sector worldwide.

FISC helps industry scale-up through world-leading material research centres helping create the vital low carbon materials of the future.

Through collaboration FISC and its partners Glass Futures, Lucideon, the Henry Royce Institute (HRI) and the Materials Processing Institute (MPI) have been working to derisk alternative fuels by looking at retrofitting existing furnaces and kilns and building new ones to run on low carbon fuels.

All the research centres have boosted their research capabilities through equipment such as multi-fuel and 100% hydrogen furnaces and metal refining pilot rigs to mimic electric arc furnaces.
And they have been working across industry on specific decarbonisation challenges, including:

•Work with DSF Refractories to evaluate how two different glass materials will affect refractory corrosion if they move from an oxy-methane to a greener oxy-hydrogen atmosphere. Read more here.

•Work with a plasma torch manufacturer to model and provide quantitative data on the heat characteristics of the plasma plume and the ratio between radiative and heat transfer.

•A review study into a new technique developed by a Swedish company to measure alkali vapours in furnace atmospheres. Seen by industry as a practical way to decarbonise furnaces it enables in-situ and continuous monitoring of the effects of changes in fuel type ((natural gas, hydrogen, biofuel) on the furnace atmosphere. Currently being used to measure potassium chloride vapours and sulfur dioxide in the hot flue gases of a biomass(wood chip) boiler at a paper mill, FISC has agreed future modifications to the sensor to conduct further tests for industry. The new prototype will measure both sodium hydroxide (instead of potassium chloride) and sulfur dioxide for a one-year test period in a glass furnace.

How does this benefit industry?
Data from this research is crucial for industry to understand the viability of transferring to new materials and processes and how this might affect commerciality and product quality.

Data also helps develop strong business cases for large investments for example the new furnaces required for fuel switching. Furnace lifetimes last 15 20-years in the glass sector and longer in ceramics and other sectors so decisions need to be made soon to reach net zero by 2050.

By measuring and modelling impacts on the process, emissions, degradation to the furnaces and final products and standards compliance this helps de-risk technologies hopefully enabling widespread adoption by industry in the future.

Published: 24-01-2025