The steel industry is one of the world’s largest CO2 emitters – it contributes around 8% of global CO2 emissions. A particularly problematic area is the thermal processing of steel, which generates up to 39 billion tons of CO2 annually worldwide through the use of natural gas. Can hydrogen be the solution for this emissions-heavy industry?
As part of the HYDREAMS project, the Swiss Steel Group is taking a decisive step in this direction. The project, funded by the European Union since April 2023, is investigating how steel production can be made more climate-friendly by replacing natural gas with clean hydrogen. Two different furnace types (heating and annealing furnaces) and two different burner types (pulse and flame systems) are being tested for their efficiency with hydrogen.
The HYDREAMS project is the first comprehensive attempt to investigate the effects of hydrogen combustion on different steel grades. This is because there are currently no comprehensive studies documenting the physical changes and possible deviations in steel properties when using hydrogen instead of natural gas – such as differences in flame speed, radiation intensity, or the composition of exhaust gases.
Data spider: Engineering, stainless, and tool steels investigated and chemical compositions of the alloys showing the broad spectrum of grades studied (Source: Swiss Steel Group)
Data spider: Engineering, stainless, and tool steels investigated and chemical compositions of the alloys showing the broad spectrum of grades studied (Source: Swiss Steel Group)
“Replacing natural gas with hydrogen in thermal processing is not yet fully developed and carries potential risks – including an increase in NOx emissions and possible negative effects on steel quality as well as the service life of refractory materials in the furnaces,” explains Laurent Sieye, Sustainability Manager Ugitech, Swiss Steel Group. “It is precisely these potential challenges that need to be explored in the HYDREAMS project and solutions found.”
The project proceeds in several phases – from laboratory tests in pilot furnaces through CFD simulations and furnace modeling to industrial demonstration tests. Already in the first phase, tests were conducted on 13 different steel grades, with no structural differences or changes in the composition of the steel samples detected.
Pilot furnace: Messer test furnace and burner at the Institute of Thermal Engineering at Graz University of Technology (Source: Swiss Steel Group)
Pilot furnace: Messer test furnace and burner at the Institute of Thermal Engineering at Graz University of Technology (Source: Swiss Steel Group)
In the coming years, the HYDREAMS project will conduct a series of industrial trials. Three demonstrators for different heating processes and product types (blooms, forging ingots, and coils) are already planned.
Operation of the first demonstrator (DEMO 3) began in March 2025, and initial tests with blooms are scheduled for this summer. DEMO 1 and DEMO 2 will start in 2026.
(Source: Swiss Steel Group)
(Source: Swiss Steel Group)
The project is aligned with EU goals for climate change mitigation and decarbonization of the steel industry. This solution could represent an attractive alternative to electric heating, which presents technical problems for certain applications, such as excessive wear of electrical resistances at excessively high temperatures or lack of temperature homogeneity in the furnace.
In addition to technical insights, the project will also provide safety assessments, life cycle analysis (LCA), and cost analyses, which are crucial for future market introduction.
