Achieving natural gas-free glass production: SCHOTT full hydrogen laboratory test a complete success

• SCHOTT successfully conducted laboratory-scale melting tests under near-production conditions.

• SCHOTT plans the next step in its strategy: trials using 100% hydrogen in glass furnaces.

• Call on German policymakers to promote the construction and application of hydrogen infrastructure and implement climate protection agreements.

As a pioneer in using hydrogen energy to produce climate-friendly glass, SCHOTT announced another major achievement: it successfully produced a test glass melt in the laboratory using 100% hydrogen, without using any natural gas at all. At the end of 2022, the special glass expert in Mainz, Germany, has launched the first industrial-scale test with the participation of local partners. The trials added 35% hydrogen to furnaces that previously used only natural gas. The results show that SCHOTT can completely improve the melting technology and eliminate the use of fossil fuels, which has been confirmed in the new 100% hydrogen trial.

SCHOTT has successfully used 100% hydrogen to melt glass in laboratory experiments.

Dr. Matthias Kaffenberger, SCHOTT glass melting technology manager, said when revealing the latest progress, “We conducted preliminary tests in a research project in 2020, and now the test conditions in the laboratory Much closer to today’s production conditions than then, at the same time, thanks to the expanded hydrogen supply at the Mainz site, we are now able to carry out meltings and experiments exclusively on a laboratory scale for the first time and successfully maintain them. 10 days of operation. The success of this trial demonstrates that SCHOTT can carry out corresponding trials in actual production and carry out large-scale technical trials in the future.”

Ambitious goal: producing climate-friendly glass using green hydrogen

The glass melting process must always maintain a temperature of up to 1700°C, so using hydrogen to heat a glass furnace is not an easy task. Investigating whether hydrogen can do this sustainably, and whether its use has an impact on the quality of glass products, is groundbreaking research. The benefits of producing climate-friendly glass are huge: as a technical material, glass is widely used in household appliances, consumer electronics, semiconductors, automobiles, as well as in astronomy and aerospace, and climate-friendly glass completely avoids the energy-intensive use of natural gas. Carbon dioxide emissions generated during the glass manufacturing process. SCHOTT has therefore set the ambitious goal of becoming climate neutral at its global production sites by 2030.

To achieve this goal, the Group follows the principle of "avoid-reduce-compensate". The plan includes four areas of action: technological change; improving energy efficiency; switching to 100% green electricity; and compensating for technically unavoidable emissions. In the context of technological change, the company is focusing first on the energy-intensive glass melting process, electrifying furnaces with green electricity and replacing natural gas with green hydrogen.

Meeting the challenge: Hydrogen infrastructure and green energy

Since demand for renewable green hydrogen for production is currently in short supply, SCHOTT has so far had to use gray hydrogen for its trials. Extensive infrastructure for (industrial) hydrogen supply and the expansion of renewable energy sources to produce green electricity are two major challenges at this stage.

In an appeal to decision-makers in the German government and parliament, Dr. Jens Schulte, member of the Management Board of SCHOTT and responsible for the Zero Carbon Initiative, said, “As a pioneer in the use of hydrogen in energy-intensive industries, we urgently need Taking further steps to propose timely and effective infrastructure solutions, the climate protection contracts planned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection to promote climate-friendly production are an important means of maintaining the competitiveness of participating industries and promoting rapid implementation. Rely on innovation and close cooperation with our partners and federal states. ”

Investing in R&D projects: SCHOTT has been working on possible hydrogen solutions since 2018

"Hydrogen Industry - Hydrogen Applications in Industrial Combustion Processes (H2H)" is a project jointly funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Ministry of Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate. Based on this project, SCHOTT will test a hydrogen gas mixture in production at the Mainz plant at the end of 2022. SCHOTT is also actively involved in other long-term research funding projects, including the Microwave Glass Hydrogen (MiGWa) project, which runs from early 2021 to the end of 2023. The project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the European Union, uses hydrogen or microwaves to reduce fuel gas consumption in the glass manufacturing process. In the "Copernicus P2X" project, SCHOTT conducted the first test of using all hydrogen for glass melting as early as 2020.

Drive innovation – take responsibility – co-create

The three qualities of the SCHOTT Group, a manufacturer of high-tech specialty glass materials, are innovation, responsibility and co-creation. The founder Otto Schott is the inventor of special glass and a pioneer in the entire glass industry. For more than 130 years, SCHOTT’s #glasslovers have been adhering to a pioneering spirit and unlimited passion, and have continued to explore new markets and new fields. The company has offices in 33 countries and regions and is a high-tech partner in cutting-edge fields such as medical care, home appliances, consumer electronics, semiconductors, data communications, optics, industry, energy, automobiles, astronomy and aerospace. In fiscal year 2022, the company's 17,200 employees generated total sales of 2.8 billion euros. The SCHOTT Group is part of the Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the oldest German foundations, and uses dividends from the SCHOTT Group to promote science and technology. As a foundation company, SCHOTT has a special responsibility towards its employees, society and the environment. The company is committed to reducing carbon emissions and becoming climate neutral by 2030.