Pharmaceutical glass manufacturer SGD Pharma has concluded a two-week trial using hydrogen in its production process.
The trial took place at its Saint-Quentin-Lamotte facility in northern France at the end of January.
The company said that up to 50% of the burners at the facility were converted to operate using a combination of hydrogen and oxygen combustion instead of the previously used Oxygas.
The hydrogen burners contributed around 75% of the total volume of combustion gases. Air Liquide supported SGD Pharma during the trials with equipment and hydrogen as well as technical assistance and expertise.
SGD Pharma said the trial was a success and confirmed the possibility of using hydrogen to decarbonate the combustion of its furnaces.
CEO Olivier Rousseau said: “We have been working with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on the reduction of CO2 emissions across our five glass manufacturing plants and have developed a 1.5°C decarbonisation pathway and target validation.
“As part of the plan, we are currently rebuilding one of the furnaces at SQLM which will increase electricity output of the furnace by 40%. The trialled hydrogen burners will help us to achieve our SBTi targets and to continue with the investment in our Saint-Quentin-Lamotte plant.”
