World-first hydrogen combustion electrode furnace lunches
The blend of hydrogen and natural gas is costly but still can reduce CO2 compared with natural gas firing alone.
Noritake Co Ltd, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., and Tokyo Gas Engineering Solutions Corporation (Tges) have developed the world’s first hydrogen combustion-type continuous combustion furnace ‘C-SERT-RHK-Nero’ for making lithium-ion battery (LiB) electrode materials.
Nero, developed by combining Noritake’s firing furnace technology and Tokyo Gas/Tges hydrogen combustion technology, is an innovative device to realise zero carbon emission at firing. The furnace has achieved zero carbon emission for making lithium-ion battery electrode materials by adapting a special ceramic radiant tube burner.
Nero performs stable heat treatment using hydrogen as fuel at over 1,000C in the manufacturing process of LiB electrode materials. High-temperature firing by hydrogen mono-fuel combustion does not generate CO2. However, there are issues, such as stable heating and suppression of NOx (nitrogen oxides) generation, especially in narrow space. However, the three partners have combined their technologies to overcome the problems.
Since the combustion speed is fast and the flame temperature is high for high-temperature firing by hydrogen mono-fuel combustion, suppression of NOx generation is possible by original combustion technology NOx tends to be generated mainly in narrow space.
The partners also aim to use Nero’s highly efficient heating technology for LiB electrode materials and applications such as automobile manufacturing fields (i.e. hot stamping) and 5G electronic parts that require stable heat treatment at high temperatures.
