Tenova LOI Thermprocess is working together with DMV Tubes Italy in an EU‑funded innovation project to reuse dispersed process gas from a bright annealing furnace as fuel. This first‑of‑its‑kind solution reduces primary energy consumption by more than 40%, marking an important step towards more energy‑efficient and sustainable heat treatment.
In the production of seamless stainless steel precision tubes, bright annealing is a critical part of the production process and fundamental for achieving the final output properties.
In the roller hearth furnaces of Tenova LOI Thermprocess, bright annealing is carried out in a fully continuous furnace with 100 % H2 at temperatures up to 1,200 °C. The hydrogen used as process gas is usually dispersed after its use in the furnace.
Within a co-funded EU project, a first-of-a-kind application has been developed to extract the used H2 from the furnace and use it as fuel in newly developed TENOVA H2 burners.
Assuming that ~2/3 of the used H2 can be captured, this leads to a ~47% reduction of the primary energy needed for the heating of the stainless steel tubes.
This technology will then be applied to other roller hearth furnaces from Tenova LOI Thermprocess, which also use atmospheric gas with a high H2 content, resulting in a significant reduction of the carbon footprint and lowering costs.
