SGD Pharma recently started a two-week trial using 100% hydrogen burners for industrial-scale glass production. The trial, conducted at SGD Pharma’s Saint-Quentin-Lamotte (SQLM) manufacturing plant in France, was a resounding success and will inform SGD Pharma’s decarbonisation roadmap which aims to reduce CO2 emissions from 2020 by 35% in 2030 and by 65% in 2040.
During the trial, up to 50% of the burners at SQLM 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 by the provision of equipment and hydrogen as well as technical assistance and expertise. The outstanding results of the trial confirm the possibility of using hydrogen to decarbonate the combustion of our furnaces.
CEO Olivier Rousseau explains: “We have been working with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on the reduction of CO2 emissions across our five glass manufacturing plants (including SQLM in France, our two other EU plants, and both our Indian and Chinese 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 trialed hydrogen burners will help us to achieve our SBTi targets and to continue with the investment in our SQLM plant which is the world’s most advanced pharma-grade glass manufacturing plant, as well as upgrading our other sites across multiple geographies.”