World first | German company produces optical glass using 100% hydrogen in a furnace
Schott is now analysing the quality of the glass to see if its properties are the same as when using natural gas
German manufacturer Schott has conducted the first-ever production of high-quality optical glass using 100% hydrogen in a furnace instead of natural gas.
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The “large-scale test” in Mainz, Germany, went well and the quality of the glass is now being analysed, the company said.
“If the tests show the quality of the glass is correct and the glass properties remain unchanged, hydrogen would actually be a suitable technology option,” said project manager Lenka Deneke.
For Schott to permanently switch from natural gas to hydrogen in its furnaces, “further long-term tests would be needed, as well as a continuous supply via a hydrogen pipeline”, it added.
“Only then would the group have taken another important step towards its strategic goal of climate-neutral glass production by 2030.”
The optical glass — which is used to make optical lenses, prisms or mirrors, and must therefore be flawless to the naked eye — was produced with financial support from the EU and the German government.
It is not the first time that a company has proven that glass can be produced using 100% hydrogen instead of fossil gas.
The British company is one of five glass manufacturers working together in the EU-sponsored H2Glass project, which aims to begin full-scale 100%-hydrogen trials next year. The firms involved are: Slovenian bottle maker Steklarna Hrastnik; Italian glass-container manufacturers Vetrobalsamo and Zignano Vetro; and fibreglass maker Owns Corning in France.