STEEL DECARBONIZATION
STEEL DECARBONIZATIONOur NiCo Electrode for Hydrogen Steelmaking
Hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron (H2-DRI) replaces coke with hydrogen as the reductant. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode on large-area Ni foam supplies the hydrogen at 91.4% energy efficiency at 0.5 A/cm2 in an AEM cell with a commercial Zirfon separator.
Polarization (RT vs 60 °C)
TESTBEDCost-competitive hydrogen supply
In our 5 cm2 AEM test cell with bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides and a commercial Zirfon separator (500 um), 0.5 A/cm2 at 1.62 V (60 deg C, 91.4% efficiency). The kWh per kg of hydrogen rolls directly into steel cost.
Large-area substrate
Ni foam from 100 to 1000 cm2 supports both pilot DRI installations and full-scale electrolyzer rooms. Electroless deposition is the same process across the size range.
Bifunctional architecture
Same coated electrode for HER and OER. 80 mV HER overpotential and 260 mV OER overpotential at 100 mA/cm2 in 30 wt% KOH, no IR correction.
1000 hours of continuous stability
Steady operation at 0.5 A/cm2 and 40 deg C with our bifunctional NiCo electrode and a commercial Zirfon separator. Voltage degradation rate: 21 uV/hr.
Hydrogen replaces coke in steelmaking
Direct reduction of iron (DRI) using hydrogen replaces carbon-based reductants. Iron ore plus hydrogen produces sponge iron and water vapor; the sponge iron is then alloyed in an electric arc furnace. Compared to traditional blast-furnace-BOF steelmaking, H2-DRI eliminates the direct CO2 emissions from the reduction step.
The hydrogen supply must be low-cost and steady. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode on Ni foam (100 to 1000 cm2), electroless-deposited, contributes to both. At cell level, with the bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides and a commercial Zirfon separator, 0.5 A/cm2 is reached at 1.62 V at 60 deg C (91.4% efficiency).
0.5 A/cm2 @ 60 deg C
1.0 A/cm2 @ 60 deg C
Substrate size range
Scaling from pilot DRI to commercial
Pilot H2-DRI plants in Europe and India are sized in the 100 to 500 kt per year range and require dedicated electrolyzer plants. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode is supplied on Ni foam in the 100 to 1000 cm2 size range that pilot stack cells typically use.
For commercial-scale steel decarbonization, the electrolyzer plant must size up to GW-class. The published cell-level numbers (1.62 V at 0.5 A/cm2 at 60 deg C, 1.79 V at 1.0 A/cm2 at 60 deg C, with bifunctional NiCo electrode and commercial Zirfon separator) are the operating-point references that scale up.
1000-hour stability for round-the-clock DRI operation
A DRI plant runs continuously. The electrolyzer must hold its operating point for years between scheduled overhauls. Our 1000-hour chronopotentiometry at 0.5 A/cm2 and 40 deg C in 30 wt% KOH (bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides, commercial Zirfon separator) showed voltage drift of 21 uV/hr. Before/after linear-sweep curves differ by 30 mV at 0.5 A/cm2.
Coupling with onsite renewables
Many H2-DRI projects are being sited in regions with strong solar and wind resources. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode was tested under PV-derived current schedules for 9 days (peaks ~570 mA/cm2) and wind-derived current schedules for 100 hours (0 to 0.78 A/cm2). DeltaV after the 100-hour wind cycling was 20 mV at 0.5 A/cm2.
PV-derived current profile
9 DAYSWind-derived current profile
100 HRQualifying the electrode on a DRI hydrogen plant
Steel companies evaluating green hydrogen supply for DRI typically begin with bench-scale electrolyzer qualification before committing to GW-scale procurement. Our published numbers (5 cm2 AEM test cell, 30 wt% KOH, zero-gap, commercial Zirfon separator) define the conditions any candidate electrode is qualified against. Pilot-scale 100 to 1000 cm2 electrodes are supplied for the next qualification step.
Frequently asked questions
Why use a bifunctional NiCo electrode for steel decarbonization?
Our bifunctional NiCo electrode operates as both HER cathode and OER anode at 80 mV and 260 mV overpotential at 100 mA/cm² in 30 wt% KOH (no IR correction). For steel decarbonization, using a single electrode SKU on both sides simplifies stack BOM and qualification.
What cell-level performance is published?
In a 5 cm² AEM cell with bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides and a commercial Zirfon separator (500 µm) at zero-gap, the cell logs 0.5 A/cm² at 1.81 V at room temperature (82% efficiency) and 1.62 V at 60 °C (91.4%). At 1.0 A/cm²: 2.05 V at RT and 1.79 V at 60 °C.
What is the stability baseline?
Continuous 1000-hour chronopotentiometry at 0.5 A/cm² and 40 °C in 30 wt% KOH (bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides, commercial Zirfon separator) showed voltage drift of 21 µV/hr. Before/after linear-sweep polarization curves differ by 30 mV at the operating point.
Is the electrode validated for renewable-coupled operation?
Yes. PV-irradiance-derived current schedules applied for 9 continuous days (peaks ~570 mA/cm²) and wind-variation-derived schedules for 100 hours (0 to 0.78 A/cm²) on the same cell. ΔV at 0.5 A/cm² before and after the 100-hour wind run: 20 mV.
What substrate sizes ship?
The bifunctional NiCo electrode is produced on Ni foam in the 100 to 1000 cm² size range. Bench-scale 5 cm² coupons matching the published test cell are also available so customers can reproduce numbers on their own rig before scaling up.
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