The Schott conglomerate, with its headquarters in Mainz, has achieved industrial-scale production of optical glass using exclusively gray hydrogen , thanks to the implementation of new technologies.
Why gray hydrogen instead of green hydrogen?
Over a three-day period, the German company used gray hydrogen as a heating agent in its furnace for melting optical glass. Schott had previously carried out laboratory-level tests the previous year, in 2023, as a preliminary phase before starting full-scale production this April.
The large-scale test tank was filled three times at the Mainz facility, with gray hydrogen being chosen instead of its green counterpart due to the limited availability of hydrogen from renewable sources. Dr. Frank Heinricht, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Schott, justified this choice by stating: “We deliberately chose this alternative so as not to delay the evaluation of its technical feasibility.”
The dr. Lenka Deneke, project manager at Schott , noted that hydrogen could be adopted commercially to replace natural gas, “if tests confirm that the quality of the glass remains intact.”
Gray hydrogen helps in development of optical glass
He also added that, if the required quality standards are met, ” hydrogen would constitute a viable technological option. This would confirm that the exclusive use of hydrogen, instead of fossil fuels, guarantees the same quality in an industrial environment.”
Optical glass demands the highest quality homogeneity and transmission properties. If the product meets these rigorous requirements, it will be shipped to customers in the consumer goods and measurement technology sectors.
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