Hydrogen-Fueled Brick Drying Oven Tested in Hungary

The local unit of Austrian-owned Wienerberger has successfully tested the use of hydrogen fuel for a brick drying oven at its base in Tiszavasvári (NE Hungary), the building materials maker said on Thursday.

According to the announcement, Wienerberger Plc., in collaboration with the University of Miskolc and German burner manufacturer Scharr-TEC GmbH, has successfully carried out a drying process prior to ceramic firing using only hydrogen in the rapid drying equipment at the company's brick factory in Tiszavasvári.

The current series of experiments has proven that, after the previously achieved 25% hydrogen blend ratio, virtually all natural gas consumption can be replaced in brick drying and firing. During the experiments, the burners of the laboratory furnace underwent special modifications, but the quality of the finished custom-made bricks remained unchanged, they explained.

They emphasized that it will be possible in the foreseeable future for the Tiszavasvári factory to produce up to 100% of its output without using natural gas, carbon-free, using clean hydrogen combustion. This is a groundbreaking achievement in brick manufacturing and a significant step towards further reducing the carbon footprint of the building materials manufacturer's product portfolio.

The next phase will see the launch of laboratory series production trials, followed by tests in an industrial environment. Wienerberger's goal is to apply this technology at its other Hungarian and international sites in the long term, following its implementation at the Tiszavasvári plant.