News

 AISIN and Toho Gas Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Nagoya, Aichi; President: Yoshiro Tominari; hereinafter, “Toho Gas”) started a joint demonstration experiment concerning hydrogen combustion technology using burners in an industrial furnace^*1 owned by AISIN.

 In this project, with an eye toward realizing a decarbonized society in 2050, AISIN and Toho Gas will acquire knowledge about the combustion technology using hydrogen fueled burners in the industrial furnace that do not emit carbon dioxide during combustion. AISIN and Toho Gas are mainly responsible for assessment of the impact of hydrogen combustion on products and the design and assessment of burners, respectively, aiming to put this technology to practical use for burners in the industrial furnace owned by AISIN by March 2026.

*1 Equipment for heating, melting and other treatment of metallic and other materials and parts

[Outline of the demonstration experiment]

1. Indirect heating burners in a continuous heat treat furnace (Shiroyama Plant, AISIN)

 In a continuous heat treat furnace where the processes for heating, cooling and other thermal treatment of automobile parts are continuously performed, an assessment on the temperature rise performance of the furnace, the state of the heat treatment of products, etc. is conducted using hydrogen fueled indirect heating burners (single-ended radiant tube burners^*2) (started in May 2021).

*2 For the development of the hydrogen combustion technology for single-ended radiant tube burners, please refer to the press release from Toho Gas as of April 22, 2021 (https://www.tohogas.co.jp/corporate-n/press/1221524_1342.html) (in Japanese).

2. Direct heating burners in aluminum melting/holding furnace (Nishio Plant, AISIN)

In an aluminum melting/holding furnace, using hydrogen-fueled direct heating burners, a small-scale test furnace is operated at first to allow understanding of the basic characteristics of hydrogen combustion. Then, the scale will be expanded to the use of a large-scale production furnace, and an assessment on aluminum melting performance, etc. will be conducted (scheduled to start in October 2021).