HWTO Grid solution

The waste-to-hydrogen takes organic waste and break it down with microorganisms in a process called anaerobic digestion. This process enables the transformation from waste to biogas. And then biogas is upgraded to biomethane, while removing CO2 and impurities, and biomethane, which is then reformed and reborn as hydrogen.

Waste-to-hydrogen is an advanced technology that has been proven and is already in action in Chungju City, Korea. Hyundai E&C and Hyundai Rotem are participating in a demonstration project for biogas hydrogen production and utilization. It is the world's first facility to produce 500 kg of hydrogen per day using 60 tons of food waste and to operate hydrogen cars in an integrated commercial manner.

The greatest advantage of waste-to-hydrogen is the ability to establish mini hydrogen production hubs at the regional level. Achieving hydrogen resource independence becomes feasible by reducing the cost of the hydrogen transportation and storage process. With these advantages in mind, Hyundai plans to develop specialized resource circulation package projects tailored to different regions and countries.

The collected plastic waste goes through the stages to be reborn as hydrogen energy. First, in the “preprocessing” stage, impurities like metal, sand, paper are removed, producing plastic waste raw material. Second, with Hyundai Engineering's self-developed “melting” process, the preprocessed plastic waste is heated and stirred to be melted into a viscous liquid state. This process further removes fine impurities. In the gasification process, plastic waste is melted into liquid and introduced into the gasifier alongside oxygen and steam to produce a synthesis gas consisting of CO and H2 using Shell's technology. Lastly, in the synthesis gas refining process, additional H2 is produced through the conversion process of CO, impurities contained in the synthesis gas are removed, and CO2 is separated. This results in the production of high-purity hydrogen from plastic waste, completing the transformation into circular energy.

By utilizing 130,000 tons of plastic waste as a raw material, 24,000 tons of hydrogen can be processed in an environmentally friendly manner per year. the hydrogen from plastic-to-hydrogen can be utilized in various fields such as marine fuel methanoal and hydrogen fuel for FCEV.

Hyundai Motor Group is actively promoting green hydrogen production. Hyundai is developing a megawatt-scale PEM electrolyzer. Compared to classical alkaline method, PEM method is a more promising way to produce green hydrogen in many aspects. Hyundai is aiming to achieve megawatt-scale PEM electrolyzer manufacturing capabilities within the next few years and aim to cut the price by half through sharing our PEM fuel cell components and production facilities.

Hyundai E&C and Hyundai Engineering are involved in the construction of several water electrolysis-based hydrogen production facilities as Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractors.

Hydrogen is produced through various methods: by-product hydrogen is generated in processes like steel manufacturing, reforming hydrogen is extracted from other gases such as natural gas, and green hydrogen is produced via electrolysis.

After production, hydrogen undergoes processing for distribution, is injected into tube trailers after high temperature compression, and is then shipped to various locations. Gaseous hydrogen is managed with an appropriate supply schedule aligned with its production. After being transported via hydrogen transport trucks, the stored hydrogen is finally sold and utilized at hydrogen fueling stations, industrial facilities, and elsewhere.

The shift towards a decarbonized society is accelerating, extending beyond the automotive industry to steel manufacturing. In this context, green steel focuses on reducing carbon in the supply chain and minimizing carbon emissions in the production of steel, is gaining attention. Environmentally friendly processes in steel production, such as replacing traditional blast furnaces with electric furnaces, as well as the use of hydrogen and renewable energy instead of coal, can contribute significantly to a substantial reduction in carbon emissions.

Green steel production involves several stages. Hydrogen or renewable energy is supplied to the direct reduction plant (DRP), a facility for the production of direct reduced iron (DRI, HBI), where iron ore reacts with natural gas to produce purified iron by eliminating impurities. The purified iron is then melted in an electric furnace, extracting molten iron with the required components. Subsequently, the material undergoes thinning in hot rolling and final processing through cold rolling and coating to produce eco-friendly steel plates, rebars, and sheets.