GCE presents hydrogen cutting technology at Schweissen and Schneiden

For more than a year, GCE has tested hydrogen technology in cutting applications with promising results at a greener alternative to oxy-fuel cutting processes that use carbon-based fuels such as acetylene, propane or natural gas.

"To our knowledge, GCE is introducing the first purpose-built hydrogen cutting torch on the market," said Kordian Lipski, product manager - machine cutting at GCE group. "While the technology is still in development, we want to share our prototype torch model and initial performance results with fair goers at Schweissen and Schneiden. Our objective is to develop a process using hydrogen as the fuel gas that approaches the cutting performance of acetylene with safety and cost levels similar to propane."

Driving factors

The Green movement in Europe is driving many industries to embrace low-carbon solutions.

"We want to offer environmentally friendly cutting options for those who want to explore them," Lipski continued. "When hydrogen burns, it doesn’t emit any additional carbon dioxides, aside from the small percentage emitted from the steel during cutting. We are essentially de-carbonising the mechanized cutting process."

Another driving factor is preheating and cutting speed. Preliminary tests showed that preheating of a 50 mm plate takes between two and three seconds with hydrogen. Comparatively, preheating the same plate takes with propane takes 10 to 11 seconds, demonstrating the superior performance of hydrogen as a fuel gas. In terms of flame temperature, acetylene is 3200 °C, hydrogen is 2976 °C and propane is 2850 °C (see Fig. X).

"The focused hydrogen cutting flame, which heats a specific point, mitigates the risk of excessive overheating of metal plate, which supports and accelerates piercing procedures," added Lipski.

As for cutting speeds, preliminary testing showed that hydrogen generated approximately 10% faster cutting speeds than acetylene, known for its fast speed and high-quality cuts.

"The standard for cutting speeds on 30 mm steel with an oxy-acetylene flame is 400 to 450 mm/min. With our oxy-hydrogen torch, we achieved laboratory results of at least 480 mm/min," stated Lipski.

Early testing also indicates that flashbacks are no more severe using hydrogen than acetylene. In addition to cleaner burning, hydrogen flames produce less ultra-violet light. Operators can wear standard safety glasses instead of shaded safety glasses.

Preliminary cost efficiency calculations indicate that hydrogen costs about one-fifth less than acetylene and 30% less than propane.

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