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Hydrogen for heat treatment

Hydrogen for annealing

Hydrogen for brazing

Hydrogen for sintering

Your furnaces run on hydrogen. Your schedule shouldn't run on deliveries.

On-site generation produces hydrogen where your annealing, brazing and sintering lines use it. It can be sized to replace some or all of the deliveries you schedule today. Nel can help you establish whether on-site generation is right for your application and provide a cost comparison against your current delivery.
When supply depends on deliveries, running out mid-process can be extremely expensive.

Backup arrangements are part of the design.
Assess your hydrogen supply
Explore your application
For annealing, brazing and sintering operations already using hydrogen. Exact flow data is not required to enquire.
Annealing
Brazing
Sintering

Three questions to answer before your next supply decision

Production, plant management and purchasing will each ask something different. The first conversation with Nel covers all three.

01 · Production

Could generation reduce reliance on deliveries?

A generator produces hydrogen where your furnaces use it. Sized against your normal and peak demand, it could replace some or all of the deliveries you schedule today, so supply no longer depends on a delivery window. Backup arrangements are decided as part of the design.

02 · Plant management

What would change on site?

On-site generation trades delivery logistics for site utilities: power, water, and cooling. It also changes what you store. A generator produces hydrogen as your process draws it rather than holding a large, delivered inventory, which can affect permitting, storage space, compliance, and safety. By weighing all the options, you can see whether generation suits your plant.

03 · Purchasing

How would the total cost compare?

Set delivered-gas charges and contract terms against equipment, installation, electricity, water, and maintenance. Delivered supply carries costs beyond the gas itself, such as storage, rentals, permitting, and shipping and handling. The result depends on your consumption and operating pattern.

Customer story · Furnace brazing

Fourteen years on one generator

How Riverhawk took its brazing furnace off hydrogen cylinders

Before

Each run of Riverhawk’s batch brazing furnace used several hydrogen cylinders. As production grew, supply had to be managed carefully: running out mid-cycle could cost a nearly finished batch.

The decision

Riverhawk compared bulk stored hydrogen with on-site generation and chose a Nel H2 generator. Generating hydrogen with no stored inventory cost less than the permitting, construction and compliance that bulk storage would have required.

By 2023

With demand for its products rising, Riverhawk chose an H4: two cell stacks doubling its capacity from 2Nm³/h to 4Nm³/h, with room for a third cell stack if needed in the same cabinet.
US manufacturer of precision pivot bearings. Case study published in Heat Treat Today, May 2023.
Read Riverhawk's heat-treatment story

How on-site generation fits your process

Choose your application to see what determines a suitable supply system and what information to have ready.

Generate the hydrogen your annealing lines use, at the plant

For annealing that already uses hydrogen or a hydrogen-containing atmosphere, on-site generation could reduce the deliveries your lines depend on. Whether it fits depends on the material, the atmosphere specification and how the furnace runs.
Assess your hydrogen supply

What determines the right system

Material and atmosphere
Alloy, hydrogen proportion and specified gas quality.
Furnace operation
Batch or continuous processing, operating shifts and connected lines.
Consumption
Normal hydrogen use, peak demand and expected production changes.

Gas quality

Nel’s H Series generators are specified at 99.999+% purity with a −65°C dew point (moisture below 5 ppm). S Series generators are specified at 99.9995% with the same dew point. Share your process specification and we’ll compare it with the system output.

Produce the hydrogen for your brazing furnaces on site

Furnace brazing needs its specified reducing atmosphere through every cycle, and batch furnaces draw hydrogen unevenly. Generation is sized around your materials, filler metal, cycle timing and peak demand.
See how Riverhawk made this change
Assess your hydrogen supply

What determines the right system

Materials and filler
The base materials, filler metal and specified atmosphere.
Production cycle
Furnace type, batch timing or continuous operation, and connected furnaces.
Gas requirements
Hydrogen consumption, supply pressure, purity and moisture specification.

Gas quality

Nel’s H Series generators are specified at 99.999+% purity with a −65°C dew point (moisture below 5 ppm). S Series generators are specified at 99.9995% with the same dew point. Share your process specification and we’ll compare it with the system output.

On-site hydrogen for sintering, MIM and metal AM

For powder metallurgy, metal injection molding or sinter-based metal additive manufacturing that already uses hydrogen, generation capacity is set against furnace loading, operating hours and the hydrogen share of your atmosphere.
Assess your hydrogen supply

What determines the right system

Material system
Powder or alloy, processing route and furnace type.
Atmosphere specification
Hydrogen proportion, other gases and required gas quality.
Production profile
Throughput, furnace loads, normal and peak hydrogen demand, and planned expansion.

Gas quality

Nel’s H Series generators are specified at 99.999+% purity with a −65°C dew point (moisture below 5 ppm). S Series generators are specified at 99.9995% with the same dew point. Share your process specification and we’ll compare it with the system output.

Match generation capacity to your operation

Nel’s S, H and C Series provide different hydrogen output options. The appropriate system depends on your consumption profile, gas specification, supply pressure and installation requirements.
S, H and C Series output follows demand automatically, from zero to full rated production, so a generator can serve batch cycles and changing loads.
The starting point is the purity and moisture specification your process already uses.
You do not need to select a model before contacting us. Share your current hydrogen use and the information you have about your plant.

Datasheets

Published nominal hydrogen output by model
SeriesModelNm³/hSCF/h
S SeriesS100.2710
S200.5320
S401.0540
H SeriesH2276
H44152
H66228
C SeriesC1010380
C2020760
C30301,140

Nominal model outputs. Nm³/h at 0°C and 1 bar; SCF/h at 70°F and 1 atm, as stated on the datasheets. Selection also depends on demand peaks, operating conditions and the complete supply arrangement.

Practical questions

Do I need to know my exact hydrogen flow?

No. Start with what you have: approximate consumption, cylinders used per week, operating hours or your current supply arrangement. We can discuss what additional information is needed for sizing.

Will a hydrogen generator control my furnace atmosphere?

A generator supplies hydrogen. Blending, distribution and furnace-atmosphere control remain part of the wider process system. Compatibility with your existing arrangement needs to be reviewed.

What does the plant need for on-site generation?

The selected model determines the requirements. These include electrical power, suitable deionised water, space, ventilation and gas connections. H and C Series also require liquid cooling. Review the relevant datasheet and installation requirements as part of the assessment.

Can generation suit a batch furnace or changing demand?

Yes, within the system’s rated output. S, H and C Series generators follow demand automatically, adjusting from zero to full production as your furnace draws hydrogen. Peaks above rated output are addressed in sizing and the overall supply arrangement, which Nel designs with you.

Would we still need backup hydrogen?

Backup and maintenance arrangements depend on your production requirements and the proposed system. Discuss these as part of the supply assessment before changing your existing arrangement.

How should we compare generation with delivered hydrogen?

Consider actual consumption, delivered-gas charges and contract terms alongside equipment, installation, electricity, water, cooling and maintenance costs. The useful comparison is specific to your plant and operating pattern.

What hydrogen quality should we specify?

Use the requirements of your material and furnace process, including relevant impurity and moisture limits. Share any purity or dew-point specification you already use, together with its measurement conditions if known.

Assess your hydrogen supply

Tell us how your plant uses hydrogen and how it is supplied today. A member of Nel’s sales team will follow up to talk it through with you.

After the first conversation, you should know

  • Whether on-site generation merits a closer look for your plant
  • The main sizing considerations, such as peak demand, gas specification and site utilities
  • What information you need to compare generation with your current supply
You can start without exact flow data or a selected model. Share what you know and discuss the remaining requirements with Nel.