Austeng-led project will demo onsite green hydrogen generation and use for high-heat purposes

Engineering business Austeng has been awarded $500,000 through the federal government’s Go Green Co-Innovation Program to support a project aiming to demonstrate safe, cost-effective green hydrogen generation and blending for high-heat industrial applications.

According to a statement from Austeng last week, it will lead a project involving Singaporean electrolyser company SunGreenH2 (SGH2), Deakin University’s Hycel Technology Hub and Swinburne University of Technology. A renewable energy-powered 5 kilowatt SGH2 electrolyser will be installed and commissioned at Austeng’s Geelong facility, with hydrogen blended at up to 50 per cent with natural gas and demonstrated in industrial burners, “including those used in crematoria”.

“Initially targeting SME customers, this funding enables us to demonstrate a scalable system of on site hydrogen production that overcomes the existing challenges of a centralised system, which has expensive compression, storage and distribution aspects,” said Austeng Managing Director, Ross George. 

Austeng believes that the initiative will develop and demonstrate “a financially viable, commercial-scale integrated system” making use of onsite hydrogen generation, using existing gas infrastructure, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

It adds that the project addresses barriers to electrification at industrial companies, where it cannot achieve the high heat required, as well as the challenges presented by green hydrogen adoption around its economics, safety concerns and required infrastructure.

Austeng is a small, diversified engineering firm, with work ranging from commercialisation partnerships with manufacturing startups to developing special purpose equipment to crematorium and cemetery work, which it has been involved in since 1989.

Picture: supplied

Further reading

Austeng helps create new Monash Uni civil engineering research facility

Australia’s 50 most innovative manufacturers revealed

Moving from idea to innovation with R&D

Age-defying Australian-made composite bridges win public works awards

Geelong manufacturer to investigate hydrogen-powered cremation