Within chemical and industrial processes, systems development and integration (SDI) focuses on demonstrating the ability of hydrogen to be used as a feedstock (e.g., ammonia and synthetic aviation fuel production) or direct reducing agent (e.g., steel and float glass production) and provide process heat (e.g., steel and cement production).
The SDI subprogram coordinates these activities with the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Industrial Technologies Office and other DOE offices such as Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, Nuclear Energy, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.
One of the most promising industrial applications is using hydrogen in iron and steelmaking, an essential segment of the U.S. economy. In iron and steelmaking processes, syngas (a blend of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) has the potential to be used in direct iron ore reduction. Several research, development, and demonstration projects worldwide, including some in the United States funded through SDI, are exploring the use of hydrogen in iron ore refining. To validate technical and economic requirements in U.S. markets, additional demonstrations of iron ore reduction using hydrogen can assist enabling economies of scale for hydrogen, while ensuring higher energy efficiency compared to conventional blast furnaces.
In the chemical industry, hydrogen can serve as a precursor to provide a low-carbon route to methanol, ammonia, hydrazine, and other compounds that serve as feedstocks for other chemicals and fuels (e.g., synthetic aviation fuels).