Fringe Friday: Decarbonizing the Bright Annealing Process

We’re celebrating getting to the “fringe” of the weekend with a Heat Treat Fringe Friday installment: a project that targets reducing the environmental impact of the bright annealing process. Learn more about this EU-funded initiative that is expected to impact industries using high-hydrogen-content atmospheric gas.

While not exactly heat treat, “Fringe Friday” deals with interesting developments in one of our key markets: aerospace, automotive, medical, energy, or general manufacturing.


Energy efficiency, specifically reducing the environmental impact of the bright annealing process in seamless stainless steel and nickel alloy tube production, is the goal of a new European Union-funded initiative. The recently launched LIFE H2Reuse Project seeks solutions for hydrogen recovery and reuse.

The project, coordinated by DMV (Cogne Group, formerly Mannesman Stainless Tubes) in partnership with Tenova, is expected to impact industries using high-hydrogen-content atmospheric gas, which could apply the project’s results to reduce their carbon footprint, optimize resource use, and lower operating costs.

In the bright annealing process, 100% hydrogen is used in high-temperature furnaces to produce high-performance tubes with superior surface quality, corrosion resistance, and durability. Currently, hydrogen is flared after each production cycle, leading to significant waste. The LIFE H2Reuse project aims to address this issue by developing two innovative technical solutions: recovering the wasted hydrogen from the annealing process and reusing it as fuel in radiant tubes working 100% of hydrogen. This approach represents a market-first innovation, as the recovery of atmospheric gas for reuse in industrial processes is not yet commercially available.

While hydrogen burners are already on the market, they remain in a developmental phase. The initiative will focus on enhancing their efficiency and effectiveness in real-world industrial environments. The project’s expected outcomes include significant reductions in carbon footprint, energy consumption, and resource waste, all of which will be rigorously tested to demonstrate their technical, environmental, and socio-economic benefits.

The press release is available in its original form here.

Main image: Technologies used by Tenova in the bright annealing process


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