Noritake Co., Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. and Tokyo Gas Engineering Solutions Corporation (TGES) revealed the development of the world's first hydrogen combustion-type continuous combustion furnace C-SERT-RHK-Nero (Nero) for making lithium-ion battery electrode materials. The furnace has achieved zero carbon emission for making lithium-ion battery electrode materials by adapting a special ceramic radiant tube burner.

Nero, created by the fusion of Noritake's firing furnace technology and Tokyo Gas/TGES hydrogen combustion technology, is an innovative device to realize zero carbon emission at firing.

Nero performs stable heat treatment using hydrogen as fuel at the high temperature (1,000°C or higher) required in the manufacturing process of lithium-ion battery electrode materials which are in high demand in recent years. High-temperature firing by hydrogen mono-fuel combustion does not generate CO₂, but there are issues to be cleared such as stable heating and suppression of NOx (nitrogen oxides) generation especially in narrow space. However, by combining the three companies' technologies, they have overcome the problems and succeeded in commercializing this product.

Noritake, Tokyo Gas and TGES intend to use the highly efficient heating technology of Nero not only for lithium-ion battery electrode materials, but also for applications such as automobile manufacturing fields (i.e. hot stamping) and 5G electronic parts that require stable heat treatment at high temperature. Three companies will also apply this technology in other fields of applications to contribute to decarbonization of heating processes for various products.

Features of this product:

1. Achieve zero carbon by adapting hydrogen combustion type
2. Suppress NOx (nitrogen oxides) generation at hydrogen combustion Since the combustion speed is fast and the flame temperature is high for high-temperature firing by hydrogen mono-fuel combustion, suppression of NOx generation is possible by original combustion technology while NOx tends to be generated especially in narrow space.
3. Achieve temperature accuracy equivalent to natural gas combustion by original firing technology and high-durability burner Three companies have solved the issue of durability which was a problem for the conventional electric heating type by adapting special ceramic with high heat-proof and corrosion resistance (active oxidation resistance, lithium attack resistance) to the burner as a heating element (radiant tube). With original firing technology, stable heating such as leveling of temperature distribution, smooth temperature follow-up, and maintenance of oxygen concentration becomes possible and thus temperature accuracy equivalent to that at natural gas combustion is achieved by hydrogen combustion.
4. Applicable to heat treatment at various high temperatures
   - lithium-ion battery field: Cathode material, anode material, next-generation battery material
   - Automobile field: Super high-tensile steel plate (hot stamp), sintered parts, plug, sensor, catalyst, magnetic material
   - Communication field: 5G electronic parts, ferrite, ceramic circuit board, target material, etc.
5. Correspondence to firing mixture of hydrogen and natural gas By firing a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen that is still high in price, CO₂ emissions can be reduced while reducing energy cost compared with firing of natural gas alone.