The Hamburg-based copper group Aurubis wants to use hydrogen in its production. To this end, it is investing about € 40 million in hydrogen-capable anode furnaces. They are to be installed in the Hamburg plant in 2024. According to its own information, the site would then be one of the first copper smelters worldwide to use hydrogen.
The conversion at the Hamburg plant is to take place during the regular maintenance shutdown scheduled for spring 2024. The group reported at the end of June that about € 40 million had been invested in the anode furnaces.
Up to now, the raw copper has been processed using natural gas, which produces considerable amounts of KCO2. By using hydrogen as a reducing agent, the new technology has a saving potential of about 5,000 t CO2 per year - if it is operated completely with hydrogen.
More efficient even without hydrogen
But even before there is enough hydrogen on the market, the new anode furnaces should make production lower in emissions: The hydrogen-capable plants work more efficiently and consume about 30 % less natural gas, the metallurgy group reports. This results in an initial savings potential of about 1,200 t CO2 per year.
In addition, the replacement of the anode furnaces will make the extraction of metals from metal concentrates and recycling materials more efficient. One of these is nickel, an important raw material in batteries for electromobility. More complex metal-containing copper concentrates could also be processed better with the H2-ready furnaces.
"With the replacement of the anode furnaces, we are realising another milestone in our decarbonisation strategy," said Roland Harings, CEO of Aurubis AG.
"To be sure, there is still hardly any green hydrogen to meet the enormous demand of German industry at competitive prices. With this step, we are leading the way and showing: We are ready!"
New chapter in 160-year tradition
The use of hydrogen marks the beginning of a new chapter for the roughly 160-year-old Hamburg site. In designing the project, the company relied heavily on internal know-how: "The H₂-readiness of the new furnace area is 100 % 'Made by Aurubis'," Harings emphasised.
In May 2021, Aurubus had produced the first copper anodes in Hamburg using hydrogen instead of natural gas.
