Installations of hydrogen-ready anode furnaces at Aurubis’ Hamburg copper plant are part of a wider €95M maintenance and upgrade programme aimed at improving the plant’s efficiency and sustainability.
The new furnaces, which represent a €40M investment, will be able to run entirely on hydrogen, natural gas or a blend of the two.
If run entirely on hydrogen, they could cut the plant’s emissions by at least 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.
Anode furnaces are used in the copper refining process to remove impurities through oxidation and reduction.