German copper recycler Aurubis produces first copper anodes with hydrogen

German copper recycler Aurubis has started testing hydrogen use on an industrial scale in copper anode production at the Hamburg plant in Germany, the company said May 27

Aurubis – the largest copper recycler in the world and leading integrated copper group – said the in the pilot project, hydrogen and nitrogen were introduced in the production facility, an anode furnace, by substituting natural gas.

The initial tests will look to evaluate the introduction of hydrogen in order to ensure that the production steps run smoothly, the company said. French multinational company Air Liquide provided the hydrogen for the tests.

Aurubis said the tests will explore hydrogen use in continuous operation until the late summer. The company's long-term goal is to determine the environment under which hydrogen, instead of natural gas, can be used for poling purposes in the anode furnace.

Additionally, the tests will look to collect data in order to establish the foundation for additional hydrogen activities in the Group, the company said.

"By using hydrogen, we can achieve additional significant emission reductions," Plant Manager, Jens Jacobsen said. "The savings potential for the Hamburg smelter in this area alone amounts to 6,200 mt of CO2 annually."

Aurubis said it was committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050 at the latest and had started to implement CO2 reduction projects at all of its production sites, including the use of industrial waste heat, the power-to -steam procedure, and wind energy for sustainable electricity generation.

In May, Aurubis said its concentrate throughput in the first half of 2020/21 ending March 31 increased 9.6% year over year to 1.225 million mt, while copper cathode production increased 17% year on year to 554,000 mt.