thyssenkrupp Steel Europe site in Duisburg begins construction of new Technical Center

Contribution to climate protection and the transition to renewables, BMBF provides funding of more than €60 million for Carbon2Chem

ESSEN, 03-Nov-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — At the thyssenkrupp Steel Europe site in Duisburg the construction of a new Technical Center has begun. The Technical Center will play a key role in the Carbon2Chem development project initiated by thyssenkrupp. The aim of Carbon2Chem is to utilize process gases from steel production – including the CO2 they contain – to manufacture chemicals. A further 16 partners from the areas of basic and applied research and various sectors of industry are involved in the project. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is providing funding totalling more than €60 million for Carbon2Chem.

The ground-breaking ceremony was performed by Hannelore Kraft, State Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Heinrich Hiesinger, CEO of thyssenkrupp AG, and Andreas Goss, CEO of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG. The Technical Center will translate the results of basic research to industrial scale. thyssenkrupp is investing €33.8 million in the building complex, which will cover an area of approx. 2,600 square meters. Added to this are about €10 million from the BMBF funding. Completion is scheduled for spring 2018.

Hannelore Kraft: “North Rhine-Westphalia is leading the way in intelligent climate protection. In this, it is important to regard industrial production not as an adversary but rather acknowledge it as part of the solution. We have supported and accompanied the project from the very beginning. There could not be a better location for the technical center than Duisburg. This is climate protection made in NRW.

At present, gases from steel production are burnt to produce electricity and heat for the production process. Carbon2Chem puts the gases at the start of a chemical production chain. This is possible because steel mill gases include hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon, the basis for numerous chemical products.

“We will show how to make production climate-friendly. Here at the thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG site we will demonstrate how fertilizers, plastic and fuels can be produced from steel mill gases to reduce CO2 and benefit the environment,” said Thomas Rachel.

Heinrich Hiesinger emphasized that Carbon2Chem is a step toward the steel production of the future: “If the project is successful, it will significantly reduce CO2 emissions from steel production. At the same time Carbon2Chem can make an important contribution to stabilizing the power networks.” The energy required for the chemical processes is to come to from renewable sources. Andreas Goss stated that Carbon2Chem will place steel production on a new, sustainable footing.

Carbon2Chem’s prospects of success are good because the basic chemical processes and required technologies are largely known. It is already technically possible to convert process gases from steel production into ammonia as a starting product for fertilizers, though not yet cost-efficiently. At least ten years of development work will be needed before Carbon2Chem is ready for industrial-scale use.

Carbon2Chem is characterized by broad-based, cross-industrial cooperation. It will create a new network of steel production, electricity generation and chemical production. These sectors play a key role for North Rhine-Westphalia and employ more than 180,000 people in the state.

thyssenkrupp is a diversified industrial group with traditional strengths in materials and a growing share of capital goods and services businesses. Around 155,000 employees in nearly 80 countries work with passion and technological know-how to develop high-quality products and intelligent industrial processes and services for sustainable progress. Their skills and commitment are the basis of our success. In fiscal year 2014/2015 thyssenkrupp generated sales of around €43 billion.

Together with our customers we develop competitive solutions for the challenges of the future in the areas Mechanical, Plant and Materials. With our engineering expertise we enable our customers to gain an edge in the global market and manufacture innovative products in a cost- and resource-friendly way. For us, technical progress and innovations, allied with the combined strength of the Group, are key factors enabling us to meet current and future customer and market needs, grow on the markets of the future, and generate strong and stable earnings, cash flows and value growth.

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SOURCE: thyssenkrupp AG