The Installation of Two Hydrogen-Ready Anode Furnaces at Aurubis’ Hamburg “Down-Town” Smelter

In 2024, Aurubis Hamburg site installed two new hydrogen-ready anode furnaces as part of its planned shutdown. After more than 50 years of operation, the old furnaces were nearing their end of life. Faced with this opportunity, Aurubis decided to install new anode furnaces during this time window. While the new furnaces incorporated many new features designed to increase safety and improve operational flexibility, the main design was influenced by the company’s decision to have them hydrogen ready for “poling”. Being able to decarbonize this core process of the copper production was in line with Aurubis’ environmental targets and would allow the site to save up to 5000 t of CO₂ per year. This paper will discuss the journey of these new anode furnaces from setup of the design criteria to commissioning. The full-scale hydrogen experiments conducted in 2021 which played a major role in the new design will be presented as well as the numerous challenges faced with installing larger furnaces into a brownfield site with limited footprint. The importance of an experienced project team combined with dedicated partners to overcome challenges from engineering to installation will be discussed.