Chemical industry - special Know-how

H2 added value

Central Germany has all the components of the value chain for the energy source of the future.

The German government’s National Hydrogen Strategy aims to transform the country into the world’s leading supplier of modern hydrogen technologies. When it comes to developing a green hydrogen economy, Saxony-Anhalt is a pioneer, having already seen innovative ideas grow into lighthouse projects. Central Germany’s model region for hydrogen is home to an entire value chain that produces green hydrogen using renewable energies, stores it and transports it.

“Lange Lauchstädter Straße” (Long Lauchstädter Street) between Teutschenthal and Bad Lauchstädt lives up to its name, stretching away into the distance left and right, with wind turbines on the horizon. What you can’t see is the underground salt dome that stores natural gas – where something visionary is going on: it is the first storage cavern in the world to store green hydrogen from renewable energy sources.

“That means we have some lighthouse projects to offer,” says Florian Thamm, Marketing Manager at the HYPOS Consortium, or Hydrogen Power Storage & Solutions East Germany, to quote the full name of the business and research network. In 2013, Central Germany embarked on setting up a model hydrogen region. That kind of sustainable thinking is a big hit with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Berlin. HYPOS was accepted by the “Twenty20 – Partnership for Innovation” program. As an energy source, hydrogen plays a decisive role in the success of the energy transition – provided it is not made in the conventional way, from natural gas. The climate-neutral electrolysis process splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable wind or solar energy, creating a totally emission-free cycle.

The hydrogen factory of the future

The model region for hydrogen is set to represent a complete H2 value chain, from production to storage and transport. It starts by developing new electrolysis systems in order to be able to produce climate-neutral, cost-effective green hydrogen. HYPOS members Siemens AG, Linde Aktiengesellschaft and the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems (IMWS) are cooperating on the “Central German GreenHydroChem” project funded by the federal government after winning the “Living Labs for the Energy Transition” ideas competition. At the Chemical Park Leuna, the biggest green hydrogen production electrolysis unit in the world – with an output of over 100 megawatts – is under construction. Likewise, the ELP electrolysis testing and trials platform is under way along with a scaling platform. The green hydrogen produced there on a large-scale will be used to manufacture sustainable base chemicals and fuels. The scientific driving forces behind the unit, which is funded by Saxony-Anhalt, are the Fraunhofer Centre for Biotechnological Processes (CBP) in Leuna and the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems (IMWS) in Halle (Saale). TOTAL Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland GmbH in Leuna operates the facilities.

“Since it isn’t possible to build wind farms and solar parks everywhere, we’re also backing location-independent solutions for the production of hydrogen, and where necessary, using biogas plants as well,” says Torsten Birth, highlighting a special fermentation process that can be used to produce hydrogen from organic raw materials. Birth heads up the Energy and Resource-Efficient Systems team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF). The IFF is currently developing the concept for the hydrogen factory of the future, which will comprise needs-based decentralized modules for the production and distribution of green hydrogen.

A “hydrogen village” at the Bitterfeld Chemical Park

One link in the value chain is the aforementioned salt dome at Bad Lauchstädt, where VNG Gasspeicher GmbH is constructing new caverns ready for test operations with green hydrogen. The hollow space will have a capacity of some 3,800 tonnes. “The energy content of this volume of hydrogen is equivalent to the annual power consumption of around 40,000 two-person households,” says Florian Thamm, drawing a vivid comparison. He goes on to say that for the area around the center of Halle-Leipzig and the neighboring towns, forecasts put sales of green hydrogen at approximately nine billion cubic meters per year by 2050.

It is no coincidence that HYPOS is operating across the tradition-steeped Böhlen-Leuna-Bitterfeld chemical triangle, which already has a 150-kilometer hydrogen pipeline as well as long-standing specialist expertise on account of its heritage. A converted natural gas pipeline will transport the hydrogen between the chemical triangle and the storage facility in Bad Lauchstädt.

To verify that the gas infrastructure will also work with pure hydrogen, Mitteldeutsche Netzgesellschaft Gas mbH (MITNETZ GAS) built the HYPOS H2 network. The hydrogen village, as it has been dubbed, opens the first green chapter in the 126-year history of Saxony-Anhalt’s Bitterfeld Chemical Park. The innovative showcase project was built on Chlorstraße and covers 12,000 square meters of land. On open days there is a keen interest in the live H2 test area where the use of green hydrogen is undergoing technical, economic and ecological evaluation. And it comprehensively illustrates how supplying a residential area, for example, can work with this sustainable energy source.

H2, a lighthouse that shines internationally

Potential buyers include not only urban energy suppliers but above all, the chemical industry and energy-intensive industrial enterprises in heavy goods, maritime and air transport, says Florian Thamm. The IFF’s Torsten Birth also envisages applications for decentralized energy supplies as well as mobility – specifically, hydrogen-powered cogeneration plants and vehicle fleets with vans and forklifts in business and industrial parks. “The fuel cells in cars can reconvert hydrogen to electric energy for driving,” says Birth, who is convinced that “we will see green hydrogen through to success on an industrial scale.” HYPOS spokesman Florian Thamm agrees: “The wide range of research work and activities among HYPOS partners, the development of a hydrogen factory and the ELP platform are excellent lighthouse projects with national and international reach. If we can get to the stage of industrial application, green hydrogen will be not just the key energy source for the energy transition but a boost to the whole economy.”

Value chain for green hydrogen

"GreenHydroChem": Living lab researches the entire value-creation chain for green hydrogen

With the project ‘GreenHydroChem’, the activities of HYPOS e.V. are being developed further. Since 2013, the association has been pooling and coordinating the competences of economics and science nationwide with regards to green hydrogen in Central Germany and beyond.

Living lab encompasses the entire hydrogen value-creation chain

While numerous projects pertaining to the possible uses of green hydrogen already exist, among others, in the mobility sector, the entire value-creation chain including the generation of green hydrogen has, up to now, only been considered theoretically or in its individual aspects. Here, GreenHydroChem is setting out to represent the entire value-creation process in the Central German region, which offers ideal conditions with its chemical triangle.

As part of a systematic approach including three subprojects, the basic concept of ‘GreenHydroChem’ encompasses the intelligent linking of largescale electrolysis (manufacturing), the hydrogen pipeline (transport), the hydrogen cavern (storage), and the respective bulk recipients (usage) of green hydrogen. To accomplish this, the partners want to utilize and expand the already existing infrastructure in Central Germany. Furthermore, the respective electricity capacities from renewable energies are also available both in the grid and through a direct connection to a wind park in Bad Lauchstädt. The use of the facilities in a way that is beneficial to the grid and to the system is to be tested. The control area of 50 Hertz with a current share of renewable energies of more than 56%, as well as this particular location with its technical grid characteristics make the conditions in this region extremely ideal.

Up to 140 megawatts in electrolyzer capacity

To go into detail, the project involves the construction of large-scale electrolyzer facilities at the Leuna location, with a capacity of up to 100 megawatts, as well as at Bad Lauchstädt, with a capacity of up to 40 megawatts, and a facility for the conversion of carbonic residues, in addition to the use of a cavern storage facility in Bad Lauchstädt with a gas distribution system connection to the existing hydrogen pipeline system in Central Germany. In this way, green hydrogen can be distributed to potential customers, for example, to refineries in Leuna. The cavern storage facility, with a capacity of 50-million cubic meters, ensures continued supply in order to bridge periods of windstill and maintenance measures carried out on the electrolysis facilities.

Up to 91 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions

The project partners want to develop and implement the living lab by 2024. If implementation is successful,‘GreenHydroChem’ will make a substantial contribution to the energy revolution, as well as to the development of the Central German economic region through sector coupling of the industrial value-creation chain with renewable electricity generation. The green hydrogen generated in this way will reduce the resulting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 91 percent.

Keyword »Living lab«

A living lab of the energy revolution will be an innovative and practical experiment environment. It will provide the opportunity to gain experience in scientific preparation and the establishment and operation of the necessary industrial facilities and to positively shape the field of tension between innovations, regulatory instruments, and social acceptance in a way that is future-proof. The BMWi supports these special experimental spaces through the 7^th energy research program.

Basalt fibres - first EU producer

First company in the EU to produce raw material with great application potential: Deutsche Basalt Faser GmbH

Whether it’s in concrete or as structural components of motor vehicles: thanks to their advantages, basalt fibres that are drawn from volcanic rock are an alternative to conventional raw materials such as glass or carbon fibres. The manufacturing process is now being used in Saxony-Anhalt and was developed in Georgia.

Basalt fibre was appreciated in the former USSR. In the Soviet era, the material which was first manufactured in 1963 at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, was used in space travel, although people were reluctant to talk about it. In 1998, the process for the efficient production of continuously drawn basalt fibres was developed further. “The technology was developed by my grandfather, and my father brought it to Germany in 2008.” Georgi Gogoladze has been managing the Georgian-German company Deutsche Basalt Faser GmbH Sangerhausen in Saxony-Anhalt since 2017. The company is the only such company to make the fibres in the EU, and one which therefore fills the niche between glass- and carbon fibre.

The advantages of a natural product

Although the niche might not continue to exist for so long, the raw material offers “an unbelievable number of application possibilities,” as Georgi Gogoladze explains. Compared with glass fibres, to take just one example, basalt fibres have a higher tensile strength. They are corrosion-resistant, have a high chemical resistance, are not respirable, and are therefore harmless to health. They can be used at temperatures between minus 260 and plus 750 degrees Celsius, which even makes them of interest for use in aerospace applications. Their manufacturing requires fewer operations and generates significantly less carbon dioxide. In this respect, the natural product has the lowest CO2 footprint when compared with conventional mineral fibres. And it is also fully recyclable. “The fibres may be more expensive,” says Georgi Gogoladze, “but with increasing production volumes, that will change.”

Versatility of use

The raw material, basalt rock of volcanic origin, is found in 60 percent of the earth. In Sangerhausen, the material is returned to its lava state in melting furnaces at 1,400 degrees Celsius before being drawn into fine filaments through precious metal nozzles. These are 13 micrometres thick. By way of comparison: a human hair is roughly 20 micrometres thick! Above all else, the material is used and processed further in lightweight construction, the construction industry and the automotive industry. As integral fibres, for example. The company developed the method for manufacturing the fibres together two years ago with the TU Dresden. The alkali-resistant fibres are mixed with concrete or used on their own making them an environmentally friendly and resource-saving construction method. This makes the building materials more durable, as the fibres don’t suffer from damage, even under extreme conditions, which makes their use of interest in industrial flooring and tunnel constructions. The concrete can also be recycled as building rubble. In contrast to conventional materials such as steel or carbon, basalt fibre can remain in the concrete as a natural product.

Lower rates of cracking

Geogrid, a biaxial mesh which is woven in variable mesh widths, can also be used for road construction. The tensile strength of the basalt fibre reduces the formation of cracks in the road surface to a minimum. By way of comparison: the tensile strength of basalt fibres is three times higher than that of steel, as well as being four times lighter. In addition: Geogrid expands by 1.5 percent, while conventional plastic reinforcement materials expand by ten percent!

Together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS in Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt, the company is currently completing research into the use of fibres in plastic reinforcement. “Thermoplastics are particularly interesting for the automotive sector,” says Georgi Gogoladze, “when they are used as structural parts in the car body. They achieve a higher impact strength than carbon.” Georgi Gogoladze says that the bilateral project is still being researched, and he expects production to start next year. The company is also working on the addition of basalt fibres to brake linings, with a view to cooperating with the automotive industry.

The high temperature resistance of the basalt fibres also makes it of interest as an insulation material. In Sangerhausen, a yarn is produced which is processed into a basalt fleece with the use of fibre-bonded technology. Its fibres are non-combustible, not respirable, and due to their density, just as thermally conductive as conventional products. And it is also thinner: the non-woven material is just eight millimetres thick. Another comparison: rock wool is 60 millimetres thick! This makes its use as an insulating material obvious, as more living space remains with the interior insulation. The fleece is also predestined for use as exterior and roof insulation; it is harmless in terms of moisture absorption and does not rot, not does it produce any toxins in the event of a fire.

Advantages of the research landscape

Additional products are currently being worked on. “There is a pool of research institutions with which we are working together on projects,” explains Georgi Gogoladze. These include Kaiserslautern and Dresden Technical Universities, but also institutes in Saxony-Anhalt, such as the Fraunhofer IMWS Institute. The research landscape in the Central German federal state was one of the location factors in favour of the company’s decision to set up in Saxony-Anhalt. This was joined by the central location, the favourable transport connections and the good funding conditions available from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Deutsche Basalt Faser GmbH has since invested some four million Euros, and 15 employees now work for the company in Sangerhausen. While its sister company in Georgia primarily serves the Asian market, Georgi Gogoladze exports to the Benelux countries, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. 750 tonnes are sent for delivery each year, with the prospects of this amount increasing also being good. According to Georgi Gogoladze, the company’s profile is growing, and he is being approached by interested parties more and more often. “The raw material simply offers excellent potential for use.”

text published: 09/2019

Spunbonded nonwovens

RKW HydroSpun GmbH processes the finest continuous fibres from PP granulate into hard-wearing spunbonded nonwovens.

The manufacturer of high-performance nonwovens was founded in Halberstadt in 2005 and has been an independent subsidiary of the RKW Group since 2007.
As an innovative global technology leader, the site produces hydroentangled and thermobonded spunbonded nonwovens.

Innovation leader worldwide

RKW uses an inline production line to manufacture these innovative nonwovens from continuous filaments, which are sold under the brand name RKW HyJet®.

RKW HyJet® can be found in applications as diverse as surface protection or acoustics in the automotive industry and the growing hygiene market for personal care and medical areas.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Chemical recycling

Sustainable chemistry with "Carbontrans": Residual waste becomes synthesis fuel

A plant in Leuna should become a pioneer in chemical recycling

The chemical industry needs cycles. Germany's landfills are full of residual waste that has not previously been recycled. As climate protection movements gather speed, efforts to solve this problem are gaining momentum. Researchers from Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt are now planning a facility that could soon be used to convert waste into synthetic fuels in Leuna, a centre of the chemical industry.

Getting rid of discarded material from yellow recycling bins and processed residual waste from black general waste bins using environmentally friendly chemical recycling: this may initially sound both crazy and visionary, but it is a question Prof. Bernd Meyer has been considering for a long time – and the basis for a project now more relevant than ever. The process engineer is Head of the Freiberg "Carbon Cycle Technologies" branch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS in Halle (Saale) and Director of the Institute of Energy Process Engineering and Chemical Engineering (IEC) at TU Bergakademie Freiberg. That makes him one of the leading figures in a group of organisations committed to "Carbontrans" – a platform for the carbon cycle economy in Leuna, a centre of the chemical industry in southern Saxony-Anhalt.

Planning and operation for the project, which could have a major and lasting impact on sustainable chemistry in the state, are being coordinated through the Fraunhofer Chemical and Biosystems Technology High-Performance Centre under the leadership of Bernd Meyer. The High-Performance Centre brings together stakeholders including Merseburg University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP in Leuna, and the following businesses: MIBRAG, ROMONTA, InfraLeuna and RWE Power. The underlying idea is that waste should in future no longer simply be burned as a fuel, but instead become part of the chemical value chain as a secondary raw material.

In search of new recycling options

The researcher puts the project's main objective like this: "We must establish chemical recycling as the most sustainable way of feeding waste back into the carbon cycle". As large quantities of "substitute fuels" – residual material, for example left over when the contents of yellow recycling bins or black general waste bins are sorted – are currently burned in waste-fired or coal-fired power plants, the interdisciplinary association is looking for new ways of recycling. Another pressing reason is that coal-based electricity generation is set to end in the foreseeable future.

"A very good option," explains Bernd Meyer, "is gasification, which produces pure synthesis gas that can in turn be converted into new plastics or synthetic fuels – in a closed, environmentally friendly system." Meyer firmly believes that those chemical products or fuels "will be in great demand in the future not least because they can significantly reduce levels of CO₂ in polymer chemistry and long-distance transport, which still depends on combustion engines".

Motorists could fill up with synthetic fuels

This idea has fallen on fertile ground in Saxony-Anhalt: with "Carbontrans", Fraunhofer IMWS is seeking to make a key contribution to a low-emission carbon cycle economy. A plant – the researchers are calling it a "demonstration platform" – is to be built in Leuna for gasifying carbon-containing waste, on its own and together with agricultural and forestry waste. The centrepiece of the new technology is a reactor that is to convert the carbon-containing base material with oxygen O₂ and water vapour H₂O at temperatures of over 1000°C. The synthesis gas produced from the carbon (C) will contain carbon dioxide CO₂ as well as carbon monoxide CO and hydrogen H₂. Adding hydrogen H₂ enables the otherwise separated CO₂ to be used for chemical syntheses, i.e. converted into chemical products. This is a major boost for Leuna as an industry centre, not least as because it is also to be home to an electrolysis platform for generating "green" hydrogen H₂ and "green" oxygen O₂ in a climate-neutral way using "green" electricity from renewable energy.

The "Carbontrans" plant could process up to 35,000 metric tons of carbon-containing waste each year. The resulting 10,000 metric tons of synthesis gas (CO and H₂) could be used directly for the production of methanol at the Leuna chemical park – or converted into fuels in a subsequent synthesis process. Other chemical compounds such as ethanol or acetone could also be produced synthetically. Following a test phase, Bernd Meyer believes that it will be worth considering supplying filling stations with the synthetic fuel. Support for the ambitious project is coming from the state governments of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Saxony-Anhalt intends to provide 15 million euros; additional funds could come from structural development funds, and significant sums from the federal government.

All project partners hard at work

The planning phase for the pilot plant is to be completed by the end of 2021. "As of this year, we have been examining the technical feasibility and approvability, and quantifying the costs," explains Bernd Meyer. If the German federal government also grants its approval, planning could be completed in three years and the construction of a research reactor to provide data on operation could begin in 2022. That is the challenge. "We need fundamentally to revise the plant technology previously used for coal," according to Bernd Meyer. All parties involved are hard at work on the concept, applying for planning funds so that they can research, compare and ultimately find the genuinely sustainable way forward. This also means developing the legal framework.

Global demand for the technology

Bernd Meyer is not put off by the many steps it takes to make vision a reality. In fact, he is happy "to be able to combine experience from previous research with new technology". The researchers in Freiberg are now working on proving that high-quality synthesis gas is produced and that efficient, stable, continuous operation of the gasification reactor is possible. After the trial stage, the innovative technology could be used in the Leuna infrastructure in 2024 before going into full operation with "Carbontrans", says Bernd Meyer.

"The technology platform fits perfectly with Saxony-Anhalt's chemical specialisation; the location is ideal for the pilot plant," believes Prof. Dr. Ralf B. Wehrspohn, Head of Fraunhofer IMWS until October 2019 and now Executive Vice President, Technology Marketing and Business Models at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. According to Wehrspohn, if the platform is successful, it could be scaled up to an industrial scale. "We see great demand for this technology in other regions, too, and indeed worldwide," says Wehrspohn. Talks are apparently already underway with companies from China and New Zealand. Bernd Meyer believes there is great interest in German technology. "We are in the right place at the right time.“

text published 02/2020