O projeto “Produção de anéis livres de CO2”  começou  com o desenvolvimento de um conceito de transformação para a descarbonização dos fornos de aquecimento e tratamento térmico  nas  instalações da Thyssenkrupp Rothe Erde em Dortmund , Alemanha.

The energy transition and the associated need for decarbonization poses a variety of challenges for many companies, especially to those companies with energy-intensive production processes. On the one hand, the question arises on which alternative technologies are and will be available in the future and what potential these technologies offer for decarbonization; while on the other hand, it must remain economically feasible to implement the CO2-free production processes.

The CO2-free ring production project started on May 1, 2022. The work is being financed by thyssenkrupp rothe erde Germany GmbH in support with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection as part of the “Transformation Concepts” initiative, which will run for a period of nine months.

The aim of the project is to record the current CO2 footprint of ring production at the Dortmund production site, to analyse the future potential for the availability of CO2-free energy sources and the technical possibilities and the resulting options as part of a scenario-based feasibility study using technical and economic key figures to compare with each other. The focus is in particular on the heating and heat treatment furnaces for the bearing ring production. The work serves to create a CO2-free production transformation concept for the thyssenkrupp rothe erdes’ Dortmund site.

At the start of the project, specific key figures for the plant are collected and analysed and the annual CO2 emissions and energy costs are determined. This is followed by the analysis of the infrastructural and economic framework conditions at the location with regards to the future availability of CO2-free energy sources and the creation of possible scenarios for the expected developments in the framework conditions and infrastructure up to the year 2045.

The results will lead to the comparison and evaluation of the CO2-free technologies for different development scenarios and the derivation of a transformation strategy at the site. Furthermore, the energy consumption, the CO2 emissions and the heat generation costs are compared. This creates a qualitative and quantitative decision-making basis for the selection of future CO2-free technologies for the heating and heat treatment furnaces in ring production based on different criteria. These will form the basis for the derivation of an action plan for the achievement of goals and the transformation options for CO2-free ring production at the thyssenkrupp rothe erde Dortmund facilities.