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New laboratory: Thyssenkrupp emissions become raw material

Copyright: thyssenkrupp AG

How to turn CO2 into valuable chemicals – this is to be researched in a new laboratory on the outskirts of Oberhausen's Centro shopping mall.

Converting emissions from steel production into recyclable materials – which is the purpose of Thyssenkrupp's recently opened research facility in Oberhausen – is part of the "Carbon2Chem" project. At the site of the Fraunhofer Institute, scientists from several companies and research institutes are working on processes for gas purification and the production of methanol, which can be used as fuel, among other things, on around 500 square meters and at 30 office workplaces.

With hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, blast furnace gases contain the basis for various chemical products which must be separated within economically acceptable limits and thereby made reusable. Ideally, the innovative process could save several million tons of CO2 annually in the entire steel industry.

In addition to Thyssenkrupp, several large companies such as Evonik, Clariant and Linde are involved in "Carbon2Chem". Science is added into the formula with the Fraunhofer Institute in Oberhausen and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the project to the tune of some 63 million euros.