AURUBIS X ALFA LAVAL HAMBURG
Urgency/Challenges
The Aurubis Group is one of the world’s largest producers and recyclers of copper. At it’s site in Hamburg, Germany, significant waste heat from sulfuric acid production remained unused. The challenge was to recover this energy efficiently and reduce emissions in an energy-intensive industrial area.
Contributions
Alfa Laval delivered a customized heat exchanger system to the plant. Arubis now recovers up to 20 MW of industrial waste heat—enough to supply heating for 20,000 households. The solution cuts CO₂ emissions by around 100,000 tons annually, improves local air quality, and enhances energy efficiency across the industrial zone.
Success factors
Key success factors included robust, energy-efficient technology, strong collaboration between industry stakeholders, and local authority support. The concept is scalable and replicable for other heavy industrial processes with excess heat.
