A new era of heat treatment.
EBNER.blog | Reinhard Leithner, EBNER
A New Era of Heat Treatment.
Electrically heated bell annealing furnace at Aurubis Stolberg.
Aurubis Stolberg, a leading manufacturer of high-precision copper and copper alloy strip and rod, has modernized its production with a new HICON® bell annealer facility. With this facility, which went into operation in February 2024, the company has taken an important step forward in implementing its decarbonization strategy.
New EBNER bell annealer replaces a facilty that was over 40 years old
Aurubis Stolberg was severely hit by Germany’s devasting floods in July, 2021, and the production area (including the pit for the existing gas-fired bell annealer) was completely underwater. Together with the Aurubis maintenance team, EBNER service technicians succeeded in repairing the existing bell annealer and returning it to operation. At the same time, Aurubis took the opportunity to begin planning the installation of a modern bell annealer facility with electric heating.
100% Electric and State-of-the-Art
The new facility, which incorporates 8 workbases, is powered exclusively by electricity. By combining green electricity with state-of-the-art EBNER technology, Aurubis has taken a significant step towards carbon neutrality.
Increased ease of operation and automation
One of the special features of the new EBNER facility is the ease with which it can be operated. It features automatic utility couplings for electrical power and cooling water lines, as well as an automatic coupling system that allows cooling bells and inner covers to be transported at the same time. The high degree of automation and a state-of-the-art process control system have replaced a wide variety of manual tasks, leading to significantly more efficient and user-friendly operation.
Two challenging phases of installation and commissioning
To allow production to continue at the existing bell annealer facility while the new facility was installed and commissioned, the new bell annealer was implemented in two phases. During each phase, half of the old facility was shut down and removed. This allowed the new facility to be installed and started up while the other half of the existing equipment continued to operate. Despite the complexity of fulfilling tasks within this framework, the new facility was able to go into operation on schedule and fully meets the high requirements placed by Aurubis.
A Milestone for Decarbonization
The investment in the new EBNER furnace is another step towards Aurubis’ decarbonization goals.
“EBNER’s solution-oriented approach and the absolutely appreciative communication at eye level have led to a very high level of trust on our part.”
– Enrico Flechtner, Project Engineering
“At Aurubis, we have a clear decarbonization roadmap in which thermal processes play a major role, and we see EBNER as an important partner at our side for future projects as well.”
– Dr. Benjamin Cappi, Managing Director
