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Packaging steelMaking food cans even more sustainable
Food cans made of tinplate are already stars of the circular economy thanks to their high recycling rate and are widely regarded as a benchmark for sustainable packaging. But thyssenkrupp Rasselstein believes there is still room for improvement: teams from Production and Research & Development are working together with universities and industry partners to make the manufacturing process even more sustainable.
As a subsidiary of thyssenkrupp Steel based in Andernach, thyssenkrupp Rasselstein is Germany’s only tinplate manufacturer and, with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million metric tons, one of the world’s largest producers of packaging steel.
“To achieve the climate targets we have set ourselves, we will make our packaging steel production completely climate-neutral by 2045,” explains Jörn Lochstampfer. “Transforming production at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein is an important part of thyssenkrupp Steel’s decarbonization strategy. After all, we can reduce CO₂ emissions from packaging steel production by around 400,000 metric tons.” Kirchesch adds that achieving this goal will depend both on the resources used in steel production and on the carbon footprint of the individual downstream processing steps.
Research projects driving the transformation
FlexHeat2Anneal
The project focuses on the continuous annealing process used in tinplate production. This process is required to restore the material’s crystalline structure, which is disrupted during cold rolling. Only through annealing does the packaging steel regain the formability it needs to be processed into products such as food cans. Currently, the steel strip is heated to temperatures of up to 750°C using natural gas. In the future, this is set to change - through more sustainable heat treatment.
H2-DisTherPro
The second research project focuses on bell-type annealing, another process used to recrystallize tinplate. The objective of H₂-DisTherPro is to completely replace the carbon-based fuel gases traditionally used in the process with hydrogen. This requires both safe operation and consistently high product quality. As part of the research project, a pilot plant is being built at the Duisburg technical center of the "VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut (BFI)" to develop a suitable burner technology. At the same time, the plant’s internal energy processes in Andernach are already being adapted for the future use of this technology.
The experts see particular potential for reducing CO₂ emissions in the energy-intensive continuous annealing and bell-type annealing processes. “thyssenkrupp Rasselstein uses two annealing methods: bell-type annealing and continuous annealing. Converting both processes presents its own technical challenges, which we are currently investigating in two research projects funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action,” says Kirchesch.
Research that benefits everyone
This research is important not only for thyssenkrupp. “It is basic research with a strong practical focus,” explains Jörn Lochstampfer. “After all, burner and annealing processes are used across a wide range of industries and production processes.” The insights gained at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein from using hydrogen in the annealing processes involved in packaging steel production can later be applied to other industrial processes as well. In this way, the findings can support successful decarbonization across many other industries and at further thyssenkrupp sites.
Bye-bye fossil gas, hello hydrogen
In practical terms, the more sustainable annealing processes being tested in the FlexHeat2Anneal and H₂-DisTherPro research projects will see green hydrogen completely replace the fossil fuels currently used, such as fossil gas. However, because hydrogen burns at a higher temperature than fossil gas, other components of the production process must also be adapted as part of the research projects - including the burners, radiant tubes and safety concepts. “The aim is to minimize the impact of the switch to green hydrogen on our existing production processes,” explains Dr. Peter Kirchesch. “At the same time, the high quality of our packaging steel must also be maintained with these more sustainable annealing processes.”
Thanks to their high recycling rate, food cans made of tinplate are already considered one of the most sustainable forms of packaging. Research projects such as FlexHeat2Anneal and the use of green hydrogen in the manufacturing process will make packaging steel even more climate-friendly in the future.
Andernach: The city that supplies the world with packaging steel
As part of the Center of Decarbonization, Jörn Lochstampfer is responsible for decarbonizing the company’s downstream processes – in other words, all the processes in which the steel produced is further processed. “Alongside the overarching goal of producing climate-friendly steel using hydrogen, among other technologies, thyssenkrupp Steel also aims to identify and leverage potential emissions reductions throughout its entire process chain,” the expert explains. “This includes thyssenkrupp Rasselstein, for example, an area with significant potential for reducing emissions.”