Benninghoven unveil industry-first hydrogen burner system

OEM develops ‘world’s first hydrogen-powered burner’ for more sustainable asphalt production

BENNINGHOVEN have unveiled a world first for the asphalt and road construction industry – a burner that can be run with 100% hydrogen. The pioneering 'green' solution being offered by the asphalt mixing plant/equipment specialist has already been supplied to the first customer who has produced several thousand tonnes of asphalt with virtually no emissions. 

Asphalt production is the biggest contributing factor on the path to making future road construction more sustainable. Low-temperature asphalt, recycling content of up to 100 % reclaimed asphalt, and now hydrogen as the most eco-friendly energy source are sustainable, future-proof, and economical solutions for substantially reducing emissions.

Asphalt production requires a thermal process. Industrial burners heat and remove the moisture from the starting material – mineral and/or reclaimed asphalt – before mixing it with bitumen. To make this process as efficient as possible, Benninghoven have developed new burner generation technologies that comprise the burner, an intelligent control unit, and a drying system. Up to four different fuels can be used at the same time with this new system. This flexibility increases economic efficiency as the end-user can use the optimum available energy source at any given time.

Having the burner and control unit as a complete system delivers an efficient asphalt production process. This includes controlling the feed system, such as the pressure regulating section and the drying section with the burner and control unit. Fuels or fuel combinations can be changed on the fly, without a shutdown, without downtime, and with minimized temperature fluctuations in the process. The emissions, especially nitrogen oxides (NOX) produced during firing with hydrogen, are very low.

In addition to the climate-friendly and flexible use of different fuels, Benninghoven have succeeded in lowering the electrical power consumption of the new burner by 20% with the same feed capacity. The efficiency of the heat transfer is increased significantly through the optimum use of the combustion chamber and a burner control design that ensures an optimum flame with any energy source.

Benninghoven’s burner technologies can be used in both new plants and existing asphalt mixing plants. Retrofit solutions can be added to systems from other manufacturers. This allows all plant owners to change to the manufacturer’s latest technologies at any time – a key aspect for economical, sustainable asphalt production and for increasing the sustainability of the site in the long term.