Wirtgen Group member Benninghoven has unveiled the world’s first hydrogen-powered burner for asphalt production.
The new burner from Benninghoven runs on 100% green hydrogen, with the first user producing "several thousand tons of asphalt virtually no emissions," the company says.
The burner is intended to be a step in reducing the high carbon emissions of asphalt production for road construction.
Low-temperature asphalt, recycling rates of up to 100% reclaimed asphalt, and now hydrogen has been identified as the most environmentally friendly energy sources that would be sustainable, future-proof, cost-effective, and significantly reduce emissions.
Asphalt production requires a thermal process in which industrial burners heat and dewater the starting material – aggregates and/or reclaimed asphalt – before it is mixed with bitumen.
The new Benninghoven burner generation enables the use of up to four fuels at the same time, in three aggregate states.WIRTGEN GROUP
Currently, the most sustainable fuel available is green hydrogen. Producing no greenhouse gases, it is suitable for the heating process due to its high energy density. In addition, emissions, specifically nitrogen oxide (NOx) are kept very low.
