LANXESS Turns to Hydrogen for Iron Oxide Pigment Production
LANXESS is using hydrogen instead of natural gas to dry iron oxide pigments at its Krefeld-Uerdingen site in Germany, bringing hydrogen fuel into continuous operation at one of the country’s first large-scale industrial plants to do so.
The specialty chemicals company expects the change to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 6,000 metric tons per year. The hydrogen is produced as a byproduct of chlorine electrolysis at a neighboring Covestro plant and transported directly to LANXESS through a pipeline.
LANXESS installed the hydrogen burner at the end of 2025 and has gradually brought it online. The system is designed to operate entirely on hydrogen and includes a dedicated hydrogen line, adapted burner, measurement and control technology and additional safety systems.
The Krefeld-Uerdingen site is LANXESS’ largest production facility for iron oxide pigments. The company’s Inorganic Pigments business produces iron oxide and chromium oxide pigments for paints and coatings, construction, plastics and specialty applications.
The project applies industrial-scale decarbonization directly to the manufacture of pigments used in paints and coatings. It also demonstrates one approach coatings raw-material suppliers are using to reduce production-related emissions without changing the end-use pigment technology.
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