| Factory location | Bergheim-Niederaussem |
| Factory type | Coal refining (pulverised lignite, activated lignite) |
| Commissioned in | 1941 |
| Capacity | Up to 5.5 million t/a raw lignite |
| Factory equipment | 20 driers, 9 vibration rod mills, 1 Bowl mill crusher, 3 coke powder mills, 2 heart furnaces with waste heat boilers |
Lignite refining in Niederaussem
The Fortuna-Nord factory in Niederaussem (Rhein-Erft district) is one of RWE Power AG's three coal refining operations. The focus here is on activated lignite (HOK) and fluidised-bed lignite. In addition, Fortuna-Nord also produces pulverised lignite.
Production in two hearth furnaces
The Fortuna-Nord factory operates two coking plants to produce activated lignite. In these hearth furnaces the dried coal is heated to a high temperature on a kind of plate. In the process it evaporates its remaining water and gaseous components. In order to prevent the coal from burning, oxygen is prevented from entering the process. The hot gases that are released are then used to generate steam. The hot concentrated carbon is cooled down using water and air, and then made storable and shipped.
Alternative energy sources for industry
Fluidised-bed lignite is dry lignite with a particular grain size. It is produced in milling plants and is ideally suited to be used in power plant boilers operating according to the environmentally friendly principle of fluidised-bed combustion. The bowl mill crusher at the Fortuna-Nord site has been producing 500,000 tonnes of pulverised lignite since 2008. It is used mainly in the cement, lime and asphalt as well as in the paper and chemical industries.
