Inauguration of the hydrogen-fired bogie hearth pilot furnace in the H2TO project at industrial partner KTS Kärlicher Ton- und Schamottewerke Mannheim & Co. KG

In the presence of the project partners and representatives from science, industry, politics and the press, the bogie hearth pilot furnace developed as part of the H2TO project was officially inaugurated on 26 February 2026. The commissioning of the furnace in 2026 marks a significant phase in the joint project ‘Development of a new hydrogen-based furnace technology for the production of clay ceramic elements’ with a view to avoiding climate-relevant process emissions when using fossil fuels. As Managing Director Wolfgang Mannheim emphasised, the furnace enables the necessary validation of the identified potential for reducing CO₂emissions through the use of locally produced green hydrogen. The results of the project to date suggest both the possibility of process optimisation through a significant reduction in firing temperature through the use of hydrogen and new product concepts. This allows the influences of practical hydrogen firing at up to 1,300 °C for the production of ceramic fireclay to be investigated and the boundary conditions for the necessary scaling for industrial use in the existing facilities of a medium-sized ceramics producer to be specified. The significance of this groundbreaking development for the industrial location, especially for Rhineland-Palatinate, was highlighted in the short speeches by the mayor of the municipality of Weißenthurm, Thomas Przybylla, and the CDU member of the state parliament, Peter Moskopp. Dr Matthias Schlotmann, Managing Director of the BKRI Federal Association of Ceramic Raw Materials and Industrial Minerals, pointed out the need to combine developments along the entire ceramic process chain. Dr Stefan Stückrad, Head of the Hydrogen Coordination Office at the RLP Innovation Agency, provided information on funding opportunities and network activities related to decarbonisation. Pastor Günther Vogel then performed the ceremonial blessing of the kiln on the occasion of this first hydrogen firing. Special thanks were given to the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), represented by Martin Gries, project manager at the project sponsor DLR German Aerospace Centre. The project is co-financed by the ‘KlimPro-Industry – Avoidance of climate-damaging process emissions in industry’ funding programme.