MAGNESITWERK AKEN [DE]

Exploration #46 Magnesitwerk Aken (testo italiano a fondo pagina). Magnesitwerk Aken was founded in 1934 for the production of refractory bricks. The raw material consisted of magnesite, an extremely refractory material that has the capacity to withstand up to very high temperatures (around 3000 °C). The bricks were made through the sintering of the magnesite through a large rotating oven and then cooked at high temperatures (up to about 1800 °C) in order to create the crystalline magnesium oxide (MgO). The bricks were then used to coat blast furnaces, converters for steelworks and other furnaces, or thanks to their heat storage properties, used as accumulation cores. 

From 1947 to 1990, the plant operated under the name of Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB) and belonged to VEB Bandstahlkombinat “Hermann Matern” Eisenhüttenstadt until its partial closure. In 1990, the magnesite plant went to EKO Stahl GmbH, now ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt GmbH. Today, RHI Didier-Werke AG, Aken plant, is active here on a section. In 2014, three of the plant’s chimneys were blown up and the entire eastern section has left unused and abandoned.

If you liked this factory, you can also have a look at these other explorations: the twin twist towers, the abandoned cement factory.

Esplorazione #46. Questa grande fabbrica fu fondata nel 1934 per la produzione di mattoni refrattari. La materia prima era costituita da magnesite, un materiale estremamente refrattario che ha la capacità di resistere fino a temperature molto elevate (circa 3000 °C). I mattoni venivano prodotti attraverso la sinterizzazione della magnesite in un grande forno rotante e poi cotti ad alte temperature (fino a circa 1800 °C) per creare l’ossido di magnesio cristallino (MgO). I mattoni venivano poi utilizzati per rivestire altiforni, convertitori per acciaierie e altri forni, oppure, grazie alle loro proprietà di accumulo del calore, utilizzati come nuclei di accumulo.

Se ti è piaciuta questa fabbrica, puoi dare un occhio anche a queste altre esplorazioni: the twin twist towers, the abandoned cement factory.