Displaying items by tag: CCS

Belgium: Holcim Belgium has received an environmental permit for the kiln upgrade for its 100% decarbonisation of its Obourg cement plant. Agency Belgium News has reported that the upgraded kiln will employ a 'new incineration concept' to enable it to replace limestone with alternative raw materials. It will reduce the plant's thermal needs by 40% and its CO₂ emissions per tonne of clinker by 30%. Construction will commence in late 2023. The kiln replacement will support a carbon capture installation as part of the GO4ZERO project.

The first phase of the GO4ZERO project is running from 2022 to 2025, and commands total investments of over Euro350m.

Croatia: Nexe has awarded a contract to Germany-based ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions for the construction of a new clinker line and carbon capture installation at its 0.6Mt/yr Nasice cement plant. The Poslovni Dnevnik newspaper has reported that the work will cost Euro400m. When commissioned in 2029, the upgraded plant will produce carbon neutral cement and despatch 700,000t/yr of CO₂ by pipeline for storage near Bockovac in Osijek-Baranja County.

Greece/Italy: The Hercules international research project, which has 27 partners from 10 countries, has been launched officially at Milan Polytechnic, Italy. Hercules, an acronym for ‘Heroes in Southern Europe to decarbonise industry with CCUS’ will test new solutions in the CO₂ capture, transport, use and storage value chain and transform them into a scalable industrial process. Buzzi Unicem and Titan Group are two of the 27 partners, alongside waste-to-energy players and developers of advanced CO₂ capture equipment. This includes ‘calcium looping’ technology from Finnish Sumitomo SHI FW and cryogenic purification technology from TPI in Italy.

A part of the pure CO₂ flow will be destined for use in production processes. These include the production of new cementitious materials that could replace conventional concrete, as well as uses in the technical gas sector. Hercules will also investigate the transport of CO₂ from the industrial capture sites to geological storage sites at Ravenna (Eni) and Prinos (Energean). The gas will be handled by Air Liquide and Titan Cement.

US: The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) initiative has awarded funding of US$8.9m to Heidelberg Materials North America to study the subsurface geology for suitability for the storage of carbon dioxide at the Mitchell integrated cement plant in Indiana. The proposed project will geologically characterise several prospective reservoirs under the Mitchell plant for storage of more than 50Mt of CO₂ over a 30-year timeframe.

The award, which is managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, will be issued to the Illinois State Geological Survey at the University of Illinois (ISGS) as the prime contractor, with the company acting as a technical and industrial partner. Heidelberg Materials is contributing about US$1.5m in funding while ISGS will be contributing approximately US$0.6m for a project total of US$11.1m. The funding was part of a DOE initiative that generated nearly US$125m in funding for 10 projects to characterise suitability for carbon storage across the US.

Heidelberg Materials’ Mitchell cement plant is being upgraded with a new production line. Full production on the new line is anticipated to start in early 2023.

Europe: The European cement association, Cembureau, has 'welcomed the objectives' of the European Commission's new Green Deal industrial plan. The Green Deal attempts to create a predictable and simplified regulatory environment in which to scale up the production and implementation of net-zero CO₂ technologies.

Cembureau also issued its advise for a successful Green Deal implementation. The association said that the framework must match the US Inflation Reduction Act in its provision of tax rebates and other incentives. It said that the plan must establish stable renewable energy prices and rapid permit procedures, with a focus on deployment of renewables at industrial sites. It also called for funding under the plan to finance the development of infrastructure for CO₂ transport and storage.

Finland: Finnsementti and energy provider St1 have selected Norway-based Aker Carbon Capture to carry out a pre-engineering study for a planned carbon capture system at the cement producer's Lappeenranta cement plant in South Karelia. Dow Jones Institutional News has reported that Aker Carbon Capture offers a 40,000t/yr carbon capture system, capable of producing 25,000t/yr of methanol for use as transport fuel. The project is scheduled to deliver commercial synthetic methanol by 2026.

The Lappeenranta cement plant carbon capture project recently received Euro35.4m in additional funding from the Finnish government, subject to European Commission approval.

Poland: The European Union (EU) Innovation Fund has awarded Euro228m towards the Go4ECOPlanet carbon capture and storage project at Lafarge Poland’s Kujawy cement plant. The project has a total cost of Euro380m.

It will use Air Liquide's Cryocap FG technology to capture the CO₂ at the plant. The CO₂ will be liquefied and transported by rail to a port and then injected into a depleted oil field for permanent storage. The transport and storage of CO₂ once it has left the cement plant will be accomplished by cooperation with other partners with knowledge and experience in the liquefaction, transport and storage of gases. The goal is to create a complete carbon capture and storage industrial and logistics chain. Commissioning of the cement plant upgrade is planned for 2027.

Bulgaria: The European Union (EU) Innovation Fund has awarded a Euro190m grant to Devnya Cement and oil and gas producer Petroceltic for their 800,000t/yr ANRAV carbon capture, transportation and storage project. Devnya Cement's parent company Heidelberg Materials says that the partners expect to commission the full-chain project in 2028.

Heidelberg Materials Northern and Eastern Europe-Central Asia board member Ernest Jelito said "Devnya Cement's Devnya plant will be the first carbon-neutral cement plant in the country and the region. ANRAV will also enable other industrial players to join the carbon chain in the future and share storage capacity. In this way, we want to not only decarbonise our company in Bulgaria, but also provide opportunities for the whole region."

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to install carbon capture systems at cement plants in Southeast Asia. Reuters has reported that the producer signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a subsidiary of Nippon Steel to carry out the projects.

UK: Heidelberg Materials subsidiary Hanson has awarded a contract to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries subsidiary MHI Engineering for installation of a planned 800,000t/yr carbon capture system at its Padeswood cement plant in Flintshire. The producer plans to store its captured CO₂ in exhausted Irish Sea natural gas fields. MHI Engineering will carry out a pre-front-end engineering design study using its Advanced KM CDR solvent-based process. The supplier developed the process jointly with fellow Japan-based company Kansai Electric Power.

The project will be MHI Engineering's third of its kind at a cement plant, following similar commissions with Lehigh Cement in Canada and Tokuyama Cement in Canada.