Application of molten alkaline hydroxides for low temperature decarbonisation of limestone for sustainable cement manufacturing

Completed

Not Energy Related
Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(CO2 Capture and Storage, CO2 capture/separation)

Basic and strategic applied research

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Chemistry)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions)

Dr H Kinoshita
Engineering Materials
University of Sheffield

Standard

EPSRC

01 June 2018

31 October 2021

41 months

£324,559

Materials processing

Yorkshire & Humberside

Manufacturing : Manufacturing

Dr H Kinoshita, Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield

Project Contact, CEMEX Research Group AG (CRG), Switzerland

Cement manufacturing industry world-wide currently contributes ~8 % of global CO2 emissions. The UK cement manufacturers have been making efforts to reduce their CO2 emission. This is however challenging since the > 60 % of the emission comes from the intrinsic CO2 release from limestone, an essential raw material for cement manufacturing. The cement manufacturing industry is currently surviving because they are exempted from the Environmental taxes. For the cement industry to further reduce their CO2 emission and sustainably develop the industry, it is inevitable to introduce a carbon capture process (CCS) to address this intrinsic emission.To tackle this challenging situation, the proposed project aims to develop a new decarbonisation technique of limestone with a minimal energy input, which can be implemented also as a pre calcination CO2 capturing process in the cement manufacturing. Establishing such a technology would significantly contribute to the resilience and sustainability of the cement manufacturing sector in the UK and world-wide, as it would allow the industry to address the intrinsic CO2 emission from the calcination process. The project is conducted with a strong interaction with industry, including a cement manufacturer currently operating world widely, bringing opportunities for translation of the process into practice.

14/09/18