Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Carbon4Minerals (Transforming CO2 into added-value construction products)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-01-01 bis 2023-12-31
The European Green Deal targets (40% GHG emission reduction by 2030, climate neutrality by 2050) are a major challenge for the energy-intensive process industry. While renewable energy can alleviate a major part of the GHG emissions, it offers no solution for process-inherent emissions. The cement industry (responsible for 6-8% of global GHG emissions) is looking for alternative materials to replace Portland clinker, to reduce the enormous amounts of CO2 emitted during calcination of limestone.
At the same time, the transitions in steel and energy production lead to dwindling supplies of low carbon resources commonly used for cement production such as blast furnace slag and coal fly ash.
Capture can assist in the abatement of CO2-emissions, but is costly.
The core concept of Carbon4Minerals addresses the simultaneous use of CO2 from industrial flue gases with current and future waste streams to unlock a vast stock of resources for innovative low carbon binders and construction materials (80-135% lower CO2-emissions than reference). A total of 8 industrial pilots will be built and operated across the process value chain from CO2 capture to cement production and low carbon construction products.
For CO2 capture, 2 technologies are included that aim to reduce energy requirements and costs compared to state-of-art technologies, namely 1) 3rd generation liquid amine solvent (80 – 99+ % CO2 purity, energy consumption < 2.4 GJ/tonne) and 2) porous structured sorbent materials.
On the cement level, a carbonation clinker will be created from steel slag and cement-based residues, targeting savings of 200 kg CO2/tonne. Carbon-negative supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) will be made by CO2-mediated mechanical activation of steel slags and CO2 beneficiation of recycled cement-based construction and demolition waste (C&DW).
Carbon-negative carbonation cured facing bricks and pavers will be produced by direct carbonation of steel slags, while precast carbonation cured products (façade panels, roof tiles) are made using the carbonation clinker and SCMs.
Carbon4Minerals intends to showcase the potential of the technologies, while providing sufficient data for an integrated economic and environmental assessment. Reactive transport modelling in combination with durability testing will verify the suitability of current testing methods for the novel materials.
At the same time, the transitions in steel and energy production lead to dwindling supplies of low carbon resources commonly used for cement production such as blast furnace slag and coal fly ash.
Capture can assist in the abatement of CO2-emissions, but is costly.
The core concept of Carbon4Minerals addresses the simultaneous use of CO2 from industrial flue gases with current and future waste streams to unlock a vast stock of resources for innovative low carbon binders and construction materials (80-135% lower CO2-emissions than reference). A total of 8 industrial pilots will be built and operated across the process value chain from CO2 capture to cement production and low carbon construction products.
For CO2 capture, 2 technologies are included that aim to reduce energy requirements and costs compared to state-of-art technologies, namely 1) 3rd generation liquid amine solvent (80 – 99+ % CO2 purity, energy consumption < 2.4 GJ/tonne) and 2) porous structured sorbent materials.
On the cement level, a carbonation clinker will be created from steel slag and cement-based residues, targeting savings of 200 kg CO2/tonne. Carbon-negative supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) will be made by CO2-mediated mechanical activation of steel slags and CO2 beneficiation of recycled cement-based construction and demolition waste (C&DW).
Carbon-negative carbonation cured facing bricks and pavers will be produced by direct carbonation of steel slags, while precast carbonation cured products (façade panels, roof tiles) are made using the carbonation clinker and SCMs.
Carbon4Minerals intends to showcase the potential of the technologies, while providing sufficient data for an integrated economic and environmental assessment. Reactive transport modelling in combination with durability testing will verify the suitability of current testing methods for the novel materials.
In the first year of the project (period 1), activities have focused on 2 key aspects: 1) characterization of materials and optimization of the processes and 2) initiation of the tendering, design and construction processes for the different pilots.
For the CO2 capture pilots, a first important task was the characterization of the flue gases on the demonstration sites of Vandersanden and Arcelor Mittal in Belgium. Based on the compositional data, and the specifications of the pilot capture installations, requirements for the pretreatment installation were determined. Tendering for the pretreatment installations is ongoing. For the liquid amine sorption pilot 2a (built by CarbonOrO), skid frames and unit operations have been manufactured and construction of the combined system has started in January 2024. For the solid sorption pilot 2b, a structured solid sorbent was developed and validated in the lab. The pilot installation has been ordered, the design and engineering phase completed and construction started in January 2024. Commissioning of the installation is expected to be by the end of 2024.
For the low carbon binders and mineral carbonation construction products, much attention has been paid to detailed characterization of the input materials i.e. slags, RCP and fiber cement waste and their eventual pretreatment requirements for upscaling (milling and metal removal). Laboratory tests to synthetize belitic clinker suitable for carbonation hardening, is ongoing to validate the raw mix before upscaling toa pilot scale production (pilot 3a), planned by the end of 2024. Design of pilot 3b (mechanical activation) is ongoing and construction will be tendered shortly. The process conditions as well properties of the feedstock are well understood to carry out mineral carbonation and the demonstrator foreseen in pilot 3c based on a rotary drum connected to kiln flue gases is under construction, and expected delivery is by January 2025. The carbonated bricks and pavers pilot 4b will be commissioned shortly, but further research is needed to define the optimal composition using BOF and DRI-EAF slags as input materials.
Activities related to the pre-cast, wet-shaped low carbon construction products (pilot 4b and 4c) are currently focused on method development, expecting to advance further once larger batches of materials become available from the other pilot installations.
For the CO2 capture pilots, a first important task was the characterization of the flue gases on the demonstration sites of Vandersanden and Arcelor Mittal in Belgium. Based on the compositional data, and the specifications of the pilot capture installations, requirements for the pretreatment installation were determined. Tendering for the pretreatment installations is ongoing. For the liquid amine sorption pilot 2a (built by CarbonOrO), skid frames and unit operations have been manufactured and construction of the combined system has started in January 2024. For the solid sorption pilot 2b, a structured solid sorbent was developed and validated in the lab. The pilot installation has been ordered, the design and engineering phase completed and construction started in January 2024. Commissioning of the installation is expected to be by the end of 2024.
For the low carbon binders and mineral carbonation construction products, much attention has been paid to detailed characterization of the input materials i.e. slags, RCP and fiber cement waste and their eventual pretreatment requirements for upscaling (milling and metal removal). Laboratory tests to synthetize belitic clinker suitable for carbonation hardening, is ongoing to validate the raw mix before upscaling toa pilot scale production (pilot 3a), planned by the end of 2024. Design of pilot 3b (mechanical activation) is ongoing and construction will be tendered shortly. The process conditions as well properties of the feedstock are well understood to carry out mineral carbonation and the demonstrator foreseen in pilot 3c based on a rotary drum connected to kiln flue gases is under construction, and expected delivery is by January 2025. The carbonated bricks and pavers pilot 4b will be commissioned shortly, but further research is needed to define the optimal composition using BOF and DRI-EAF slags as input materials.
Activities related to the pre-cast, wet-shaped low carbon construction products (pilot 4b and 4c) are currently focused on method development, expecting to advance further once larger batches of materials become available from the other pilot installations.
The carbon capture technologies piloted by Carbon4Minerals are expected to be much more energy efficient (and thus less costly) than state-of-the-art installations. The solid sorption capture technology is also suitable for small-scale installations.
The low carbon binders and mineral carbonation construction products may capture 100-200 kgCO2/ton, in contrast to high CO2 emissions for the traditional Portland cement alternative. As such, these new products have the potential to reduce CO2-emissions by 80-135% compared to cement-based reference materials. Considering the potential market, European CO2 emissions could be reduced by up to 46Mt CO2/year, equivalent to 10% of the EU process industry emission.
A full sustainability assessment will be performed as part of the project to validate these claims, as an important lever towards industrial implementation. Relevant results will also be shared with (pre-)standardization bodies to facilitate market introduction of the new materials.
The low carbon binders and mineral carbonation construction products may capture 100-200 kgCO2/ton, in contrast to high CO2 emissions for the traditional Portland cement alternative. As such, these new products have the potential to reduce CO2-emissions by 80-135% compared to cement-based reference materials. Considering the potential market, European CO2 emissions could be reduced by up to 46Mt CO2/year, equivalent to 10% of the EU process industry emission.
A full sustainability assessment will be performed as part of the project to validate these claims, as an important lever towards industrial implementation. Relevant results will also be shared with (pre-)standardization bodies to facilitate market introduction of the new materials.