Cement Manufacturers Establish Oxyfuel Research Company

On 6 December 2019, the four European cement manufacturers Buzzi Unicem/Dyckerhoff, HeidelbergCement AG, SCHWENK Zement KG, and Vicat established a joint research company named “CI4C” – Cement Innovation for Climate – whose final approval is currently still being reviewed by the competition authorities.

The objective of this company is to implement a research project entitled “catch4climate”, which will investigate the practical applicability of Oxyfuel carbon capture technology in the cement manufacturing process.

The Oxyfuel process (from “oxy” for oxygen and “fuel”) is a clinker-burning technology in which pure oxygen is introduced into the kiln instead of air to ensure heat generation through the combustion of primary and secondary fuels. In this way, the kiln produces a highly concentrated CO₂ stream, significantly improving the potential for CO₂ capture. The objective is to capture 100 per cent of a cement plant’s CO₂ emissions in a cost-efficient manner. The catch4climate project aims to create the conditions necessary for the large-scale deployment of CO₂ capture technologies in cement plants, thereby enabling the subsequent use of CO₂ as a raw material in other industrial processes, for example (CCU, CCS). By adopting this technology, the European cement industry could make a substantial contribution to reducing process-related CO₂ emissions and thereby play an important role in climate protection.

As part of the catch4climate project, the four partner companies of the research company CI4C will now construct and operate a dedicated Oxyfuel test facility on a semi-industrial scale at the cement plant site in Mergelstetten, southern Germany. The research project is expected to commence following the granting of all necessary operational and environmental permits, likely during the course of the coming year.

Cover photo: Conné van d'Grachten

03.12.2019