As part of their strategy on climate protection, Norcem and its parent company HeidelbergCement Group, in cooperation with the European Cement Research Academy (ECRA) have entered a partnership aimed at identifying the best technology for future CO2 capture for the European cement industry, Norcem.
Norcem plans to install a test facility for post-combustion CO2 capture technologies at Norcem’s cement plant in Brevik, Norway.
The company has signed an agreement with Alstom to assess the feasibility of two key CO2 capture technologies, namely the Chilled Ammonia Process (CAP) and the Carbonate Looping Process at this test facility.
Based on successful pilot (5MW) and demonstration plant (54MW) operation, the CAP has been fully validated and has confirmed its potential to be one of the best-in-class technologies, Alstom claimed.
The Alstom validation programme has confirmed that the Chilled Ammonia Process is not only as efficient as expected, but also offers by-products that may be used as a fertiliser, while having atmospheric emissions to air that are well below acceptable limits, said the company.
The Carbonate Looping Process is of specific interest to the cement industry as it uses raw material for the cement process to capture CO2. In addition to that, the patented Carbonate Looping Process produces valuable material that can be directly implemented into the cement production. Alstom already operates a pilot using a chemical looping technology at a scale of 1MW at the University of Darmstadt, Germany. In addition, Alstom is operating another limestone cycle process of 3MW in Windsor, CT, USA.
“Alstom believes that stabilising CO2 emissions is possible, but that a portfolio of technologies will be needed to get there,” Philippe Joubert, Alstom Power President, commented. “The company’s commitment to provide a range of integrated solutions to address the climate change challenge is a long-standing one. In order to reduce the CO2 emissions to an acceptable level, emissions from industries like cement, iron & steel and aluminum must be addressed in addition to the well-established CO2 capture effort on power plants.”
The project has been launched at the beginning of June and is due to be completed by the end of October 2011. Based on the results, Norcem will decide whether it will build the test facility.
Alstom is currently working on 15 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects, in partnership with utilities and organisations across the world, the company claimed.
