Cemex appoints clean-tech company for carbon capture FEED study

BUILDING materials company Cemex has appointed clean-tech company Carbon Clean to work on the front-end engineering design (FEED) study for a “ground-breaking” carbon capture project in Rüdersdorf, Germany.

The project will be part of the Carbon Neutral Alliance at the site, which Cemex began developing earlier this year at its Rüdersdorf cement plant to test and accelerate innovative technologies to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. Cemex formed the alliance by joining “pioneering” industrial consortiums with the objective to develop industrial-scale demonstration projects using “ground-breaking” technologies.

Initially, the carbon capture project will aim to capture 100 t/d of CO2 from the plant. The CO2 will be combined with hydrogen from renewable sources to produce greener synthetic hydrocarbons for use in other industries. In the second stage, the aim will be to increase capture to 400 t/d of CO2, which would then be combined with hydrogen supplied by a dedicated pipeline.

Both stages have been submitted for national and European funding and are expected to be operating by 2026.

A later study will investigate scaleup to 2,000 t/d of CO2.

According to Sergio Menendez, President of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia, carbon capture will play a fundamental role in the success of the company’s 2030 goal, and ensure more sustainable operations.

Carbon Clean and Cemex are collaborating with the goal of demonstrating the potential to significantly reduce CO2 capture costs and establish supporting technology. Last year, Cemex completed a feasibility study with Carbon Clean to demonstrate reduction in CO2 capture cost from cement plant flue gas with an initial capacity of 100 t/d. The companies also signed an agreement to jointly develop industrial-scale technology for the cement industry to capture CO2 for less than US$30/t.