On 6 December 2019 the four European cement manufacturers Buzzi Unicem, HeidelbergCement, Schwenk and Vicat have founded a joint research corporation named CI4C - Cement Innovation for Climate –, which is currently waiting for final approval from the anti-trust-authorities.
The corporation was founded to realize a joined research project named “catch4climate”, which will investigate the practical usability of the Oxyfuel Carbon Capture technology in the cement production process.
The oxyfuel technology (from oxygen and fuel) is a clinker burning process in which pure oxygen is introduced into the kiln system instead of air, in order to assure proper combustion of all primary and secondary fuels for heat generation. By this, an exhaust gas with a very high purity of CO2 is produced inside the kiln, which will considerably improve the CO2 capture potential. The medium term goal is to capture 100 percent of the CO2 emissions of a cement plant in the most cost-efficient way. The “catch4climate” project will investigate options for the widespread use of this carbon capture technology in cement plants, in order to be able to offer the CO2 captured e.g. as a raw material for other industrial processes (CCU, CCS). With this project, the European cement industry can contribute significantly to the reduction of process-related CO2 emissions and therewith provide an important contribution to climate protection.
The four partner companies of the CI4C research corporation will now build and operate an oxyfuel test facility on semi-industrial scale at the premises of the cement plant in Mergelstetten, Southern Germany, as the key part of the “catch4climate” project. The official launch of the project is planned for 2020, after all necessary operational and emission-related permits will be granted.