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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RECODE (Recycling carbon dioxide in the cement industry to produce added-value additives: a step towards a CO2 circular economy)

Teaser

Summary

RECODE by the end of the project will implement an energy efficient technology to recover the CO2 from cement-production flue gases by the use of ionic liquids (ILs). These recovered CO2 will be used to the production of added-value chemicals which can be used at least in part of the produced amount within the cement industry to enhance the cement characteristics and reduce energy intensity of its manufacturing.
Two main routes have been identified based on temporary availability of Renewable electric energy (REE) on the site a low energy consumption route will be performed transforming the CO2 into CaCO3 nanoparticles and producing at the same time NH4Cl as secondary product. During the hours of the day in which REE will be available CO2 will be electrochemically converted into chemicals such as formic acid, oxalic acid and glycine. The balancing of the two routes matching the need of specific products and/or the amount of low-cost REE available makes the RECODE approach flexible, which strengthens its feasibility.

Work performed

Intermediary achievement called Specific Technological Breakthrough target (TBTs) were specifically designed in order to evaluate at which point is the project and if the results are in line with the timetable, the project work simultaneously on the different task when it is possible in order to minimize the required time. At the 18th month of the project, the achievements of the project are in line with the expected results.
At the end of the project a demo plant at TRL6 will have perform 6 month campaign of continuative activity and thus it is necessary to design all the system specifications, the design, licensing and preparation of the demo site. Up to now the system specifications and the design of the test site were completed. Currently the preliminary design of the demonstration plant have been prepared. Actually, the licensing procedure is in progress and the dossier with all relevant documentation is planned for submission in beginning of M20.
The development of new CO2 separation processes for industrial flue gases based on the application of IL is progressing, the part that aimed for evaluation of different CO2 separation and purification concepts was finished in due time. There has been substantial progress regarding characterization and selection of IL-based absorbent systems that both cope with the harsh oxidative conditions found in the cement plant flue gas and enable effective chemical absorption of CO2. The basic design of the CO2 separation plant as well as for the gas pre-treatment and after-treatment was developed.
The first route for conversion of CO2 proceeds with the design and optimization of nano CaCO3 synthesis at lab-scale using different experimental setups. Two different approaches were used in order to provide a full range of options for the final process layout. Both processes were proved to be effective and could be integrated in the technology platform however the Packed Bed Reactor (PBR) process was selected and designed for the scale-up. However, the Membrane Reactor (MR) process is also ready for scale up and integration, serving as an alternative option and depending on the final integrated process requirements arisen. Finally, the downstream separation and purification processes were studied and designed in order to crystallize and recover NH4Cl as an added-value side-product of the process.
The second route for conversion of CO2 consist in the electrochemical conversion. This part of the project is relatively complex because several process are studied and should be integrated in the final pilot plant. The concept design of this reaction line was developed in the right time and is actually ended. All the other activities, the studi of CO2 compression/dissolution, electrochemical conversion and chemical synthesis of glycine are actually ongoing by developing at lab scale the different reactors that will be added to the pilot plan.
The whole project is based on reduce and optimize the total impact thus an important part is the modelling and optimization of the overall integrated TRL-6 plant. The engineering Design activities that have been perform during this period comprise the preliminary layout, Block Flow Diagram (BFD), Process Flow Diagram (PFD), Mass and Energy Balance and the identification of possible deviation in the overall plant. All this documentation has been used for the system prototype specification, concept design and permit process application. Furthermore, concerning the safety analysis, the concept and methodology to be adopted has been already defined and the activities will start once the P&IDs have been developed.

Dissemination activities are planned to develop in parallel to the technical and scientific progress of the project. Until M12 approximately, the experimental activities have been settled up but the results were premature to be already published in scientific journals. Therefore, the Communication and Dissemination plan was majorly devoted to efforts on a

Final results

A sustainability analysis modelling of the concept in environmental and economic terms is being developed collecting the numerical data and the experimental measurements to create an appropriate database for input in the life cycle analysis (LCA) modelling, for the estimation of the environmental footprint. In the first RP, a suitable questionnaire was created and submitted to partners for the collection of data for each unit concerning resources consumption (raw materials), energy, machinery used, transport, disposal products and emissions. After data collection, a preliminary Life Cycle Inventory has been created. The LCA model of the process is being developed.
A first version of the LCA analysis has been prepared for selected units in order to support the related critical decisions.
The REACH evaluation of all chemical formulation and the safety analysis of the project has been started. A procedure for collecting and assessing information on the properties and hazards of substances was carried out using a questionnaire that was circulated within the consortium. The CaCO3 nanoparticles developed and optimized were employed as nanofillers in cement and cement mortars. The protocol for nanoCaCO3 addition in the cement formulation as well as the mechanical tests and their protocol were defined and optimized. Preliminary mechanical tests were carried out on the cement mortars added with nanoCaCO3, allowing to fix some parameters (2% of nanofillers concentration, use of ultrasonic bath during their addition). Moreover, the activities concerning techno-economic analysis and market potential, analysis of alternatives for CO2 valorization and social, pre-normative and regulatory impacts have started on time and are in their early stage.