PI: Carlos Romero
Co-PI(s): Jonas Baltrusaitis, Sudhakar Neti, Paolo Bocchini
University: Lehigh University
Industry partner: Buzzi Unicem
Our modern, fossil fuel-based economy generates ~40 GtCO2/yr, half of which is accumulating in the atmosphere. CO2 is the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) contributor to global warming, making it difficult to limit surface warming to < 2 deg. C by mid-century. Capturing and storing CO2 at the GtCO2/yr in cost-efficient ways has now become imperative to ultimately reverse its atmospheric growth, avoiding a significant global crisis. Industry is responsible for about 30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S. Furthermore, uncontrolled direct GHG emissions of heavy industry (cement, iron and steel, chemicals and plastics) are responsible for at least 20% of the GHG emissions inventory in the U.S. The U.S. Congress has identified Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) as a very important pathway for industrial decarbonization. At the state level, Pennsylvania has long expressed its intention to develop itself as a national hub for CCUS activities. In terms of carbon emissions and its control, one particularly heavy industry in Pennsylvania, cement, faces significant challenges in mitigating its CO2 footprint. The cement industry in Pennsylvania contributes with about 1.8 MtCO2/yr to the state GHG inventory. One aspect relevant to the carbon capture situation of the cement industry in Pennsylvania is that cement plants have high energy efficiencies and the scope to reduce CO2 emissions by further efficiency improvements is small. The option of replacing fossil fuels with carbon neutral wastes is also limited, leading to the need for cost-effective carbon capture technologies. Various technologies exist for the capture and concentration of carbon in the cement industry, but several knowledge gaps remain. The goal of this project is to perform a study of three carbon capture options for the cement industry:
- amine solvent scrubbing,
- calcium looping,
- and dry sorbent injection.
A novel concept which integrates solar thermal energy with Option 1 will be also further studied. The results of this project will provide information on the technical feasibility of commercial and in-development carbon capture concepts for the cement industry in Pennsylvania, which can be used by stakeholders in the state to advance decarbonization policy and planning in the state.