Reducing CO2 emissions
A new four-year research project, dubbed CircFuel, aims to develop technology that will pyrolyze waste into synthetic fuel at cement plants, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. The project is coordinated by DTU Chemical Engineering (Lyngby, Denmark; www.kt.dtu.dk), with partners DTU Management, FLSmidth A/S, Dampskibsselskabet Norden, MAN Energy Solutions SE, Haldor Topsøe A/S, Geminor, and Finnsementti Oy, and a total budget of DKK28.7 million (around $4.5 million).
The technology being pursued is a further development of FLSmidth’s patented waste-treatment reactor, which already can ensure the use of a high fraction of waste as fuel in cement plants, and which can thereby reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In the project, a further development of FLSmidth’s reactor will be carried out based on pyrolysis, where solid waste is converted into gas, liquid and a coke residue. The technology will be further developed in order to have a high production of liquid fuel, and various technologies for upgrading the fuel properties of the liquid will be investigated.
Three different uses for the pyrolysis liquid product will be investigated: direct use of the liquid fuel; a partial catalytic upgrade located on the cement plant; and an external full hydrogenation of the pyrolysis oil. Various uses of the pyrolysis oil products will also be investigated, including direct use at the cement plant, use as marine fuel and as a feed stream to petroleum refineries, whereby fuels can be provided to sectors such as heavy trucks and aviation fuels. The final phase of the project aims to market the technology globally to cement factories.