In mid-June, six oxygen tanks were installed installed on the construction site of the "catch4climate" CO2 capture project in Mergelstetten, marking a significant milestone in constructing the oxyfuel furnace facility. This installation, developed by CI4C, a joint venture of Buzzi SpA, Dyckerhoff GmbH, Heidelberg Materials AG, SCHWENK Zement GmbH & Co. KG, and Vicat S.A., is set to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2025 with an investment of over 120 million euros.

The newly installed oxygen tanks, each weighing 26 tons and offering a total capacity of 360 cubic meters of liquid oxygen, are crucial for the oxyfuel process, which uses pure oxygen instead of air, significantly increasing the CO2 concentration in the kiln's exhaust gases and enhancing the potential for CO2 capture to about 90%. The aim is to achieve cost-effective capture of 100% of the cement plant’s CO2 emissions.

The oxyfuel furnace facility, featuring a separate rotary kiln line with a clinker production capacity of 450 tons per day, will undergo a three-year research and development period after its commissioning. This project is the first to use the pure oxyfuel process for CO2 capture, setting the stage for large-scale application of CO2 capture technologies in the cement industry. Captured CO2 then will be utilized or stored, providing an alternative to carbon extracted from fossil fuels for various industrial applications. For more details, click here.

Immage credit: Conné van d´Grachten