Carbon-negative cement: A tribological solution for limestone decarbonization, silication, and carbon fixation

Project description

The cement industry is a crucial factor for global infrastructure, but it also contributes significantly to climate change, accounting for around 8% of industry-related CO₂ emissions. To achieve climate neutrality, a fundamental change in cement production is essential.

CILANTRO is addressing this challenge: The project aims to develop a new cement production technology that goes beyond CO₂ reduction and enables negative CO₂ emissions over the life cycle of the cement. Instead of traditional, energy-intensive high-temperature processes powered by fossil fuels, CILANTRO uses a novel method that employs mechanical grinding and clean hydrogen to prevent CO₂ from being produced at the source.

In addition, the CILANTRO process produces valuable gases that can be used to manufacture clean synthetic fuels or in organic synthesis, creating additional new value streams from a transformed industrial process. CILANTRO thus offers a promising solution for reducing CO₂ emissions and sustainable cement production.

The main project objectives are:

• The validation on a laboratory scale of an innovative technology for producing various calcium silicate phases through tribochemical processing of raw materials without CO₂ generation or emissions.
• The design and construction of a tribo-reactor demonstrator that illustrates the feasibility of the new process.

The CILANTRO project thus directly supports the goals of the European Green Deal and contributes to the EU's goal of climate neutrality by 2050.

Fraunhofer IWM subproject:

Fraunhofer IWM will use its expertise in multiscale materials modeling to simulate and elucidate the mechanochemical processes underlying the CILANTRO technology and provide starting points for optimization.