Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed an experimental electricity-driven cement production process that could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 98 per cent compared to conventional clinker manufacture, according to research published in ACS Energy Letters.
The research team, led by Professor Curtis Berlinguette, developed an electrochemical reactor capable of converting limestone and silica into calcium silicate hydrate at around 60°C, substantially below conventional clinkerisation temperatures. The resulting material can then be converted into belite-rich clinker at approximately 650°C.
The researchers stated that the process could reduce thermal energy demand by around 70 per cent. When recycled waste cement was used as the calcium feedstock, modeled emissions reportedly fell to approximately 20kg of CO2 per tonne of cement, compared to around 800kg/t for conventional production routes.
Prof Berlinguette described the work as “a transformative step” towards electrified cement manufacture.
According to the American Chemical Society, the project received funding from the New Frontiers in Research Fund, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Canada Research Chairs and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
The University of British Columbia has reportedly filed an international patent application related to the process, while two of the paper’s authors are co-founders of a company seeking to commercialise the technology.
