Electric Calcination of Clay (ECoClay)
The purpose of the project is to develop and demonstrate the electrical activation of clay as part of the manufacturing of cement through a joint undertaking between the private companies FLSmidth, Danish Technological Institute, Rondo Energy, VICAT, Cementos Argos and the Technical-University of Denmark. The future global cement production will rely on a partial replacement of limestone through activated clay to reduce CO2 emissions by about 40% compared to the state-of-the-art cement manufacturing processes. It is expected that the global demand for activated clay will increase to 400 million tons per year over the next 20 years. The demand can be satisfied because clay is an abundant, cheap, and easy to source material. However, the material composition and the properties such as moisture content can vary between 10 and 60 wt% with a strong impact on the amount of energy needed for the activation. The current technologies in the market use fossil fuels to heat the clay and drive the activation reaction.
ECoClay aims to demonstrate a breakthrough solution to drastically reduce CO2 from cement production (re-sponsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions) by replacing limestone with clay and fully electrifying the process, resulting reduction of 35 to 50% of CO2 per ton of cement
ECoClay will build a pilot plant at FLSmidth R&D center in Mariager Fjord, based on research on high temperature electric heat generation and storage solutions, reactor designs, new process solutions and renewable grid integration. It will be demonstrated that the ECoClay process is superior to the conventional combustion process, with better process control, improve output material quality, lower risk, smaller building footprint and lower emissions of air pollutants. Integration on a decarbonated grid will also be simulated.
From a business standpoint, FLSmidth sees growing interest in new clay activation lines, as well as industry need for substituting fuels with green energy. Two cement producers are partners in the project, aiming to expand their clay activation facilities thanks to this project.
Key figures
Category
Participants
| Partner | Subsidy | Auto financing |
|---|---|---|
| FLSmidth A/S | 8,19 mio. DKK | 15,22 mio. DKK |
| Teknologisk Institut | 3,93 mio. DKK | 2,62 mio. DKK |
| Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) | 3,91 mio. DKK | 0,44 mio. DKK |
| Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) | 3,91 mio. DKK | 0,44 mio. DKK |
| Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) | 3,98 mio. DKK | 0,44 mio. DKK |
| CHIMNEYLAB EUROPE ApS | 0,91 mio. DKK | 0,39 mio. DKK |
| Vicat | 0,42 mio. DKK | 0,63 mio. DKK |
| Cementos Agros | 0,47 mio. DKK | |
| Rondo energy | 0,25 mio. DKK |
Contact
Vigerslev Alle 77
2500 Valby
Tlf.: +45 3093 2047
