Displaying items by tag: pilot

Morocco: Ciments du Maroc has reached a milestone in its ALGACEM initiative with the first delivery of CO₂-derived products under the ALGACE brand from its Safi cement plant. The pilot project captures and recovers CO₂ using microalgae, transforming the carbon captured during the cement production process into bioproducts.

The company said the result confirms the technical and economic feasibility of the project and its compatibility with existing industrial infrastructure, laying the groundwork for a reproducible model for the wider cement sector.

France: Cement producer Eqiom has inaugurated a €2.5m pilot station for the continuous injection of alternative fuels at its Rochefort-sur-Nenon plant. The new facility enables the injection of wood fines - treated wood residues sourced from local sawmills - directly into the kiln at a rate of 5000t/yr.

The facility has reduced its coal use from 30,000t/yr to 8000t/yr. Currently, more than 70% of the plant’s kiln fuel comes from alternative sources, with the site now targeting 80%. Since the 1990s, the plant has successively used liquid chemical waste, animal meal and solid recovered fuels (SRF), which together accounted for 50,000t in 2024. Eqiom is also developing new cement types with lower clinker content by incorporating more pozzolans, as part of its broader decarbonisation efforts.

Pierre Bernard, Eqiom’s head of cement manufacturing, noted that national cement production fell from 20Mt/yr in 2022 to 15Mt/yr in 2024, equivalent to 1960 levels, due to a decline in construction activity.

Germany: Rohrdorfer has inaugurated a new pilot plant for tempered clays at its Rohrdorf cement facility in a ceremony attended by regional and state officials. They included Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Ministry of the Interior Daniela Ludwig, who cut the ribbon alongside Rohrdorfer managing director Mike Edelmann.

The pilot plant has been operational since July 2025 and activates up to 50t/day of raw clay through thermal treatment. Tempered clays can replace clinker in cement, reportedly helping to cut emissions by around 30%, according to the company. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and the EU, and will receive up to €8.65m in funding.

Daniela Ludwig said “With this new plant, the Rohrdorf cement plant is once again proving that it is one of the most innovative companies in our region. Decarbonising the cement industry is a key task if Germany is to achieve its climate goals as planned.”

By the end of 2026, Rohrdorfer’s Net Zero Emission team will determine the optimal composition of raw clays and refine the thermal treatment process, paving the way for a large-scale facility capable of achieving up to 60% CO₂ reductions.

Mike Edelmann said “We’ve achieved a lot within our plants, but our influence ends at the factory gates. The lack of planning security regarding CO₂ transport and storage, uncompetitive electricity prices and an uncertain mining landscape are holding us back. We urgently need more support from policymakers if climate targets are to be met.”

South Korea: The Ministry of Environment has announced a pilot project to recycle waste fabric scraps from sewing factories into alternative fuel for the cement industry. The agreement has been signed with: textile companies Pang Rim, Sewang, Sinhan Spinning & Textile; cement companies Ssangyong C&E and Asia Cement; and the Korea Recycling Service Agency (KORA). It expands on an earlier initiative launched in 2024 with four Seoul districts.

Under the project, fabric scraps that were previously incinerated or landfilled will be separated, sorted and processed into intermediate fuel, which cement plants will use in the production process. The Ministry said that KORA will support raw material supply and recycling logistics, while cement firms will adopt the fabric-derived fuel to reduce waste and fossil fuel use.

Kim Go-eung, Director General of the Resources Circulation Bureau, said “The separation, sorting and recycling of waste are essential elements for producing high-quality recycled raw materials. To establish a circular system, we will continue to identify and expand various measures so that the supply of excellent recycled raw materials and the securing of demand sources can be balanced.”

Latvia: Schwenk Cement Latvija has inaugurated a carbon capture test base at the Brocēni cement plant, according to a post on Linkedin by the producer. Throughout 2025, several technologies will be tested at the site to determine the best solution for Brocēni and Schwenk’s other plants. The Broceni carbon capture and storage (CCS) project aims to capture 800,000t/yr of CO₂. The event was attended by Latvian prime minister Evika Silina, German embassy representative Heike Janče and staff members from Schwenk Latvija.

The final investment decision is planned for 2027, with completion in 2030. Schwenk said the project will strengthen exports to Estonia, Finland and Sweden and establish a regional value chain for low-CO₂ cement.

US: Ash Grove Cement, part of CRH, has deployed Boston Dynamics’ autonomous robot ‘Spot’ at its cement plant in Washington in a year-long pilot to boost efficiency and safety. Operating more than 80 hours a week, the four-legged robot conducts routine inspections using a 4K camera and laser scanning, detecting anomalies and alerting teams before failures occur.

The company said that the robot can measure refractory bricks inside cement kilns, reducing risks by keeping employees out of hazardous environments. During the trial, Spot detected a failing bearing in rotating equipment, preventing unplanned downtime. Ash Grove said that the technology improves site safety, frees skilled teams for complex work and enables real-time monitoring in the hot and dusty conditions at the plant.

Plant manager Andy White said “Our aim for Spot is that, at the moment, we don’t have preventative or proactive maintenance routines on night shifts and the weekends. And, also, our labour force has to spend a lot of time recording data rather than analysing it… Spot can do this for us. When we come in the mornings, we already have reported generated, so we can proactively fix those issues thather than spending eight hours trying to find them.”

Norway: thyssenkrupp Polysius will supply the kiln system for SMA Mineral’s quicklime plant, designed to operate without CO₂ emissions using SaltX’s electric calcination technology. The pilot facility is scheduled for completion in 2027, and will produce 40,000t/yr of quicklime. The project has received €24m in funding from Norwegian state enterprise Enova.

thyssenkrupp Polysius CEO Christian Myland said “We are proud to contribute to this landmark project that sets a new standard for sustainable lime production. Our collaboration with SMA Mineral and SaltX Technology demonstrates how industrial partnerships can accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions. This project is a testament to our commitment to engineering solutions that drive decarbonisation.”

The partnership between SaltX Technology and thyssenkrupp Polysius follows the signing of a Letter of Intent in February 2025.

Germany: CI4C has installed the final modular component of its carbon purification unit (CPU) at the Schwenk Zement plant in Mergelstetten. The unit is 31m long with a cross-section of 5 x 5m, installed using a tandem lift.

The unit completes major construction work at the CO₂ capture pilot project. The CPU will clean and liquefy CO₂-rich exhaust gas from the oxyfuel kiln and processes it to food-grade quality, enabling its reuse in purified form. Final mechanical and electrical works are underway ahead of commissioning in late summer 2025.

European cement producers Buzzi, Dyckerhoff, Heidelberg Materials, Schwenk Zement and Vicat established CI4C in 2019 to implement the catch4climate initiative. The 450t/day clinker line and CPU have been purpose-built at the plant, which has received investment of over €120m, and will be used solely for research and development.

UK: Material Evolution has partnered with CRH subsidiary Tarmac to launch a pilot project to test applications of its heat-free, 85% reduced-CO₂ cement, MevoCem. The partners aim to demonstrate the suitability of MevoCem cement for use in concrete production in line with the prospective BSI Flex 350 performance-based standard.

Material Evolution’s CEO Liz Gilligan welcomed Tarmac as an ‘early adopter’ of MevoCem cement. In a post to LinkedIn, she said “We have been quietly building something game-changing with CRH and their team at Tarmac. It is bold, it is industrial scale and it is all about cutting carbon where it counts. We are only just getting started.”

Material Evolution currently operates a 120,000t/yr Mevocem plant in Wrexham, Wales.

Latvia: Schwenk Latvija has captured the first CO₂ at its Brocēni cement plant using a pilot-scale carbon capture unit supplied by Norway-based Capsol Technologies. The CapsolGo unit will run in test mode until the end of 2025, capturing 2t/day of CO₂. The producer plans to make a final investment decision in 2027 on a potential full-scale carbon capture plant capable of capturing 800,000t/yr of CO₂. If this project goes ahead, then commissioning is expected in around 2030.

Chair of the board of Schwenk Latvija and managing director of Schwenk Northern Europe Reinhold Schneider said “We at Schwenk have come a long way through extensive analysis, studies, research and development processes and impact assessments to reach the point of the first CO₂ captured. Schwenk is strongly committed to launching a full-scale carbon capture plant in Brocēni by 2030. This test phase brings us one step closer to that.”