Catalysts for Cleaner Cement Production

Sustainable chemistry has a major role in building our future Smart Cities, ensuring our technologies are as clean as possible and providing the basis for 'green' living.

SusChem has provided much input on chemistry's contribution to energy efficiency in buildings and their contribution to Smart Cities initiatives including the SusChem report "Innovative chemistry for Energy efficiency of buildings in smart cities" and our visionary flagship project the Smart Energy Home. 

Another clear example of chemistry's contribution to cleaner construction is provided by Clariant. Cement production generates considerable harmful emissions including fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ammonia, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and sulfur oxides. Cement is the main component of concrete, the most widely used construction material in the world.

Using a combined catalytic process the emissions from cement production can be reduced by 90% or more. In a first stage nitrogen oxides and ammonia in the cement process flue gas react on a catalytic layer, where they bind to iron active centres. The molecules interact with each other forming water and harmless nitrogen.

In the next stage remaining organic contaminants and carbon monoxide are eliminated by catalytic oxidation in an innovative ceramic honeycomb catalyst with an activated zeolite-coated surface. The zeolite matrix provides durable protection against dust, sulfur oxides, and moisture which can result in fast catalyst deactivation. This key innovation enables the catalyst to survive under the harsh conditions of the process for a considerable time.

Benefits
Using the two-stage process toxic pollutants are almost completely purified with pollutant emissions reduced by 90% and more meaning that required emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants can be easily met by cement plants. You can find out more about this innovative process in the video below.

For more information on SusChem initiatives for Smart Cities and construction materials, please contact SusChem coordinator Jacques Kormornicki at Cefic.

RESIDE gets Results

The heating and cooling of buildings contributes around 30% of the gross energy demand in Europe. Although new buildings follow more stringent energy efficiency standards, the existing and extensive estate of old buildings with poor energy rating is significant. Around 35-40% of Europe’s building stock was built before 1960 and 45-50% of the remainder before 1991. The density of old building stock varies extensively by regions, but the vast majority of Europe’s built environment more than 25 years old. In order to meet its emission and energy consumption reduction targets, Europe needs to urgently target and refurbish these older buildings in a cost-effective way.

Launched in December 2013 the SusChem-inspired FP7 project RESIDE aimed at supporting the implementation of EU Strategies to boost demand for innovation in the buildings refurbishment market by:

• Adapting and applying of a promising emerging scientific approach, Technology Innovation Systems (TIS) for an extended localised market assessment
• Defining, implementing and monitoring multi-level strategic roadmaps for Demand Sides Policy Measures (DSPM), based on the TIS market assessments, and
• Proactive engagement of all target groups in the whole process

CEFIC was a partner in RESIDE together with CiaoTech (Italy), Bax & Willems (Spain) and the University of Utrecht (NL)

RESIDE has assessed the market and set up a baseline scenario of the EU refurbishment sector with a focus on three EU regions (Lombardia-Italy, Catalonia-Spain, Noord Brabant-The Netherlands), using the TIS methodology to identify the interactions among different parts of the system.

The main results of RESIDE, in particular from the TIS analysis and confirmed through direct discussions with the regional stakeholders, are that the three regions have clear targets and comprehensive plans for building refurbishment and that the main barriers to implementation are not the existence of financing schemes or refurbishments technologies from construction companies but are more due to:

• Lack of knowledge of existing schemes
• The speed of market formation
• Resource mobilisation issues

Smart cities
The final results of the eighteen-month RESIDE project were presented to the General Assembly of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP SCC) at the Metropolitan Solutions conference in Berlin on 21 May 2015.

RESIDE representatives attended the plenary session of the EIP Smart Cities Conference, chaired by European Commissioner for Transport Mrs. Violeta Bulc and European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mr. Günther H. Oettinger. The conference attracted more than 450 representatives of EU organisations and communities including Mayors, CEOs and High-level speakers from all around Europe. The RESIDE project displayed a poster as part of the EIP event within the Berlin “Metropolitan Solutions” fair along with other 20 EU-funded projects on similar topics.

The RESIDE work raised high interest with the stakeholders present. In particular, Commissioner Bulc (see above Commissioner Bulc centre with Laszlo Bax on left from RESIDE) showed high interest in the RESIDE methodology and the three regional case studies, asking for more feedback on project’s results.

In the afternoon sessions, Laszlo Bax, the RESIDE project coordinator, presented the final results of the project to the EIP SCC’s Action Cluster “Sustainable Districts and Built Environment”. The Action cluster, chaired by Mrs. Rinske van Heiningen of Akzo Nobel and the Action Cluster leader, gathered about 40 people, all experts with multidisciplinary background and experience including architects, representatives of various EIP SCC commitments, entrepreneurs, university professors specialising in urban planning and energy efficiency in building, among other disciplines.

Finally, RESIDE partners participated to the break-out sessions on “Business Models for Sustainable Districts” and “District Regeneration” where representatives of the Action Cluster further discussed these topics and links and synergies with the EIP SCC in general, including the next steps for follow up.

RESIDE received several expressions of interest for future collaborations and was included in the list of projects on which the Action Cluster wants to push for a follow up within the EIP SCC community.

SusChem shaping Horizon 2020 material innovations

SusChem held its first Materials Technology workshop within the frame of the platform’s new strategy on 5 March 2013. Bringing together experts and knowledge from several European chemical companies and research and technology organizations, the workshop aimed to define SusChem’s key priorities for materials research proposal development in the forthcoming Horizon 2020 programme.

The goal of the meeting was to identify the areas of high interest for SusChem stakeholder in materials technologies whether linked to a specific value-chain or of more widespread or cross-cutting interest.

With the underlying objective of updating the SusChem Implementation Action Plan (IAP) on materials technology, the workshop addressed those themes with high market prospects for the chemical and process industries with a strong focus on sustainability and the potential to guarantee excellent science, European industry leadership and tackle societal concerns.

To fulfil these goals under Horizon 2020 Dr Helge Wessel, from the European Commission’s DG Research Industrial Technologies Directorate, stated the need to maintain and reinforce the fruitful collaboration with European Technology Platforms (ETPs), such as SusChem, to define research needs and highlight material priorities. Furthermore, Dr Wessel indicated a number of focus areas where the chemical industries could play an active role in ensuring innovation in sustainable materials.

Value chain strategy  
In preparation for Horizon 2020, SusChem has designed a new strategy based on a value-chain approach that encourages collaborative innovation with stakeholders along the chain to accelerate time to market.  SusChem intends to enhance collaboration between companies and value chain sector experts by the creation of specific teams within the materials working group.

These teams will tackle four key areas where the sustainable chemical industry can play a leading role:

• Building and construction
• Automotive
• Energy, and 
• Cross-cutting areas with a wide range of application. 

In this context, the working group will identify a series of domains where the chemical industry can develop ambitious targets. These breakthrough targets, some with a clear cross-cutting character and others at an early stage but with strong innovation features, will help to feed the “focus areas” of Horizon 2020.

At this initial workshop some 35 themes within the chemistry application areas of construction, automotive, energy and some general areas were reviewed. The areas with highest interest were highlighted and further work will incorporated them into a revised SusChem IAP for submission to the work programme formulation process for the early calls (2014-2015) of Horizon 2020.

Specific themes 
Within the area of construction, refurbishment was felt to be the highest priority in terms of application demands with also potential to work on specific materials solutions for stationary energy storage. A highly strategic area was defined as 'the circular economy' which would need to be applied to various value chains including the construction / refurbishment value chain, energy and other sectors.

For automotive a variety of material projects were discussed including advanced (carbon) reinforced composites for lightweight structural parts of vehicles, exploration of possible combinations of polymer-based products and metallic solutions. Fibre reinforced materials are considered a cross-cutting technology useful for other value-chains like construction and can include the use of natural fibres and other biobased materials. Another key area of interest is the development of renewable source polymer applications in automotive.

In energy, several challenges were identified in the wind turbine industry, while solar photovoltaic also has major requirements. For thermal solar energy the opportunity lies in ‘third generation solar cooling systems’. For solar concentrated power plants, the challenge for materials is the design of high performance thermal fluids.

The area of waste energy recovery was also highlighted as an important area: both for the potential role of enabling materials and also a process opportunity for chemical industry facilities with substantial excess heat that could be recovered.

What’s next?
The SusChem materials working group will now prepare a revised Strategic Research Agenda for Materials Technologies and will present this to the European Commission in the coming weeks.

If you want to join the SusChem materials working group and share your expertise and knowledge to enhance the materials of the future then please get in touch with SusChem coordinator Jacques Komornicki at Cefic.