Ultra-efficient CO2 capture for polluting industries

The energy-efficient system can help to decarbonise cement production

Spotted: Hard-to-abate sectors – including the chemicals, steel, aviation, and shipping industries – use a quarter of the world’s total energy consumption and produce a fifth of the globe’s CO2 emissions. That means they have a huge way to go to get to net zero, but also that there’s plenty of opportunity for innovators to make a difference – including UK-based Nuada.

The company has developed an electrically powered carbon capture system that uses metal-organic frameworks (polymers with extremely large surface areas, making them porous and super-adsorbent) to filter flue gas and mature vacuum pressure swing adsorption (a gas separation technology) to regenerate the filters and release the CO2. The cleaned flue gas is released, while the high-purity CO2 is diverted for reuse and sequestration.

Instead of solvents or heat, which is what many other carbon capture technologies rely on, Nuada uses pressure to separate industrial flue gas so that the CO2 can be sequestered. This ‘heatless’ approach makes the technology much more energy- and cost-efficient.

On 25th June, Nuada announced the launch of its pilot plant at cement company Buzzi Unicem’s facility in Monselice, Italy, in a project initiated through the Global Concrete and Cement Association’s (GCCA’s) Innovandi Open Challenge programme. This means that Nuada’s system is being used to capture and separate cement flue gas so that Buzzi can produce lower-carbon cement. According to the company, the plant is fully operational and capturing a tonne of carbon dioxide from the waste gas every day.

On the pilot project and collaboration, co-CEO of Nuada Dr. Jose Casaban explained: “This plant demonstrates the robustness, scalability and game-changing benefits of our innovative capture system. Together with Buzzi, we are demonstrating the future of carbon capture in cement.”

Written By: Matilda Cox