DOE further funds solar-powered cement clinker process testing
Sources: Cemex S.A.B. de C.V., Monterrey, Mexico; Sandia LLC, Albuquerque, N.M.; CMCM staff
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $3.2 million to Solar MEAD, a joint project of its New Mexico affiliate, Sandia National Laboratories, global portland cement operator Cemex, and Swiss concentrated solar thermal (CST) technology developer Synhelion. Investigators aim to replace the use of fossil fuels with CST energy to provide the 1,500°C heat required to calcine cement kiln raw feed—limestone, clay, plus alumina- and iron-bearing materials—and convert to clinker. The calcining and clinkering phase accounts for up to 60 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with finished (ground, graded clinker) portland cement.
Solar MEAD will pick up on a 2022 demonstration in Spain, where Cemex and Synhelion produced a clinker specimen at lab scale from CST-derived heat. Sandia Laboratories will host the project at its National Solar Thermal Test Facility in New Mexico, and offer subject matter expertise to help accelerate the adaptation of CST to cement clinker.
Solar MEAD investigators will test the Synhelion solar receiver’s potential for providing cement production heat at scale. Sandia Laboratories has built a knowledge base of concentrated solar thermal concepts at its National Solar Thermal Test Facility, home to the 200-ft. Solar Tower and a sun ray-capturing, 212-heliostat assembly.
“Cement produced with solar energy is an exciting technology with tremendous potential to reduce the carbon footprint of cement production,” says Cemex CEO Fernando González. “Achieving our net zero carbon goal by 2050 will require relentless innovation such as this to discover and scale breakthrough technologies.”
“Few renewable technologies are capable of generating heat at the temperatures needed to process raw cement feedstock,” adds Sandia researcher and Solar MEAD Principal Investigator Nathan Schroeder. “This project will advance our understanding of how to use concentrating solar technology to gather and deliver the heat to existing cement production facilities and will have crosscutting relevance to other ore processing industries such as refractory, ceramics, and battery production.”
“The project offers us the opportunity to use our sustainable technology to support the decarbonization of energy-intensive cement clinker production,” affirms Synhelion Co-Founder and CEO Gianluca Ambrosetti. “This solution can have a huge impact on the industry and will help to pave the way towards net-zero.”
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