Cement units can get fuel by trapping plant's gases

The Tower I campus is mainly meant for non-polluting industries such as logistics, IT and ITeS

Cement plants can cheer on to this revelation. Observations made by a Thailand-based cement industry veteran MJ Nielsen confirm that at 30 per cent absorption efficiency of carbon dioxide gas, a modern cement unit can generate its own fuel, effectively reducing dependency on fossil fuels like coal.

In his keynote speech at the Green Cementech 2014 here recently, Nielsen, who is managing director of LV Technology Public Company Limited, explained the process involving fast absorption of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2) gas at the cement plant into a mix of water, algae, fertilisers, light and ferrous sulphate. The company is currently engaged in the research on algae process.
 

The end product of the process, chemically a sugar chain, when dried, weighs 682 gm for every 1,000 gm of carbon dioxide absorbed.

Importantly, Nielsen mentioned, the dry fuel, each sizing 100 micron, has a calorific value of 5,500 kilo calories. Further, "the end product needs no purification treatment, just dry it and burn it off," he said.

In terms of cost, for producing a kilo dry fuel involving 1,000 gm CO2 per cubic meter of water is $60.

Nielsen, who is part of the researchers working on the pyro process for making the clinker based on self-generated fuel from the C02 in the waste gases, said he hoped to see such a facility soon in India.

According to him, researchers worked by pumping CO2 near the cement plant into an artificial water pond that is 300 milli metre deep, besides grooming of fast growing algae through supply of ammonia, light and ferrous sulphate to speed up the rate of CO2 absorption in the pond by the algae.

During the process, they observed the algae preferred basic pH conditions to multiply, gain size and continue the reaction. "Under pH above 8, the algae kills the fungus that wants to eat them." Further, they observed the algae needed rest for six hours a day to survive till the end and yield the desired output.