CEMEX USA scores $3.7M from DOE to fund carbon capture study using non-aqueous amine technology

In Texas, CEMEX USA announced that as part of its Future in Action program aimed at cutting CO2 emissions throughout its value chain, the company has been awarded a $3.7 million cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Energy in collaboration with non-profit research institute RTI International. Other partners on the project include SLB, a global technology company and the licensor for RTI’s non-aqueous solvent (NAS) capture technology. The agreement will help fund an innovative carbon capture study utilizing RTI’s non-aqueous amine technology as it seeks to set groundbreaking emission reduction standards for the cement manufacturing industry.

The front-end engineering design (FEED) study, which is to be conducted at CEMEX’s Balcones Cement Plant in New Braunfels, Texas, is expected to determine and assess the overall costs of the integration of a 670,000 metric ton-CO2 per year commercial-scale carbon capture system into the manufacturing process. During the 18-month study, the project team will also evaluate CO2 capture from cement flue gas redirected into a tower for reaction with RTI’s NAS with a 95% CO2 capture efficiency. The new study, which is expected to cost $4.6 million overall, is the second grant-backed initiative at CEMEX Balcones plant since 2020. The plant recently concluded a carbon capture study that examined the use of membrane technology.