Molten salt regeneration for carbon capture utilization
The idea for the project called MoReCCU was born from the need to maximize resource efficiency. UP Catalyst reprocesses CO2 to produce carbon nanomaterials and graphite, using the electrolysis method with molten salt as an electrolyte. Renowned experts from the industry and academia joined forces to develop a revolutionary molten salt regeneration technology based on circular economy principles, significantly reducing waste and increasing the reuse of carbonate salt by up to 100 times.
Cross-border/international
Estonia
Spain
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Portugal
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Slovakia
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It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Yes
EIT manufacturing
No
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): UP Catalyst Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Sander Last name of representative: Trofimov Age: 27 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Gender: Male Nationality: Estonia Function: Production manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Akadeemia tee 23 Town: Tallinn Postal code: 12618 Country: Estonia Direct Tel:+372 5300 3967 E-mail:sander.trofimov@upcatalyst.com Website:http://upcatalyst.com
Decarbonization of the current energy cycle is one of the most important challenges for mankind in the 21st century. According to the US EIA “International Energy Outlook 2019”, the total energy consumption will increase by nearly 50% by 2050. Due to the drastic effects of rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere, capturing carbon must increase to compensate for the increasing energy production. Fossil fuel combustion, which continues to play a significant role in the energy portfolio, is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, and accounts for more than the rest of the sources combined.
As most of the modern world relays heavily on the mineral mining industry, which makes up around 10% of the total carbon footprint, any attempt to reduce the CO2 output in this quite conservative sector must be looked into. As the electrolytes are seeing record prices, the world is facing new challenges to reduce the cost of production and optimize the manufacturing processes. Together with the consortium we are going to minimize waste, which will result in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly production process. Within the MoReCCU project, the innovative molten salt regeneration system and hot molten salt press will be designed, constructed and implemented into our current carbon nanomaterials and graphite synthesis reactors. The new system will regenerate the molten salt through removing solid product and impurities from the electrolyte mixture. This will even further improve the sustainability of our products and will reduce the environmental impact. These new technologies contribute directly to EU targets to reduce usage, minimise waste, contribute to the circular economy and further advance the molten salt carbon capture and utilisation processes by improving the sustainability and valorisation of the product. This helps to make carbon nanomaterials and graphite production directly from industrial exhaust CO2 net negative.
molten salt
carbon capture
circularity
waste valorisation
carbon-negative
The main impact on sustainability is the reduction of raw materials used in production while increasing the quality of the material by improving the cleanliness of the product. As raw materials are crucial to aid the transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a carbon-neutral circular economy, there is a growing need for more environmentally friendly ways to produce and reuse important raw materials like carbonate salt. The idea for the MoReCCU project was born from the need to maximise resource efficiency.
In UP Catalyst's technology, the important greenhouse gas CO2 could also be viewed as a secondary raw material that could be valorised by producing sustainable carbon nanomaterials and graphite. In fact, for every ton of carbon material produced, 3.7 tons of CO2 is used. As the reduction of greenhouse emissions is also an important goal in the EU – by the year 2030 the greenhouse gas emissions must be cut down by at least 55% below 1990 levels and by 2050 the goal is even more ambitious – Europe should be climate neutral.
MoReCCU is an innovative concept that disrupts the raw material sector and paves the way towards green manufacturing with an emphasis on the circularity of raw materials and waste valorisation. Carbonate salt, an electrolyte in Molten Salt Carbon Capture and Electrochemical Transformation process, is mined and then imported to Europe. Regenerating molten salt will allow us to reuse the material multiple times and minimise our waste while decreasing the demand for carbonate salt mining. This is highly important as the whole production process will become more environmentally friendly and efficient i.e, implementing a new carbonate salts regeneration process so that one batch could be reused up to 100 times longer. Another aspect of the project is to minimise heat loss, thus optimising vital production factors such as energy efficiency.
This project is a joint effort of a European consortium consisting of notable partners, such as UP Catalyst, the University of Lleida, the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STUBA) and INEGI- Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Having a European focus and insuring cultural diversity was a primary concern that lead us to choose partners from different EU member states. We stand against any discriminatory behaviour, and embrace diversity in science, and in the working environment. Diverse and inclusive teams tend to be more productive.
The partners were also chosen based on the following criterium: deep knowledge and expertise that aligns with the specific tasks they are assigned to in the project.
UP Catalyst is the project leader and technology owner with long term experience in carbon nanomaterial production, having 2/3 of its team consisting of scientists and engineers. We put a lot of power in the brains behind our business with 7 PhD holders, 1 PhD student and each founding team member being a field expert with 7+ years of experience.
University of Lleida is responsible for conceptualising the system and determining the key requirements. Reputable scientists, such as Luisa G.Cabeza are involved in the project with extensive research and many publications in phase changing materials, thermal energy storage with an environmental focus that is crucial to the project. STUBA is a renowned technical university that has previously involved in many European projects and has a team of capable mechanical engineers to take on the task of designing the molten salt regeneration system. As the system is one of a kind and it will revolutionise molten salt production, INEGI will lead the construction phase due to its expertise in Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering projects since 1986.
Although carbonate salt used to be a relatively cost-effective material, its widespread use in energy storage applications has led to a 260% price increase in the last 3 years. Being able to preserve the quality of the salt to reuse it will significantly lower production costs. This will make carbonate salt an affordable and more accessible material for the European industry that relies on imports.
The concept of recycling and circulating raw materials to tackle resource depletion is one of the focal points in the European recovery plan. MoReCCU project is developing a resilient value chain for industrial ecosystems through innovation. The benefits go beyond the circularity of molten salt. The implementation of the molten salt regeneration system to UP Catalyst's ton scale and later on industrial scale production will result in making more accessible carbon nanomaterials and graphite. The latter is classified as a critical raw material with Europe importing 98% of the graphite it needs, which is either mined or synthesized out of fossil fuels.
Society's standpoint leans heavily on the company's primary goal – lowering global CO2 emissions by capturing the greenhouse gas and turning it into valuable material instead of treating it as a waste gas. This activity will firstly help our customers decrease the CO2 footprint and secondly lower the need for mining carbonate salt in vast quantities since sustainable carbon materials rely heavily on the availability of salt. Stringent government regulations on one hand and increasing societal concern for the environment on the other influence the end user to make green and more sustainable choices while also looking more deeply into the production processes of their products.
The regeneration system will be integrated into the UP Catalyst synthesis reactors in Estonia and will increase production efficiency. As our production gives the harmful CO2 waste a green purpose, increasing production efficiency and capacity will contribute directly to improving the air quality of the local environment. We are currently constructing our ton-scale reactor and the regeneration system is the missing piece to make our production net negative. By 2025 1/20 of the pilot industrial unit will be ready, allowing us to turn 140 tons of CO2 into 38 tons of graphite annually.
Removing impurities from the product will result in higher-quality carbon. Purer carbon is generally preferred for industrial applications. Our carbon materials are used in various applications from electric vehicle batteries to paints and coatings, concrete, etc. These are all CO2-intensive industries where the use of sustainable raw materials is crucial. By incorporating our sustainable carbon, we reduce the carbon footprint of the end product. The impact can be huge considering how many markets we can reach and influence with regard to their sustainability and price. Consequently, citizens who are the main consumers will benefit from using products which comply with sustainable manufacturing requirements and are affordable. MoReCCU offers an alternative to the current increasing prices of molten salt which will affect the end product prices.
Last but not least, we should keep in the mind the environmental impact of mining on the local ecosystem. Salt mining is dangerous both for the people working in the mines who are exposed to health risks, as well for the environment. Any type of extraction can lead to soil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, and damage. Instead of overexploiting the earth's natural resources, we should move towards ethical and sustainable practices with respect to society and the environment.
This project engages industrial and academic representatives to use science to optimise an already existing production method with circularity standards. As mentioned previously, four consortium members in different European countries are involved in this initiative. Each member is responsible for a different phase of the project. Collaborating with a multicultural team of people has various advantages. Each person has different experiences and knowledge to share, contributing to a beneficial exchange of opinions which is crucial, especially in the conceptualization phase of the project.
The conceptualisation of the molten salt regeneration system will take place in Spain by the University of Lleida. Based on the essential requirements, the Technical University of Bratislava will design the system, which will be constructed in Portugal by INEGI. The last phase includes testing the system in Estonia by the technology owner, UP Catalyst.
Partial inspiration for this project has been customer feedback to increase the purity of our product for specific industrial applications. One possible way is through long purification cycles in the lab with the use of chemical processes. However, we want to offer the best industry practices that comply with sustainability standards, so we tried to find a solution. Effective communication with the end buyer who will be directly benefited from the improvements in our production process is very important to us and we take this feedback very seriously. Our mission is to educate industry manufacturers in our targeted markets to opt for sustainable materials but we are also open to comments that push us to become better.
This project brought together experts from Molten salt chemistry and physics (GREiA Research Group), mechanical engineering (Inegi, STUBA), chemical process engineering (GREiA Research Group), electro-chemistry (Up Catalyst), material science (STUBA), atmospheric chemistry (Up Catalyst) and prototype designing (Inegi, STUBA). This consortium will create a novel technology for filtering and purifying high-temperature molten salt. we are taking the industry knowledge from molten salt energy storage (GREiA Research Group, 20 years of exp.) and combining it with engineering a filtration system. With prototyping design knowledge from Inegi and STUBA we will be able to impact the industries that are looking for solutions to combat high-temperature liquids (molten salt) contamination issues or are looking for a way to extract particular mater from high-temperature liquids.
We propose a high-temperature molten salt integrated electrolyte salt regeneration system for sustainable carbon nanomaterials/graphite production reactors. The continuous flow regeneration system separates solids from molten salt without stopping the reaction process or lifting out the electrodes. Therefore, long purification cycles will be avoided in the lab later on, where a large quantity of the salt will be chemically washed away. The innovation comes in when we combine a high temperature and corrosive environment (the molten salt). This helps remove solid impurities from the electrolyte and will lead to a higher purity. In addition, the molten salt hot press filter helps to remove the attached electrolyte salt from the synthesised product material. This lowers the chemical purification quantity significantly. The end effect is a lower environmental footprint, use of less electrolyte salt, minimal waste, circular economy, higher purity product and lower production costs. No such commercial devices on kilogram and ton scale of this kind of technology exist until now.
The molten salt regeneration system will be patented by UP Catalyst who will be responsible for licensing the technology to third parties. The technology can be used by other industrial manufacturers who are using a molten-salt reactor and need to extend the life cycle of carbonate salt while removing impurities. Also, the high-temperature press device could be used for other processes where solids must be separated from the liquid at high temperatures.
Considering that the system will be incorporated into the UP Catalyst reactors for a ton-scale, and later on an industrial-scale production the technology will be transferred outside of Estonia. UP Catalyst's technology-Molten Salt Carbon Capture and Electrochemical Transformation can take place anywhere in the world due to the use of CO2 as a feedstock-an abundant local resource.
It is in our plans to build 1/20 of the industrial-scale reactor in Estonia by 2025, which will transform 140 tons of CO2 into 38 tons of carbon material annually. However, the current estimation is that the factories will be built in Europe, next to EV battery manufacturers who are in need of our products by 2030, when we will be able to capture 1.1 million tons of CO2 and transform it into 300 kilotons of carbon material per year. Our focus is international and we want to become a global supplier of sustainable carbon. We have already customers outside of Europe, so we would consider taking our technology outside of the European borders at some point.
Green manufacturing is a crucial global challenge and prerequisite to meeting world sustainability goals. Companies have to either develop new technologies or optimise the already existing ones to meet higher sustainability standards. As Europe has set the ambitious aim to become climate neutral by 2050, the pressure is on for European manufacturers.
The driving force of MoReCCU is to tackle resource depletion and maximise efficiency. MoReCCU is a revolutionary initiative that will enable us to make the base technology for turning CO2 into valuable carbon material in the form of carbon nanomaterials and graphite as sustainable as possible. We have developed a system that takes into account vital production aspects, such as waste management, raw material sourcing, and energy consumption, and manages to improve all these through automated material recycling and impurity removal. This will help to lower CO2 emissions and costs on a large scale. Another challenge that urged the implementation of this project is the increased demand for molten salt in industrial applications which has led to price increases. This technology enables the improvement of the global environment by lowering the need for new electrolyte salt mining. In other words, finding local solutions for minimising waste and keeping the process footprint as low as possible and making the product even more sustainable.
