CPPE CO2 removal technology - Rumelange

2015 - ongoing

Rumelange, Luxembourg

Since 2015, CPPE has been continuously testing and upgrading its CO2 into fertilizer technology at its pilot plant located in Rumelange at Cimalux’s clinker production facility. This project has been financially supported by the Grand Duchy’s Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade.

The conducted tests proved that CPPE’s technology is capable of removing 100% of CO2.

CPPE takes CO2 which is obtained at Cimalux (or which can be taken at any other industrial plants in the process to produce energy, copper or other products) and together with ammonia converts that CO2 into ammonium bicarbonate (ABC) fertilizer. Thus, CPPE “recycles” the CO2.

CPPE possesses a Belgian certificate for this fertilizer and it can be sold in the EU. It can also be used to enrich the classical NPK fertilizers lacking of Nitrogen.

As the next step, CPPE will build a semi-industrial plant for a Luxembourg-based power utility company. At this plant CPPE will be converting CO2 into urea.


CPPE’s pilot plant at CIMALUX in Rumalange/Luxembourg
 

SIMPLIFIED COST/BENEFIT CALCULATION

At its pilot plant in Rumelange, CPPE works with an inlet of 300 m3/h of flue gas with 15 v% CO2. The plant needs some cooling energy (+/- 20 kW depending on ambient temperature), some electricity consumption (2-5 kW, depending on required conversion rate), and some water consumption (about 10 L/h).

The pilot plant eliminates max. 82 kg of CO2/h.

The main consumable is ammonia. The pilot installation requires max 34 kg of ammonia per hour.

The installation produces ca. 159 kg of ammonium bicarbonate fertilizer per hour.

A very simplified calculation gives the following picture for production of 159 kg of ABC/h:

Assumed cost of ammonia per tonne: 400 to 450 EUR

Cost of ammonia per kg: 0.40 to 0.45 EUR

Ammonia cost per hour: (34 x 0.40/0.45) 13.60 to 15.30 EUR

Assumed price per ETS certificate: 25 EUR

Saving in form of unpurchased ETS certificates: 0.082 tonne of CO2 = 2.05 EUR

Total main cost: ammonia minus ETS certificate = 11.55 to 13.25 EUR

Current offered market price for ABC fertilizer per tonne (Chinese import): 150 EUR

Price of ammonium bicarbonate per kg: 0.15 EUR

Price of ammonium bicarbonate per hour: (0.15 x 159) 23.85 EUR

Difference between main costs and fertilizer sale price: 10.60 to 12.30 EUR