US-based company Blue Planet is developing a profitable and sustainable CCUS system that captures CO₂ from a variety of emission sources. These include power, steel, cement, refining, direct air capture and other CO₂ emitting industries. The system mineralizes the CO₂ to form highly sustainable synthetic limestone aggregates by permanently sequestering the CO₂ in a solid form to be incorporated in concrete. Aggregate is the main component of concrete (70 – 90%) and the most used building material worldwide. Aggregates in concrete are bound together by cement, a significant contributor to global CO₂ emissions (7% as per the International Energy Agency). With this process the CO₂ footprint of cement in the concrete is more than off-set.

Sulzer Chemtech, the leader in separation and mixing technology, is developing an efficient and effective carbon capture unit that will be a key enabler in Blue Planet’s process. This will be installed in Blue Planet’s pilot plant, which is being constructed in Pittsburg, California, USA, and will capture emissions from an adjacent natural gas-fired power plant. The facility will leverage Sulzer Chemtech’s technologies providing high CO₂ absorption performance while maintaining low energy consumption.

Brent R. Constantz, Ph.D., CEO at Blue Planet, comments: “Sulzer Chemtech is an ideal partner to help us meet our goal of delivering cost and energy efficient plants to permanently store CO₂ in concrete by producing sustainable cement and concrete using Blue Planet’s technology. Together, we will be able to offer market leading solutions to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint.”

Torsten Wintergerste, Division President Chemtech, concludes: “We are delighted to contribute our expertise of circular applications to such a cutting-edge project. It will help reduce carbon emissions from industrial applications and the cement sector – a main concern of our customers.”