(698b) Economic Assessment of Novel Process Turning Industrial Waste Gases (mixed CO/CO2 streams) into Intermediates for Polyurethanes for Rigid Foams and Coatings

The chemical and manufacturing industries in
particular is an extremely large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and
the global warming effect¹. The steel industry alone accounts for
around 4.5% of global CO₂ emissions². Reduction of
emissions and a decrease in the usage of fossil fuels must happen in order to fight
this. Industrial symbiosis is one way in which this can be done. The EU
funded Carbon4PUR project develops a novel process for the manufacture of
polyol intermediates for polyurethane plastics from steel production flue gases
(mixed CO/CO₂ streams). The project consortium comprises
15 industrial partners and academic institutions throughout Europe.

The project aims to
make polyurethane production less dependent on fossil fuels. The goal is to decrease
the carbon footprint of production of polyurethane intermediates by approximately
20-60%¹ and reduce the cost by around 25%. The project also
contributes to creation of new employment, reducing the dependency of industry
on imports and provide a secure supply of carbon feedstock.

The process begins with
hydrogen removal from the flue gas streams, shown in Figure 1 as eFlue Gas
Conditioningf. The CO and CO₂ in these streams are transformed to
lactones and cyclic carbonates, respectively, which are used as building blocks
for the different kinds of polyols to be produced in the process. These novel
polyols are reacted with isocyanates to produce specific kinds of polyurethanes,
particularly rigid foams for building insulation and wood coatings. A diagram
of this process is shown in Figure 1.

Figure
1. Basic
schematic of the Carbon4PUR process.¹

It is very useful to be able to determine the cost of
the flue gas taken from steel plants, as it is the chief novel feed stock and
the most crucial to this process. A method is also presented for the
determination of the production cost of the flue gas, depending on its usage on
a temporal basis and therefore its economic value to the steel producer. This
is necessary information when attempting to assess the economic viability of a
novel industrial symbiosis type project as it can be easily compared to current
production methods.

Acknowledgments

This
project has received funding from the European Unionfs Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 768919.

References

[1] Carbon4PUR
(2018). The project – Concept. Carbon4PUR.
Retrieved from https://www.carbon4pur.eu/about/the-project/

[2]
D.E. Wiley, T.M. Ho, A. Bustamante (2011). Assessment
of Opportunities for CO2 Capture at Iron and Steel

Mills: An Australian Perspective. Elsevier, Energy Procedia 4, pp 2654-2661.