Mineral Carbonation of Serpentinite: From the Laboratory to Pilot Scale – the Mci Project
International Conference on Accelerated Carbonation for Environmental and Material Engineering ACEME
2015
2015 International Conference on Accelerated Carbonation for Environmental and Material Engineering (ACEME)
Pilot and full-scale applications
Pilot and Large Scale 1
Wednesday, June 24, 2015 - 1:30pm to 1:45pm
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as serpentinite has been studied extensively on the laboratory scale. While
various process routes have been investigated experimentally, (and also to some
extent in desktop studies of industrial-scale processes), actual carbonation work
has been restricted to the gram scale. The IPCC Special Report on CCS in 2006
highlighted the absence of pilot scale studies as an impediment to furthering
the assessment of the feasibility of mineral carbonation. line-height:normal"> mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri'>In Australia, the ### Project was launched in
2013, with funding from both state and federal governments as well as an
industry partner. This project aims to build the world?s first serpentinite carbonation
research pilot plant to demonstrate the feasibility of mineral carbonation at a
larger scale than previously possible, with a further aim to design a feasible process
for an industrial scale demonstration plant. line-height:normal"> mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri'>The project comprises three core themes. The
first is the construction and operation of a research pilot plant to carbonate
ore at the scale of tens of tonnes per annum. Learnings and results from this
plant will be used to quantify the overall life cycle metrics including energy
and emission efficiencies and costs, as well as to design the next generation
demonstration scale plant. The second theme comprises a complementary portfolio
of research projects aimed at improving the current state of knowledge of, and optimising,
aqueous mineral carbonation processes. The third theme is to undertake activities
that support the project and to commercialise the technology. While the project
is centred at the University of ***, collaborative research is also being
undertaken by $$$ and +++. line-height:normal"> mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri'>The research includes fundamental studies of the
kinetics of heat activation and aqueous carbonation as well as novel approaches
to enhance mineral dissolution and carbonate precipitation. Promising avenues
that may reduce the energy intensity of the well-known ARC/NETL process are
being explored. These include reduced process pressure and the avoidance of
reagent additives. line-height:normal"> mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri'>An area that has hitherto been largely neglected
in mineral carbonation studies is that of process synergies with associated
power generation and carbon capture processes. In contrast to conventional
underground storage of captured carbon where few opportunities for process
synergy are readily apparent, synergies could be of crucial importance to
mineral carbonation. A prominent example is the utilisation of the exothermic
heat of carbonation in the regeneration of CO2 sorbents. This can
provide a substantial reduction in the energy penalty of capture. Another area
of potential advantage lies in the possibility of processing impure streams of
CO2. The ability to accept impurities such as nitrogen, oxygen and
acids would open the way to less energy-intensive CO2 capture
processes. The ### project is constructing case studies linking the aqueous
carbonation process to various power generation and carbon capture
technologies. line-height:normal"> mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri'>Another area where mineral carbonation differs
from conventional storage is the potential exploitation of by-products. Metals
such as iron, chromium and nickel can be extracted from the serpentinite ore.
Furthermore, the solid products of carbonation could be used in construction
materials such as cement products. The project includes studies on the technical
and commercial potential for such by-products as well as possibilities for
industrial ecologies. line-height:normal"> mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri'>A viable mineral carbonation industry will
require key ancillary operations at both the front-end ore identification and
mining phases as well as at the final product disposal phases. In this regard,
the ### project is also undertaking geological studies that include the
identification of ore bodies that have a low content of potentially hazardous
fibrous chrysotile yet are sufficiently reactive in the carbonation process.
Post-carbonation dewatering of the final product is another area of
investigation that has not been addressed before. line-height:normal"> mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri'>This paper describes the overall project and the
research activities, highlighting the key challenges.