Queens Carbon is developing a hydrothermal processing technology to significantly reduce the energy consumption and cost for both carbon capture and carbon-neutral cement production.

About the Project

Manufacturing large-volume products, such as cement, results in billions of tons of CO2 emissions annually. Carbonation, the forming of carbonate materials, helps solve this problem by capturing CO2 in minerals such as limestone. However, substantial amounts of heat and energy are typically required to release the carbon captured in these materials through a step called calcination. A low-energy and -cost process for this reaction would solve a plethora of environmental challenges, including enabling large-scale, commercially viable carbon capture and carbon-neutral cement production.

Queens Carbon’s patented approach leverages hydrothermal technology to reduce the temperature of carbonate mineral processing to less than 1000 F compared with typical calcination temperatures of greater than 1800 F. Furthermore, this game-changing technology is also capable of producing carbon-neutral cement at less than 1000 F, which is substantially lower than typical cement production temperatures of over 2700 F. Ultimately, this temperature reduction enables the use of renewable energy technologies and decreases the energy and cost requirements for carbon emissions avoidance and capture.

Once adopted on a global scale, Queens Carbon’s technology will enable a billions of tons-scale decarbonization and defossilization of the chemical industry without compromising on cost or product performance.