The Mexican multinational Cemex is committed to achieving the carbon neutrality through constant innovation and research and development, which is why it is working with Synhelion in the development of a project aimed at the construction of an industrial-scale cement pilot plant driven by thermosolar energy.

At the beginning of 2022, these companies announced the first successful production of thermosolar clinker in a small-scale batch process. Advancing from that stage to production under plant-like conditions reaffirms the tremendous potential of this technology to achieve industrial-scale implementation, notes the evwind.com.

Continuous clinker production is the most energy-intensive part of cement manufacturing.

"I am convinced that we are moving closer to technologies that will enable zero net CO2 cement and concrete production. The solid progress I see here demonstrates that solar cement is not just a dream; it can be achieved through continued collaboration and backed by rigorous research and testing," said Fernando A. Gonzalez, CEO of Cemex.

Gianluca AmbrosettiSynhelion's CEO and co-founder, added: "This is an exciting milestone for all involved, achieved through excellent collaboration between the teams of both companies.

"Our technology can make an important contribution to decarbonizing cement production, and we look forward to further pioneering achievements in this field," he stressed.

Clinker is produced in a rotary kiln at temperatures approaching 1500°C. Fossil fuels are typically used to heat the kiln and are responsible for approximately 40% of direct CO2 emissions. Synhelion's innovative technology provides enough heat to produce clinker without using fossil fuels.

Completely replacing fossil fuels with solar power is a game changer in the efforts of Cemex to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In addition, the technology creates the conditions to separate and thus capture the remaining CO2 from calcination in concentrated form without additional efforts.

Source: evwind.com