Illinois university research team leading R&D on Carbon Capture at U.S. Steel plant
U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory has awarded $3,459,554 to the Prairie Research Institute of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for R&D to support the front-end engineering design (FEED) study on CO2 removal technologies.
The FEED study will be for a direct air capture and utilization system (DAC), capable of capturing 5,000 metric tons of CO2 annually from ambient air and mineralizing it in concrete products. This system will be larger than any DAC system used until now.
“We’re excited to bring together a strong team of academic and industry collaborators to accelerate effective, economical carbon capture and use,” said Dr. Kevin OBrien, the project’s principal investigator and leader of PRI’s Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.
The study will be undertaken at U. S. Steel’s Gary Works in Gary, Indiana using DAC technology by CarbonCapture Inc.
Once the CO2 emissions are captured, the liquified gas will be transported to the Ozinga ready mix concrete plants, which use CarbonCure’s technology. The CO2 will be injected directly into concrete as it is being mixed. This injected concrete will mineralize and be locked into the concrete forever.
The DOE expects DAC technology to play an important role in combating climate change and achieving the net-zero GHG emissions goal by 2050.
“U. S. Steel is committed to progressing our efforts described in our Climate Strategy Report to decarbonize and accelerate towards a lower carbon future, but we know that one company’s actions are not enough,” said Rich Fruehauf, Senior Vice President – Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer at U. S. Steel. “Achieving our goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 is going to take unprecedented innovation and collaboration.”
The DOE expects DAC technology to play an important role in combating climate change and achieving the net-zero GHG emissions goal by 2050.
