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    Illinois university research team leading R&D on Carbon Capture at U.S. Steel plant

    June 24, 2022
    The FEED study will be for a DAC system which will capture 5,000 metric tons of CO2 annually from the air and inject it into concrete
    Graphic credit CarbonCapture
    Carboncapture 62b5b26a24c91

    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.

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.