China United Qingzhou Co launches China's largest CCUS project

On 28 June 2023, the China United Qingzhou Co Ltd’s 200,000tpa Carbon Dioxide Full Oxygen Combustion Enrichment and Purification Demonstration Project was successfully launched. This project is currently the largest carbon capture and utilisation project in the China cement industry, the first of its kind in Shandong province, and the first cement sector carbon capture and utilisation project of China National Building Materials Group. 

The investment has been listed as one of the first batch of “open competition mechanism to select the best candidates” projects organised by CBMF and included in the "industry category" project list of the National Development and Reform Commission's low-carbon technology research and development.

The project is a joint effort between Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute and Shanghai Triumph Energy Conservation Engineering Co Ltd with an investment of CNY256m (US$35.5m). It relies on the No 2 production line of Qingzhou Zhonglian and constructs a demonstration line for a cement kiln with CO₂ emissions of 200,000tpa with full oxygen combustion coupled with low energy consumption carbon capture.

The main engineering includes the oxygen production system, CO₂ self-enrichment system, CO₂ capture and purification system, etc. The oxygen production system adopts pressure swing adsorption oxygen production technology while the CO₂ self-enrichment system adopts full oxygen combustion technology. The CO₂ capture and purification system adopts a combination of pressure swing adsorption and adsorption distillation purification technology.

The project integrates the most advanced technologies and process equipment internationally and domestically, which can increase the CO₂ concentration in flue gas from the conventional 20-30 to over 75 per cent, effectively reducing the cost of carbon capture. Compared with conventional chemical absorption methods, the unit cost of CO₂ production in this project can be reduced by about 25 per cent. The resulting CO₂ products can be widely used in industries such as oil recovery, welding, chemical engineering, agriculture, beverages and cold chain.