Decarbonising Cement Manufacture Course

This six-week online training course is for cement professionals and other stakeholders seeking an in-depth understanding of the range of technologies that can be deployed in the reduction of CO₂ from the cement manufacturing process.

The cement manufacturing process is responsible for around seven per cent of man-made CO₂ emissions. Decarbonisation is now at the heart of the global agenda to confront climate change, and the cement industry will play a key role. Industry leaders have committed to pledges to deliver “Net Zero” carbon emissions from cement and concrete production by 2050, in order limit climate change to a 1.5°C increase over the period, in line with the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement.

In the meantime, many cement producers are aiming to move faster and are advancing ambitious carbon reduction strategies to achieve significant reduction by 2030.

All this will require the mobilisation of significant investment and the application of best practice and adoption of innovative technologies, which are the focus of this training course. 

Course content
This course will examine the industry’s progress to date in reducing CO₂ emissions, before segmenting the CO₂ involved in cement manufacture into the key areas of combustion, calcination and energy consumption.

Technical solutions for CO2 reduction are then explored within the associated themes of (i) diluting the CO₂ in cement, (ii) reducing calcination CO₂, (iii) reducing thermal CO₂, (iv) carbon capture, use and storage. Case studies on what has been achieved or is hoped to be achieved will be provided to illustrate each topic.

The course will involve 25 online lectures with regular Excel-based exercises to allow participants to better understand the technologies and economics of each decarbonisation approach. We estimate arround 5 hours of study per week over the 6 week course period. Content is available 24 hours a day.

To pass the course, students will need to sit 4 end of module exams with an average grade of 70% or higher.

By the end of this course, each participant will have a clear understanding of which steps the cement industry must take if it is to make its contribution to achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Lecture Outlines:

Module 1 – The imperative and the challenge

• Lecture 1: The imperative of decarbonising cement manufacturing
• Lecture 2: The challenge
• Exercise – Baseline world CO₂ emissions
• Lecture 3: The industry’s response
• Exercise – Extension of baseline CO₂ emissions to 2050
• Lecture 4: Segmenting the embodied CO₂ in cement: combustion, calcination and electricity
• Exercise – The IEA Reference Technology Scenario (RTS)

Module 2 – Diluting the embodied CO₂ in cement

• Lecture 5: Blended cements
• Lecture 6: Grinding aids and quality improvers
• Exercise – Profitability of quality improvers
• Lecture 7: Super-fine grinding
• Exercise – Profitability of booster mill
• Lecture 8: Enhancing the hydraulic reactivity of clinker
• Exercise – Link between clinker LSF and CO₂ emissions
• Lecture 9: Limestone calcined clay cement (LC³)
• Exercise – LC³ specific cement CO₂ savings
• Lecture 10: Hoffmann Green Cement
• Exercise – Clinker content reduction in the IEA’s 2DS scenario

Module 3 – Reducing the embodied CO₂ from calcination

• Lecture 11: Alternative raw materials
• Exercise – Correcting kiln feed LSF for steel slag
• Lecture 12: Alternative clinkers
• Exercise – CO₂ associated with clinker minerals
• Lecture 13: Solidia

Module 4 – Reducing the embodied CO₂ from energy

• Lecture 14: More energy efficient technology – cement kilns
• Exercise – Lower kiln energy consumption in IEA’s 2DS scenario
• Lecture 15: Clinker heat of reaction and mineralisation
• Lecture 16: Preheater and cooler exhaust gas and energy flows
• Exercise – Preheater and cooler exhaust gas energy flows
• Lecture 17: Fuel substitution with lower carbon fuels
• Exercise – Composition of preheater exhaust gas
• Lecture 18: Refractory engineering to reduce radiation losses
• Lecture 19: Reducing or eliminating the CO₂ from electricity consumed
• Exercise – Alternative fuels in the IEA’s 2DS scenario

Module 5 – Carbon capture, storage and use

• Lecture 20: Introduction to carbon capture
• Exercise – Carbon capture in the IEA’s 2DS scenario
• Lecture 21: Pre and post-combustion capture
• Lecture 22: Oxy-combustion
• Exercise –  Oxygen requirements for oxy-combustion
• Lecture 23: Calix calcination

Module 6 – Conclusion

• Lecture 24: It will never be enough
• Lecture 25: Do what we can