Researchers report an electrochemical process for decarbonating calcium carbonate and forming calcium hydroxide, which can be readily used to produce alite, a major component of Portland cement, along with concentrated streams of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, which could be captured and sequestered or used for electric power generation, improving cement kilns' efficiency, or synthesizing products such as liquid fuels, potentially reducing or eliminating cement industry greenhouse gas emissions.
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Article #18-21673: "Toward electrochemical synthesis of cement--An electrolyzer-based process for decarbonating CaCO3 while producing useful gas streams," by Leah D. Ellis, Andres F. Badel, Miki L. Chiang, Richard J.-Y. Park, and Yet-Ming Chiang.
MEDIA CONTACT: Yet-Ming Chiang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA; tel: 617-253-6471, 508-944-0922; e-mail: ychiang@mit.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences