BASF, the Linde Group and ThyssenKrupp plan to develop an environmentally friendly basis to use carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from industry on an industrial scale.
The companies are developing a two-stage process. In the first step, a high-temperature process will crack natural gas into its constituent elements hydrogen and carbon. Compared to other processes, this technology produces very little CO2.
The hydrogen is then reacted with large volumes of CO2, captured from industrial emitters such as steel and power generation, to produce syngas − a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Syngas is a key raw material for the chemical industry and is also suitable for producing fuels and reducing iron ore to DRI.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is subsidising the project with a grant of €9.2M within its ‘Technologies for Sustainability and Climate Protection – Chemical Processes and Use of CO2’ scheme. The research programme started on July 1, 2013, and is expected to last three years.