Decarbonization ‘3D’ Carbon Capture Pilot Plant to Process Steelmaking Gases

The ‘3D’ carbon capture pilot plant is the brainchild of a consortium including Totalenergies, Arcelor Mittal, Axens and IFP Energies Nouvelles. The plant has started up at Arcelor Mittal’s Dunkirk site in France and will capture 0.5 tons of CO2 an hour. The project is an important step in decarbonizing the steelmaking industry.

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Dunkirk/France – The ‘3D’ industrial pilot to demonstrate an innovative process for capturing CO2 from industrial activities is now running at Arcelor Mittal’s Dunkirk site in France. With support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program, the project aims to validate replicable technical solutions for carbon capture. The ‘3D’ project, driven by a consortium including Totalenergies, Arcelor Mittal, Axens and IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN), is a major step towards decarbonizing industries that are highly emissive of CO2, such as steelmaking.

The challenge for carbon capture researchers is making the processes more competitive and less energy intensive. This industrial pilot should allow the performance of the DMXTM carbon capture process developed in IFPEN’s labs over the last ten years to be verified.

The project was launched in May 2019, and the building of the demonstrator began in 2020 under Axens’ supervision. Last December, the pilot’s main modules, including a 22-meter tower, were delivered and assembled at Arcelor Mittal’s site in Dunkirk. The phases of building the pilot and connecting it to the plant have now been completed, and the unit is ready for start-up.

This demonstration, which is scheduled to last for 12 to 18 months, is the final stage before the technology’s full-scale deployment.

The carbon capture facility will process steelmaking gases: it will demonstrate the effectiveness of the carbon capture process by separating the CO2 from other gases. During the demonstration stage, it will capture 0.5 tons of CO2 an hour, i.e. more than 4,000 tons a year.

"This carbon capture pilot is a big step towards decarbonizing the industry: it is being tested in steelmaking, but can also be applied to refining processes, contributing to Totalenergies’ net zero ambition for 2050, together with society,” said Marie-Noëlle Semeria, Chief Technology Officer at Totalenergies.

The project is a vital driver for reaching the targets of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It includes twelve partners from research and industry in six European countries: Arcelor Mittal, IFPEN, Axens, Totalenergies and its affiliate Greenflex, ETH, DTU, Air Products, John Cockerill, Gassco, Brevik Engineering and Seqens. The project also has two sponsors: Suez and Lhoist.

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