3 months ago, our innovative demo-unit was successfully transferred from OMV Petrom’s Petrobrazi Refinery in Romania to the Yerakini Mine in Chalkidiki operated by Grecian Magnesite. The installation is now in full swing and we asked Dr Haris Yiannoulakis, R&D Manager at Grecian Magnesite, some questions about the project and the installation. 

The ConsenCUS project has developed such an innovative way of capturing CO2. What made Grecian Magnesite decide to join this international project?

First of all, it was the overarching necessity of addressing the reduction our CO2 emissions. The magnesia sector is energy intensive, and much like the cement sector, we have to significantly reduce our carbon footprint to align with EU’s energy transition strategy. We have turned of course our attention to renewable fuels but in the long run there will still be the geogenic emissions from our process which are unavoidable. These will have to be captured and stored or utilized. To this end, we have been participating in several research projects, but ConsenCUS had an extra appeal: it promised to make CC possible by cleverly regenerating the absorbent and utilizing the captured CO2 with a net consumption of only electricity and water. We have been investing in solar power so it seemed like a very nice fit. 

The demo-unit was installed at the end of 2024. Is the demo-unit running conform expectations?

The demo unit has now been in operation for almost two months and will continue to operate for at least another two months so it the jury is still out, so to speak. Weekly operational hours will also go up during the next period. Up to now we have focused on and achieved operational stability under various flue gas characteristics and the plant has proved its adaptability to our process, but the bulk of the more “exciting” runs is yet to come. What I can definitely say however, is the robustness of the pilot plant, its comprehensive control and ease of operation, greatly thanks to the ConsenCUS project’s technical team ability in design and groundwork. What has been achieved in such a short period of time still amazes me.

Dr Haris Yiannoulakis
R&D Manager at Grecian Magnesite, with the ConsenCUS demonstration unit.

When would the demo-unit be successful for Grecian Magnesite?

There is definitely an exciting academic and scientific aspect to the project which I cannot overlook and this will be a great success, but in the long run all industrial applications are judged by two things: efficiency and cost. In our case, we will be looking for an actual demonstration of high CO2 capture efficiency from our flue gases at the lowest possible specific electrical energy consumption, possible in terms of what the actual pilot plant can accomplish. Mind you, commercialization of a technology cannot be fully accomplished within a single Horizon project, so even when our project’s performance indicators are met, success also has to do with laying a clear path for further optimization!

Setting up the demo-unit 

By now, the technical team at ConsenCUS is pro when it comes to moving the unit from one location to another. The unit was developed by and has had its first test run at Aalborg Portland’s Rørdal cement production site. After which it was moved from Aalborg Portland to OMV Petrom’s Petrobrazi refinery by the same team. So now the unit is located Yerakini Mine in Chalkidiki, Greece. Below you can view a time-lapse of the construction of the demo unit at the Grecian Magnesite.