MUCC Begins the World's First Ammonia Co-Combustion Test with Actual Equipment in the Cement Manufacturing Process
Apr 5, 2023
Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation
Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation ("MUCC") (head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Makoto Koyama) has begun a co-combustion test with a cement kiln (combustion furnace) and a calciner at Ube Cement Plant (Ube-city, Yamaguchi) using ammonia as a fuel with the view toward reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the cement manufacturing process. We are the first in the world to conduct co-combustion with ammonia using actual equipment in the cement manufacturing process*.
Coal is the major fuel in the manufacture of clinker which is an interim product of cement. Our diverse initiatives for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions include the co-combustion of construction waste materials and plastic waste.
Ammonia is attracting international attention as a next-generation fuel that does not emit carbon dioxide. We engaged in the development of technology for an ammonia co-combustion cement kiln, having participated as what was then Ube Industries Ltd. in the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Cabinet Office from 2014 to 2018, before our business integration. The project included research and development for the replacement of fossil fuel using ammonia in the cement manufacturing process. We successfully assessed the impact of ammonia co-combustion on cement clinker burning by performing combustion tests using a small industrial furnace and analyzing the quantifiable data.
We will increase the co-combustion ratio in stages (up to our goal of 30%), identify issues in energy conversion and implement measures to realize carbon neutrality in 2050.
- *As of March 2023, according to our research
For Inquiries Regarding News Releases
Iino Building, 2-1-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8521
Corporate Communications Office, General Affairs Dept.
TEL