CO₂ Research Project “catch4climate” Inaugurated

The research company CI4C GmbH & Co. KG officially inaugurated the world’s first research and development facility of its kind using the Pure Oxyfuel process designed by thyssenkrupp Polysius. The plant is intended to demonstrate how CO₂ emissions from cement production can be captured in an energy- and cost-efficient way using the oxyfuel process in the future, marking a significant milestone in the transformation of the cement industry.

Four partners, one goal: reducing CO₂ in the cement industry

The four European cement manufacturers Buzzi SpA/Dyckerhoff GmbH, Heidelberg Materials AG, SCHWENK Zement GmbH & Co. KG, and Vicat S.A. joined forces in 2019 to form the research company CI4C GmbH & Co. KG in order to jointly implement the flagship project “catch4climate.” With investments of more than €120 million, a dedicated rotary kiln line with a clinker production capacity of 450 tonnes per day was built at the Mergelstetten cement plant. It is the first facility to use the so-called Pure Oxyfuel process for CO₂ capture and is exclusively dedicated to research and development. No public funding was used.

“The first operation is a special milestone for everyone involved. When companies tackle shared challenges together with antitrust approval, such forward-looking successes are achievable. With ‘catch4climate,’ we are generating important insights for the future of CO₂ capture in the cement industry and creating considerable potential to improve climate protection,” said Jürgen Thormann, Technical Managing Director of CI4C GmbH & Co. KG.

Around 200 guests from politics, business, associations, academia, and the media attended the official inauguration, along with representatives of the four shareholder companies. Among the guests was Baden-Württemberg’s Minister for the Environment, Thekla Walker. The event program included expert presentations and discussions on the challenges and opportunities of industrial transformation. A special highlight was a custom-designed cement tunnel that took visitors on a journey through the history of cement as a building material—from the beginnings of Roman concrete to the prospects of climate-friendly cement production.

Pure Oxyfuel process in practical testing

In conventional combustion processes, air is typically used as the oxygen carrier. The Pure Oxyfuel process replaces air with pure oxygen, producing a highly concentrated CO₂ stream that significantly facilitates carbon capture. In the long term, the process is intended to lay the foundation for efficiently capturing CO₂ and subsequently storing it or reusing it as a feedstock for other industrial processes.

The project team had already achieved key milestones in the weeks leading up to the opening ceremony: at the end of May 2026, clinker was successfully produced for the first time. In mid-June, oxygen was fed into the plant for the first time. At the same time, the objectives of the first operational campaign were fully met—an important step toward the upcoming test phases.

The aim of the project is to establish the technical prerequisites for the large-scale deployment of CO₂ capture technologies in the cement industry. This is intended to make a significant contribution to reducing process-related CO₂ emissions, which are unavoidable in cement production.

The insights gained will help further develop CO₂ capture technologies and lay the foundation for their broader deployment in the European cement industry.