Covestro: Trying to use carbon monoxide (CO) from steel manufacturing to produce polycarbonate

On the road to climate neutrality, developing new sources of raw materials is central
.
The Carbon2Chem project is investigating the possibility of cross-industry interoperability between the steel and chemical industries
.
The German government will continue to fund the project until 2024
.

Covestro is contributing its expertise to the Carbon2Polymers sub-project
.

The project aims to explore the use of carbon monoxide (CO) in metallurgical gases in the iron and steel industry to produce high-quality polycarbonate
.
Currently, Covestro has opened a small factory for this project at its Dormagen site
.
Here, Covestro tested whether the quality of carbon monoxide (CO) from the metallurgical gas was sufficient for further processing
.

This innovative process has great sustainability potential
.
Preliminary life cycle analysis shows that in the steel industry-chemical industry alliance, about 0.
48 kg of carbon dioxide (CO₂) can be saved for every kg of carbon monoxide (CO) supplied
.
This means savings of over 80%
.

Industrial symbiosis is key

The project demonstrates how important industrial symbiosis is on the road to climate-neutral production in Germany
.
Covestro has been working closely with ThyssenKrupp since 2016
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RWTH Aachen University and the Max-Planck Institute in Mülheim are also involved in the project
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Among other things, they perform life cycle analyses for these processes and test and develop new catalysts
.

Dr.
Stefanie Eiden is in charge of the Carbon2Polymers sub-project of Covestro
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She believes that the knowledge gained can also be helpful for other research projects
.
“The advantage of coke oven gases is that they bring with them a lot of by
-products.
If we successfully process carbon monoxide (CO) so that we can use it to produce our high-performance plastics, we can also treat carbon monoxide (CO) from other non-fossil sources.
CO) do the same
.
” By the end of this year, Covestro will assess whether this innovative process is economically and ecologically feasible
.

Setting the direction for a climate-neutral circular economy

Dr.
Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro, believes that the Carbon2Polymers project is another milestone in the development of the global circular economy
.
"We can only succeed in the fight against climate change if we collaborate profitably.
The collaboration
with ThyssenKrupp once again illustrates the enormous contribution that industry can make on the road to GHG-neutral production
.
By using coke oven gas, we are further advancing the reuse of raw materials, thus closing the cycle
.
”

The industry is getting support from politicians: The German government will provide an additional €75 million in funding for the Carbon2Chem project by 2024
.
As a result, the German steel industry's annual carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of around 20 million tonnes will become economically viable in the long term
.