Commercial-scale testing of ammonia heat for cement manufacturing in Japan

Click to learn more. MUCC has commenced demonstration tests of using ammonia as a heat source in cement production at its Ube Cement Plant. Source: MUCC.

At its cement production site (Ube Cement Plant) in Ube City, Yamaguchi, Mitsubishi UBE Cement Corporation (MUCC) has commenced the “world’s first” commercial-scale demonstration test of using ammonia as a heat source in the cement production process.

Installed in partnership with UBE Corporation (for ammonia supply), the co-firing test facility will use ammonia as part of a fuel mix to heat a cement kiln (combustion furnace for clinker production) and a calciner.

The project was initially announced in April 2023 when the company began ammonia co-combustion tests at the same facility. The project was thereafter selected for Yamaguchi Prefecture’s Carbon Neutral Complex Development Promotion Subsidy.

According to the press release, the company has capability to replace 30% of the calorific value of coal with ammonia in the cement kiln, and are planning, by year end 2025, to achieve a similar feat for the calciner. Going forward, the company aims to conduct further tests including utilising plastic and other waste, in addition to ammonia, as part of the thermal energy mix for cement kilns and calciners.

In the cement production process, using coal and waste as heat, the kiln is heated to around 1,450°C to produce clinker (an important intermediary leading to Portland Cement). Upstream of that, the limestone is heated to about 900°C.