INNOVATION | MINERAL FILLERS
Right: Calcium carbonate produced by Ragn-Sells from waste ash may be used as a mineral filler for Tarkett’s vinyl flooring
is burned to produce electricity in Estonia, creating millions of tonnes of ash each year). Ragn-Sells’ patented process aims to combine the calcium in the ash with CO2
from other emission sources, to produce a precipi- tated CaCO3
(PCC). The government of Estonia invested €1.7m in the
Ragn-Sells project in January 2022. The company will use this to fund the engineering design of a demonstration plant and associated piloting activities. It is hoped the demonstration plant will be ready to produce 5,000-7,000 tonnes/year of PCC by 2024. The company’s plans include scaling up to commercial production volumes of around 500,000 tonnes/yr by 2027 or 2028 and aiming to make up to six more grades of PCC, according to Alar Saluste, Project Manager at Ragn-Sells. “It is important for us that we find areas of use
where the end products have long service lives; this is where we have the greatest opportunity to save as much as possible of the CO2
used in the
production of PCC and capture it for decades or more,” says Saluste. Polymers is one of the key target markets.
Ragn-Sells has already partnered with flooring manufacturer Tarkett, which will use PCC from the demonstration plant in its vinyl flooring products. Tarkett says that the calcium carbonate it currently
uses has a carbon neutral footprint of 0.006 kg CO2 equivalent per kg (cradle-to-gate); it anticipates that the new ash-based mineral will generate a carbon negative footprint of -0.4 kg CO2
per kg (cradle-to-gate). Tarkett says it uses several hundred thousand tonnes of mineral fillers (mostly calcium carbonate) every year in its vinyl flooring products. The Ragn-Sells material is hoped to help achieve its goal of using 30% recycled raw materials by 2030, the company says
Profile pilot In addition to Tarkett, Ragn-Sells is also working with German window profile manufacturer Gelean. “The specific needs of these two applications are very different,” says Saluste, who adds that the pilot plant will produce a few different grades of PCC for its partners. In 2021, the company’s first pilot trials produced
approximately 200kg of PCC. “As product and process development is ongoing, we plan to produce approximately 2.5-5.0 tonnes of PCC in a second pilot campaign and send it to the end- users,” reports Saluste. He says that crystal size and shape will be similar to existing PCC, with a purity of 98-99.5% calcium carbonate. The unique aspect
24 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2022
is said to be that the company’s PCC is “climate neutral or CO2
negative.” equivalent
LCA challenges As companies are focusing on reducing carbon footprint, many are using lifecycle assessment (LCA) as a measure of comparison. The transporta- tion of materials from their point of origin is typically a large source of carbon emissions that needs to be considered in the LCA calculation; mining or sourcing the mineral closer to its use is generally beneficial. The LCA of a mineral filler can then used as an input into the calculation of the LCA of a product made with the material. The “in use” part of the LCA is a significant and somewhat complex part of the environmental impact of a product. For example, if a material gives a plastic automotive part better physical properties that leads to light-weighting and better gas mileage, that can have a large impact on carbon emissions. Although LCAs are useful, companies that want to consider using new materials should be cautious about requiring an LCA too early in the develop- ment process, according to DeArmitt. “Obtaining a certified LCA for a material is an expensive process, which a new material may not be able to support until it has established uses,” he says.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
http://luminamaterials.com/ �
https://magristalc.com/ �
https://www.imerys-performance-minerals.com/ �
https://omyaloop.omya.com/ �
https://www.arcticminerals.com/ �
https://www.ragnsells.com/
www.compoundingworld.com
captured from the atmosphere, or
IMAGE: PHILIP GATWARD
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