Cambridge Carbon Cam202029

DIRECT AIR CO2 CAPTURE & MINERALISATION
CAM202029
PHASE 1 FINAL REPORT (PUBLIC)
21st January 2022
Author: Michael Evans, CEO Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd
Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd, Allia Future Business Centre, Kings Hedges Road, Cambridge. CB4 2HY.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 DESCRIPTION OF THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING UNDERPINNING CO2LOC DAC SOLUTION... 2

1.1 CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES USED, MATERIALS AND SUBSTANCES REQUIRED, HOW THEY WILL BE
SOURCED AND CONSUMED OR DISPOSED OF. .......................................................................................................... 2
1.2 ENERGY AND FUEL REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................................... 4
1.3 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS. ....................................................................................................................... 6
2 A DETAILED ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR A PILOT PROJECT .............................................................. 8

2.1 PILOT DESIGN.......................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2 OSL DRAWINGS AND DOCUMENTS .........................................................................................................10
2.3 MASS BALANCE. ....................................................................................................................................10
2.4 COST SAVINGS COMPARED WITH EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTS. .................................................10
3 PROJECT PLAN..........................................................................................................................................11
3.1 THE SELECTED PILOT SITE. .....................................................................................................................11
3.2 INTERACTION WITH CURRENT OR PROPOSED USE OF THE SITE OR ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN AT IT . ...............11
3.3 PILOT PROJECT GANTT CHART. ..............................................................................................................12
4 PROGRAMME AND BUSINESS PLAN ......................................................................................................14
4.1 CAMBRIDGE CARBON CAPTURE’S DAC BUSINESS MODEL .......................................................................15
4.2 NEXT STAGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT. ........................................................................................................16
4.3 HOW THIS DEVELOPMENT WOULD BE INFORMED BY INFORMATION GAINED DURING PILOT PHASE. ...............17
4.4 DEPENDENCIES. ....................................................................................................................................18
5 APPENDIX A ...............................................................................................................................................19
6 APPENDIX B: PILOT SITE SELECTION ....................................................................................................20
7 APPENDIX C: PROJECT PLAN & MILESTONE REGISTER ....................................................................21
1 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

1 DESCRIPTION OF THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
UNDERPINNING CO 2 LOC DAC SOLUTION
1.1 CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES USED, MATERIALS AND

SUBSTANCES REQUIRED, HOW THEY WILL BE SOURCED AND
CONSUMED OR DISPOSED OF.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DAC PROCESS.

Over the multi-billion-year life of our planet its temperature has remained fairly constant
despite the sun growing significantly hotter. It has done this by removing most of the CO2
that used to reside in the atmosphere. The dominant mechanism for this was the reaction of
CO2 with abundant Magnesium Silicate minerals produced by volcanic activity.
Cambridge Carbon Capture’s Patented CO2LOC technology greatly accelerates this natural
process by first digesting these abundant Magnesium Silicate minerals. The CO2LOC
process has been developed to selectively capture CO2, NOx and SOx from industrial
emissions and converts them to commercially useful Magnesium Carbonate minerals. These
gases exist in relatively high concentrations in the industrial emissions and this drives the
reactions in the process. However, CO2 in air is at a very low concentration and as a result
the driving ‘pressure’ is low resulting in very slow reactions. In this project the CO2LOC
process has been adapted to capture CO2 directly from air.
In the modified CO2LOC process, a sustainable supply of magnesium hydroxide is produced

by digesting Magnesium Silicate rocks or mine tailings with CCC’s digestant. The
Magnesium Silicate is first pulverised and blended with CCC’s digestant and then reacted in
a specially designed reactor. This produces Magnesium Hydroxide and Silica; the
Magnesium Hydroxide is then used to capture and sequester CO2 as Magnesium Carbonate.
SOURCE OF MATERIALS USED

The CO2LOC process starts with abundant Magnesium Silicates, these materials are often
what makes up mining tailings in many existing mineral/metal extraction operations so could
be regarded as a waste stream. However, when at scale the process could inspire mining
operations specifically aimed at the supply of Magnesium Silicates for the process. To this
end, CCC are working with Metamorphic, a mining start-up in Norway with mineral rights for
over a billion tonnes of serpentine minerals and are working with Camborne School of Mines
to survey available resource across Europe and opportunities to add additional value through
environmentally sustainable extraction of critical metals such as Nickel and Cobalt.
The digestion is not restricted to any one mineral. Talc has been chosen, but every
Magnesium Silicate mineral studied so far has been digested by our process.

For the pilot the main feedstocks required for the process are ground soapstone or talc
minerals, CCC’s digestant, water and air. The silicate mineral (10 tonnes needed for the
trials) and the CCC’s digestant (11 tonnes needed for trials) will be sourced from European
suppliers.
DISPOSAL OF WASTE
The philosophy behind the CO2LOC process is that all the by-products of the process have
value and are sold into existing or future markets generating revenues, the 50kt plant will
therefore have no waste outputs. One of the purposes of the Pilot plant is to help develop
local markets for the by-products by providing materials for trials with future customers for
the by-products for the 50kt plant.
The CO2 that is captured is locked away as Magnesium Carbonate and it is planned that this
will be used as a construction material when at a commercial stage. CCC is working with
Holcim, Saint Gobain, CRH and others to develop construction materials using our captured
CO2 and the plan with the pilot project is to provide the magnesium carbonate produced to
these partners to enable them to develop and test materials. The Magnesium Carbonate
produced is therefore removed from site free of charge by our construction materials
development partners.
The pilot project will support the development of construction materials with partners so that,
by the time the 50kt plant is being commissioned, there will be a local market demand for the
magnesium carbonate produced, this market being of a sufficient size to take all the material
produced at the site and at a gate price which helps support the venture as a going concern
without the need for further UK Government support.
Another by-product will be the silica. At the pilot stage, the silica will also contain trace
metals contained in the magnesium silicate feedstock and will be in a form which will depend
greatly on the process conditions selected. It is the intention of the pilot project to explore the
properties of the produced silica at differing process conditions and determine further
process steps needed to extract the various metals contained within. These investigations
will be carried out as part of the pilot trials. As there is currently not a customer for this by-
product output from the pilot trials, this material will be collected and removed from site as a
waste product. A budget will be allocated for this activity within the pilot project. However, the
intention of the pilot trial is to establish a local market for the silica and metals produced. To
this end, CCC have been working with an industrial expert in silicas and magnesium
carbonates, and his contacts at PQ Corporation, (https://www.pqcorp.com/), to bring them in
as partners in the pilot trial to explore properties achievable and develop markets for these
materials and explore their use in existing target markets such as uses in high quality cement
and a filler in tyres and other wear resistant rubber and plastic products. This will lead to the
development of a market for the silica produced in time to offtake the silica produced by the
50kt Plant and generate further revenue for the plant.

1.2 ENERGY AND FUEL REQUIREMENTS
The pilot plant will use UK grid electricity for the heat and power needed for its operation as
this is the most convenient option on the pilot site selected. The pilot has been designed to
enable each of the 3 key reactions to be run independently to enable each to be optimised
independently of each other. However, each part of the pilot is designed at the scale which
would enable them to be linked to form an integrated process. The pilot therefore is designed
to be flexible rather than efficient, and part of the integration exercise will be to look for areas
where heat can be recovered and reused in the 50kt plant design.
A detailed TEA and LCA of the proposed 50kt Capture Plant was carried out as one of the
key deliverables of this project. In this analysis the process was split into a number of stages
and the energy and fuel requirements and subsequent CO2e emissions have been calculated
and presented in the following Table 1.

Process Step Sub-step Aspect of the Process CO2 Source CO2 Produced CO2 Saved (Kg Net CO2
Process producing CO2 (Kg CO2eq / t CO2eq / t CO2seq) Emissions (Kg
CO2seq) CO2eq / t CO2seq)
Input Materials Mineral Energy Input Mining operations Diesel -

extraction
Mineral mine CO2 from Transport Diesel -

logistics transport of
tailings to dig
plant
Mineral Crushing Energy Input Crushing Grid Electricity -

(Coal Fired PS)
Mineral Milling Energy Input Milling Grid Electricity -

(Coal Fired PS)
Digestant Energy Input Manufacturing CO2 from -

Manufacture process & delivery chemical reaction
to site
Transport Shipping of CO2 from Shipping (1000 Diesel -

milled minerals to transport of miles)
DAC site brucite to emitter
Digestion Digestion Heat Energy Input Countering heat Natural Gas -

loss and reaction
endotherm
Digestion CO2 released CO2 from Mineral -

Process from process serpentine /Digestant
digestion to form
Mg(OH)2
Solids Filtering of Energy Input Pumping and Grid Electricity -

Separation Mg(OH)2 mixing (Gas Fired PS)
Air Capture - CO2 Capture Process -
Digestant Digestant Reagent CO2 reabsorbed by

Recovery Recovered (80%) Recycling process
Heat input for Energy Input CO2 from heat Heat recovered
digestion agent needed to run from digestion
recovery process evaporator step
Ultrafiltration Silica extraction Energy Input Pumping Grid Electricity -

(Gas Fired PS)
Precious Metal Electro-refining Energy Input PM extraction - Grid Electricity -

Extraction plant Electrolysis (Gas Fired PS)
CO2 Mineralisation of Energy Input Electrical Power Grid Electricity -

Sequestration CO2 Input of (Gas Fired PS)
Carbonator
Water recovery Energy Input Electrical Power Grid Electricity -

and mineral Input of slurry (Gas Fired PS)
extraction mixer and filter
press
Transport MgCO3 to Energy Input 200 miles by rail Diesel -

construction
materials
customer
Silica to Energy Input 200 miles by rail Diesel

customer
Fossil Fuel 494.52

Used
Renewables 181.14
Used
Table 1: Energy intensity and source breakdown
Table 1 lists the emissions produced by the process normalised to a tonne of captured CO 2.
The conclusion is that for every tonne captured 495 KgCO2eq is released giving a NET
benefit of 505 KgCO2eq for every tonne removed from the air.

This analysis was based on the use of electricity and heat generated from coal at the mine
site and Natural Gas at the UK based plant. This represents the worst case. However, the
mine we propose to use to supply magnesium silicate materials is being planned by
Metamorphic Ltd in Norway. The mine site is located near a hydroelectric dam and, as the
mine is yet to be developed, all plant and mine vehicles on the site are likely to be powered
by renewable electricity from the dam. This would reduce the carbon intensity by 64 Kg
CO2eq. If the proposed DAC plant based on Merseyside is powered by the vast offshore wind
farms nearby or by the onshore wind turbines at the Frodsham Wind Farm, adjacent to
Protos, the proposed site of the 50kt DAC plant, this would reduce the emissions by a further
249 Kg CO2eq. Both these options are reasonable and would probably be mandated for any
new facility due to future net zero commitments. Therefore, if renewable energy sources are
to be used, the carbon intensity of the DAC process would be 181 KgCO2e giving a NET
benefit of 819 KgCO2e for every tonne of CO2 removed from the air. Further CO2e savings
will be achieved through the substitution of carbon intensive alternatives by the by-products
produced by the process. This could add a further 1,954kgCO2e saving, giving a Net CO2
benefit of 2.773tCO2e per tonne of CO2 captured from the air using CO2LOC technology.
1.3 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS.

Other than the CO2 benefits of the process described above in section 1.2, there are likely to
be other environmental impacts from the by-products produced, other waste streams and
site operations. The 50kt Plant will be governed by the same regulatory frameworks covering
any new chemical processing plant in the UK and with the expertise and experience of Otto-
Simon, CCC’s engineering partners in this project, these considerations will be designed in
from the start. However, the processes and chemistry used are benign and process water
recycled, containing any potential contaminants from the process.
The proposed location of the plant is Protos (https://www.protos.co.uk/), this is located in a

heavily industrialised region alongside Oil Refineries, waste to energy plant etc. and the site
has already got permissions for a resource recovery park on their land under the Town and
Country Planning Act 1990 – section 78.
OTHER CONTAMINENTS
The mineral feedstock contains trace amounts of various metals but the build-up of these
metals in the recirculated/recovered water will not be an issue as, in the 50kt plant we will
have a metal recovery step within the process so these metals would only be present below
the limits that the metal recovery process can economically extract them. These remaining
metal contaminants will end up in the magnesium carbonate mineral at the end of the
process. As this material is to be used as a construction material, purity of the magnesium
carbonate is not a big issue so there is likely to be a wide tolerance on acceptable
contamination of the product. There may however be some issues around the possible
leaching out of these materials and possible interactions with other construction materials in
the built environment. One of the outputs of the collaboration with Holcim and other
construction materials companies such as Forterra over the pilot project will be to explore the
use of the magnesium carbonate produced and the assessment of the material properties
tolerances necessary regarding compatibility issues and possible aging effects such as
leaching of contaminants over time.

Mined products are never 100% pure and despite beneficiation at the mine site, clays and
other alien non-toxic materials will enter the process. The process flow has the effect that
any solid materials not taking part in the chemical process will filter through to the system
and end up within the end magnesium carbonate product. As mentioned above, the
construction sector is not concerned with high purity as the construction industry traditionally
have a high tolerance for these materials.
NOISE
As the 50kt Plant will be drawing a huge volume of air through the system to capture the low
concentration CO2 there is a requirement to force this air through using fans. The fans used
will be highly efficient and therefore low noise. However, these fans will produce some noise,
and this will have an impact of the local communities and wildlife. Suitable guarding around
the fans and the relatively slow air speed will prevent injury to birds. The proposed site for
the plant is in a heavily industrialised area and away from any residential areas so noise will
have a minimal impact to the local community.
EMISSIONS
The only emissions from the site will be the processed air. As the air that passes through the
system will pick up moisture from the scrubber, in certain weather conditions there is likely to
be a plume of steam coming from the site. Again, this is an industrialised zone, and the
region has many cooling stacks emitting steam including the cooling fans at the Ineos power
plant in Runcorn and process steam from the Stanlow Oil Refinery, so this is unlikely to raise
any concerns by the local community or adjacent industrial facilities.
TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS

As the quantities of materials needed to feed the pilot are relatively small, materials will be
palletised and brought onto site using available local delivery services.
For the 50kt plant, the magnesium silicate materials will be transported to site from Norway
by ship. The site will have access to the canal berth on the Manchester Ship Canal, with
some materials storage space nearby, so there will be a requirement for some material
movement on site. The majority of transport from the quayside to the plant will be via
conveyors. The plant will be producing 190kt of magnesium carbonate per annum which will
need to be transferred to the construction material manufacturers facility. This equates to
approx. 18 x 40 tonne tipper trucks movements per day, (assuming a 5-day week). As the
region is well served by rail infrastructure with a number of rail heads available on the
Stanlow oil refinery site and at the nearby CF Fertilisers plant, there is the opportunity for this
material to be transported away from the site by rail or by barge using the Manchester Ship
Canal.
Other materials outputs include silica and valuable non-ferrous metals. The metals are
relatively small quantities and would result in a small number of road truck movements to
metal smelting customers. The silica production however will be in significant quantities,
circa 52kt per annum, approx. 5 truck movements per day off site and some internal
materials transport within the plant.

The DAC plant will therefore result in the equivalent of 23 additional truck movements per
day in the region. The Ince area is very well served by road and rail infrastructure with close
proximity to both the M53 with links to the Port of Liverpool and North Wales and the M56
providing a link to Manchester industrial region and links to the M6 to serve both the North of
England and beyond and the Midlands. The local roads were designed to service industrial
plants already in the region and are underutilised at present as most bulk materials produced
are transported by sea and rail. It is not expected that the additional road traffic caused by
the DAC plant will have a detrimental impact on local traffic.
2 A DETAILED ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR A PILOT PROJECT

PILOT DESIGN SCOPE
The design of the pilot plant has been undertaken by Otto-Simon Ltd. Their study has shown
a design that could be built with relatively standard items of equipment although it has also
shown that optimising the design remains a key task for subsequent stages of work. This is
particularly true of the energy balance for the pilot plant and the current scheme does not
attempt energy integration as this would introduce a high level of risk to the design and
operation of the plant. The pilot plant would be the mechanism for investigating and
developing not only the core carbon dioxide capture technology but also the optimising of the
whole process.
A programme of work has been developed for the next phases of design through to
handover for pilot plant operations along with a proposed project structure that would
become the basis for a detailed project execution plan. A capital cost estimate has also been
prepared, with an assessment of an appropriate contingency level to apply.
The proposed site for the pilot plant has been reviewed and is seen to be a suitable choice.
The Pilot Plant will focus on demonstrating and proving the major key components and unit
operations of the process consisting of the following:
• The Digester.
• The Direct Air Contactor/Stage 2 scrubber.
The Pilot Plant will be used to prove and optimise the ability to capture carbon dioxide from
the air, conversion step to capture the CO2 from air and Magnesium Hydroxide to use to
sequester the CO2 as Magnesium Carbonate for scale up to a larger scale plant. The pilot
trials and supporting research would focus on the development of techniques for:
• The separation of the CCC’s digestant flux from silica.

• To produce a saleable silica product.
• The demonstration of the recycle of the CCC’s digestant within the Process.
• The recycle of water within the Process.

• The reuse of energy within the process, i.e. energy integration.
The by-products from the process will be used to develop and test markets for their use with
commercial partners including PQ Corporation for the silica and Holcim for construction
materials.
2.1 PILOT DESIGN.

Pilot Plant Flow Sheet was developed by Otto-Simon Ltd. From the Flow Sheet three items
stand out as requiring particular attention during the design phases. Once the fundamental
process duties were established, in conjunction with CCC and partners, OSL assessed these
and discussed each with potential equipment suppliers to establish plausible solutions and in
some cases alternatives.
Although much further work will be required in the future design stages the fundamental
feasibility of these items for the duties defined by the Flow Sheet have been established. An
early task for the detailed design phase in the Phase 2 project will be to re-visit these
designs, taking into account any new information uncovered by any further chemical testing.
DIGESTER
The function of the digester is to create materials to be used in the CO2 Capture Scrubber
and there are various technologies available that could achieve this.
The following basic approaches have been identified:
• Digester
• Heated centreless screw
• Multi-hearth furnace
• Batch kiln (as typically used in the ceramics industry).
From these the current selection is for a Digester but a more comprehensive review of the
options, once more information has been obtained from the supply chain, will be undertaken
in the early stages of detailed design in Phase 2. Results from further material testing should
also be brought to bear in this decision if and when it becomes available.
DIRECT AIR CONTACTOR

This scrubber unit is the heart of the carbon dioxide capture process. A specialist designer
and supplier of such systems (Parson Ltd) is proposed.
The scrubber operates at ambient temperature which simplifies material selection and
scrubber design. Polypropylene (PP) is the likely choice. Appendix A shows an air contactor
unit similar to the one designed for the Phase 2 project.

This is a large unit due to the required high volumes of air that must pass through to allow for
sufficient CO2 capture (16,811 m3/hr). A fan will deliver this air volume to the scrubber. The
scrubber also has an internal heating coil to allow for additional heat injection to the chemical
reaction should the trialling during the pilot plant trials show this to be required.
STAGE 2 MAGNESIUM OXIDE CONTACTOR

With the smaller flow rate this is a much smaller scrubber and would be constructed in PP.
ALL OTHER ITEMS

Otherwise, the equipment to be installed is of relatively standard design, pumps, tanks,
conveyors, agitators, etc. and is readily available.
2.2 OSL DRAWINGS AND DOCUMENTS

A full suite of drawings has been produced; these include:
• Process Flow Diagram

• P&IDs
o Materials Feed
o Digester
o Solids Separation
o Direct Air Contactor
o Stage 2 Scrubber
• Programme
• Cost estimate
2.3 MASS BALANCE.

The key model to inform the pilot design is the mass and energy balances. This tracks the
flow of materials through the process and the energy either released or consumed at each
process step. This defines the size of each component within the pilot and subsequently the
energy requirement and cost.
2.4 COST SAVINGS COMPARED WITH EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

CONTRACTS.
Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd.’s main goal in this project is to explore the possible
commercial application of CO2LOC technology to Direct Air Capture and accelerate
development of their core technology. As such, all funds due to CCC over this project will be
100% focused on these goals and are therefore in direct alignment with the scope of this
competition. CCC will be making no profits from this project.
Project partners/sub-contracts to this project include University of Chester, providing the pilot
site and access to research facilities, Otto-Simon Ltd, providing engineering design and pilot

construction and commissioning and Parsons, providing bespoke scrubber systems. These
suppliers have been selected for this project as CCC have established relationships with
these organisations and mutual interest in exploration of new opportunities in the developing
carbon capture market. As such these suppliers already have a good knowledge of CO2LOC
technology and are motivated to deliver a successful project rather than viewing this as a
profit-making project. Cost estimates are therefore competitive and have been prepared on
standard commercial terms in line with industrial best practices and represent good value.
3 PROJECT PLAN
3.1 THE SELECTED PILOT SITE.

The selected site for the pilot is University of Chester’s Thornton Science Park campus at
Pool Lane, Ince. Chester CH2 4NU. The site used to be the Shell Fuel Development facility
and much of the infrastructure and permissions at the site are still in place making it the ideal
location for a pilot of a new chemical process. (See Appendix B)
The selected site is adjacent to Chester University facilities giving access to labs, expertise
and scientific analytical equipment needed to assess the performance of the pilot. The plan
is to have the University of Chester as a sub-contract to the project to give us access to their
facilities and expertise. This will enable students to access the technology and could support
research projects looking at various aspects of the technology to further develop the
technology.
The site is also adjacent to Protos, the proposed site for the 50kt plant and the HyNET
project, (see Appendix B). Proximity to the proposed deployment site and industrial partners
such as Peel Environmental Ltd (owners of the Protos site) would help develop the
commercial relationships and confidence in the technology needed to successfully develop
the subsequent plans for the 50kt DAC facility.
The risk in using this site is that there is currently a change of management company
managing the site. This is making it difficult to establish a firm price for the hosting of the pilot
plant as this situation may lead to delays in securing leases for the site. However, the
University of Chester is very supportive of this project and new innovative technologies,
especially in technologies addressing the climate emergency. This support is echoed by the
new site management company who will be keen to exploit the publicity and kudos that this
project will generate for the site.
3.2 INTERACTION WITH CURRENT OR PROPOSED USE OF THE SITE

OR ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN AT IT.
The proposed site is currently owned by the University of Chester and aligns very well with
their research interests. The specific area where the pilot will be located at the site has been
selected as it is a good distance from the buildings housing labs and offices so any fan noise
and/or steam emissions generated by the facility will not impact the working environment of
other users of the site. The site is located in the now disused area of the site surrounded by

disused industrial facilities, storage tanks and open fields and has its own road access, so
would not have any interactions with current or future users of the site or impact any
surrounding commercial activities.
3.3 PILOT PROJECT GANTT CHART.

The pilot project is split into the following Work Packages:
• WP1: Project Management

• WP2: Detailed Design of Pilot
• WP3: Equipment Procurement
• WP4: Pilot Build
o Site preparation
o Installation
o Commissioning
o Pilot Handover
• WP5: Pilot Trials
• WP6: Supporting research activities
• WP7: 50kt Plant design and planning
• WP8: Business and commercial planning
• WP9: Decommissioning
The project Gantt Chart is presented in below.
The project will run over 2 years and 1 month (25 months) from the start of the project.
The following is a table of key milestones.
WP.MS Milestone Deliverable Date

1.1 Project Start Kick-off meeting report M1
1.2 Project Completed Close Out meeting report M25
2.1 Pilot design completed Full design documentation available M4
3.1 Long lead-time equipment Delivery schedule, purchase orders M2
procured
3.2 Equipment delivered to site Equipment delivered to site M10
4.1.1 Site work started Work schedule available M3
4.1.2 Site ready for pilot build Site ready for pilot build M6

4.2.1 Plant installation started Work schedule available M4
4.2.2 Plant Installed on site Pilot plant on site M13
4.3 Pilot commissioned Operational pilot plant M16
4.4 Pilot handed over to demo team Demo team on site M17
5.1 Pilot trials begin Trial plan available M17

5.2 Pilot trial completed Pilot performance report M22
6.1 Research summary reports Research summary report M22
available
7.1 Outline FEED study for a 50kt Design Report/FEED M19
plant
7.2 Costing and construction plan Costing and construction plan M25
for 50kt plant
8.1 Business plan for 50kt plant Business Plan M25
completed
9.1 Decommissioning Pilot site cleared M24
BUDGET
The total budget is £2,999,876.00. This budget is split across 9 Work Packages as described
below:
A more detailed breakdown of project cost and milestones can be found in Appendix C: The Project
Delivery Plan.

4 PROGRAMME AND BUSINESS PLAN
Unlike many other DAC concepts, CO2LOC technology offers the opportunity to make
revenues from various by-products. This creates opportunities for multiple businesses to
work together for mutual benefit. It also produces a complex web of businesses with varying
demand profiles and cost bases. Early discussions were complicated by decisions on who
gets the benefit of the carbon credit. In some suggested business models SizewellC would
provide heat and off-peak electricity for free and take the carbon credit to offset carbon
intensity of the nuclear power it produces. Other models, the credits are claimed by the
construction materials manufacturers and commercial rates are charged by SizewellC for the
heat and power. One further model is being explored, whereby the plant is owned by
investors, heat and power purchased from SizewellC and the carbon credits sold to Stripe,
Microsoft and others as a means of offsetting their hard to abate emissions.
Over the course of the Phase 1 project, it became apparent that the concept developed did
not benefit from the available waste heat at SizewellC and being located near a nuclear
power station created a great deal of complexity to any future project and nuclear power
stations. Also, nuclear power stations are generally located away from areas of high
population and other industries so therefore markets for by-products produced. This added
further cost and increased the carbon intensity of the concept. As a result, the project team
found an alternative location at the Protos site and SizewellC will no longer be part of the
consortium going forward. Local supply chain partners have been located on or near the
Protos site to support the business opportunity presented by the 50kt plant at that location.
Partners identified include:
• Site - Peel Group

• Carbon credits – Goldman Sachs, Stripe and Microsoft as customers and Blockchain
and Climate Initiative carbon trading platform partners
• Serpentine Supply - Metamorphic Ltd (Norway)
• Metals – Critical Minerals Association
• Silica – PQ Corporation
• Magnesium Carbonate – Aggregate Industries (Holcim)
See figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Potential future consortium members located on or near the proposed Protos site

4.1 CAMBRIDGE CARBON CAPTURE’S DAC BUSINESS MODEL
Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd’s
business model to exploit the DAC
opportunity is to generate revenues
from the sale of Silica, Metals,
Magnesium Hydroxides and
Magnesium Carbonates into local
markets and sell carbon credits to
Stripe, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs.
The healthy revenues would attract

the investment needed to support the
CAPEX for the project offering
commercially viable Internal Rate of
Returns (IRR).
As part of this project deliverables,

CCC have carried out a Techno-
Economic and Life Cycle Analysis for
a 50kt facility located at the Protos
site.
Figure 2: Schematic of CCC's business model
The table below is a summary of the TEA outputs taken from that report.
This TEA suggests that NET revenues from capturing a tonne of CO2 from the air using
CO2LOC technology is £286/tCO2eq. The Life-Cycle Analysis LCA is presented in section 1.2
of this report.
As the CAPEX for the plant will be a total of £139m this gives a healthy Internal Rate of
Return (IRR) for the project. Table 2 shows the result of IRR analysis of the project at various
future carbon prices and amortisation periods, a discount rate of 10% was assumed.

Table 2: IRR Analysis
For a plant of this size, a 20-year investment window would be considered reasonable and
carbon prices are likely to track up past £50 per tonne. This suggests an IRR of 9% which
compares favourably with expected IRRs of below 4% on a typical offshore wind project.
(Grant Thornton - https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/insights/valuing-renewable-energy-assets-
does-capm-work/)
4.2 NEXT STAGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT.

The pilot project will enable CCC and Otto-Simon determine key process reaction speeds
and dynamics and better understand the opportunities for system integration and areas
where heat can be recovered and reused within the process. This will inform the more
detailed design of the 50kt Plant and be used to refine the process modelling to optimise the
design. This data driven model will provide a more accurate picture of CAPEX and OPEX of
the 50kt plant and this will be used to prepare a detailed project plan to develop and operate
the 50kt plant.
In parallel, the pilot project will enable CCC and potential customers for the by-products to
assess the quality and properties of the by-products of the process and develop plans and
commercial relationships to exploit the outputs of the 50kt plant. This will lead to the
development of a business plan to support the securing of the £140m needed to build the
50kt plant from a combination of investors, partner companies, grants and loans/bonds.
The CCC team are also entering the X-Prize Carbon Removal Prize. The results of this
Phase 1 project being used to support the application in the first round. Success in the first
round will result in $1m USD investment in CCC which will be used to enhance R&D
activities which in turn will benefit the Phase 2 project. Success of the Phase 2 project will
then put CCC in the running for the subsequent $50m USD prize which, if won, will be used
to part fund the planned 50kt DAC Plant.

CCC are also exploring the potential of advance sales of future carbon credits to Microsoft,
Goldman Sachs and Stripe and the use these to secure funding. CCC are fellows of the
Blockchain and Climate Initiative (https://blockchainclimate.org/) and are exploring the
concept of tokenising the captured CO2 from the future plant
The pilot plant is planned to be located at Thornton Science Park which is in close proximity
to the Protos site, owned by The Peel Group. The Peel Group are keen to follow the
progress of the Pilot with the possibility of their future involvement and the siting of the 50kt
DAC Plant on the Protos site. The Peel Group own a significant proportion of the land on
which the HyNET project will be based and are a key contributor to that project. Through our
relationship with Peel Group CCC hope to be integrated into the HyNET project as our
technology nears commercialisation.
4.3 HOW THIS DEVELOPMENT WOULD BE INFORMED BY

INFORMATION GAINED DURING PILOT PHASE.
The chemical processes involved in direct air capture using CO2LOC have been
demonstrated in the laboratory and have been shown to be very effective at a small scale.
However, many issues still need to be addressed before the technology can be scaled to a
full-scale plant. The pilot will allow CCC and partners to explore these issues and settle on a
design for a full-scale plant. The key unknowns the team will be exploring with the pilot are:
• Scalability of the capture of CO2 from air using CO2LOC technology.

• Scalability of the production of Magnesium Hydroxide from Magnesium Silicate
minerals.
• Re-generation of CCC’s digestant at scale.
Secondary research questions addressed by research activities running in parallel with the
pilot operations will include:
• Recovery of heat and water.

• Separation of silica from CCC’s digestant.
• Improvements in the recovery of CCC’s digestant.
• Post processing of the produced silica to add value.
• Recovery and upgrading of trace metals.
Materials produced by the pilot will also enable CCC to work with partners in the construction
sector to develop and test construction materials to create a market for the materials
produced by a future 50kt plant. Similarly, with the silica and metals market to maximise
revenues from both the silica and metals produced.
Results from this work will enable the detailed design of the 50kt Plant and validate the
economics of the process. It will also help develop the commercial relationships necessary to
enable a 50kt Plant project to be developed and provide the evidence needed to support
efforts to raise funding required to deliver the project.

4.4 DEPENDENCIES.
The plan for the Pilot Plant is to address all the major technical knowledge gaps and
demonstrate the technology to TRL 6. The technology is currently at TRL 4 so assumptions
have been made as to how of the process will scale to a commercially relevant size based
on known analogous large scale industrial processes.
The commercial viability of the technology at a 50kt scale is highly dependent on the future
prices of silica, metals and magnesium carbonate and the local market demand for these
materials. In our analysis in this Phase 1 project, 5-year average prices have been used for
the various by-products and recent average UK energy prices assumed. However, there has
been an upward trend in commodity prices and as our by-products will be effectively NET
Zero emissions, a premium may well be possible offering higher revenues than anticipated in
our financial model.
To a lesser extent the business model supporting the 50kt Plant is also dependent on the
prevailing carbon price. This is also likely to increase in price over the coming years as more
companies are starting to engage with the carbon market, generating more demand and
greater liquidity in the market.

19
DO NOT SCALE : IF IN DOUBT ASK
1. Any Dimensions Are For Quotation Purposes Only And

Are Therefore Nominal.
2. Any Dimensions Are Subject To A Site Survey And
Full Process Design.
3. Quotation Drawing Is a Provisional Layout : This Will NOT Be
The Final Design.
4. Inlet Ductwork To Scrubber By Client UNO.
5 APPENDIX A
Stack
Stage 2 Scrubber Stage 1 Scrubber
Inlet Ductwork To Scrubber By Client UNO

Fan Fan
Elevation On A-A Showing Typical General Arrangement Of 2 Stage Absorption Scrubber System
Figure 3: Scrubber GA
Stage 2 Scrubber Pump Pump Stage 1 Scrubber
Inlet Ductwork To Scrubber
By Client UNO
Stack
Figure 4: Air contactor supplied by Parsons UK

PARSONS
PARSONS HOUSE, LEAMORE LANE, BLOXWICH,

WALSALL, WEST MIDLANDS, ENGLAND, WS2 7EB
Tel : 44 (0) 1922 404318 Fax : 44 (0) 1922 495991
Fan
Fan Email : [email protected] Web Site : www.parsonsuk.com
Cambridge Carbon Capture
Direct Capture Of Co2

Plan View Of Typical General Arrangement Of 2 Stage Absorption Scrubber System
General Arrangement Of
Two Stage Absorption System
S.D.Hodges 14/12/21
@ A0
Q20292/CLT/0001
1:40
© Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

6 APPENDIX B: PILOT SITE SELECTION
Figure 5: Selected site for the pilot at Chester University’s Thornton Science Park Campus
Figure 6: Pilot site is in the centre of the HyNET project

7 APPENDIX C: PROJECT PLAN & MILESTONE REGISTER
PROJECT TITLE: CO2LOC DAC Phase 2
PROJECT ID: CAM 202029

Date: 24th December 2021 Vs: V1.0
Phase 2 Project Plan

The project has been split into 9 discreet work packages:
1. Project management
2. Detailed design of the pilot
3. Equipment procurement
4. Pilot build
4.1. Site preparation
4.2. Installation
4.3. Commissioning
4.4. Pilot handover
5. Pilot Trials
6. Supporting research activities
7. 50kt Plant planning
8. Business and commercial planning
9. Decommissioning
Work Package Description and Milestone Plan

Work Package 1: Project Management
Start date : M1
End date : M25
Work Package Leader: Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd (CCC)
Contributing Partners: Otto-Simon Ltd (OSL)
Work Package Objectives:
• To ensure the smooth running of the project, manage time against project plans ensuring
timely delivery of milestones and planned deliverables.
Description of work
• Project management, chairing of project review meetings and quarterly meetings with
assigned monitoring officer.
• Maintenance of risk register and coordinator of risk mitigation strategy planning and
execution.

Milestones:
MS1.1: Project Started

MS1.2: Project completed
Equipment and Facilities

• N/A
Summary of Deliverables : Detail the planned external (E) and internal (I) deliverables
Del. Title External / Responsi Due Comments / Notes
Ref Internal bility Date
(E/I)
D1.1 Project start-up meeting E CCC M1

presentation
D1.2 Project summary report E CCC M25
Dependencies
Items which must be available for this Work Package Responsibility

Signed contract with BEIS CCC
Work Packages dependent on this Work Package Responsibility
All WPs CCC
Work Package 2: Detailed Design of Pilot
Start date : M1
End date : M10
Work Package Leader: OSL
Contributing Partners: CCC
• Detailed design and construction planning of the pilot based on detailed site information and available
budgets
Description of work
Detailed design of the plant and review of construction planning. Negotiation of contracts with key delivery
partner, service providers and subcontractors.
Milestones:
MS2.1 – Detailed design completed.

• N/A
Summary of Deliverables: Detail the planned external (E) and internal (I) deliverables
Del. Title External /Internal Responsibility Due Date Comments / Notes
Ref (E/I)
D2.1 Detailed design specification and I OSL M4
installation plan available
Dependencies

MS1.1 CCC
WP3-5 OSL
Work Package 3: Equipment procurement

Start date : M2
End date : M10
Work Package Leader: CCC
Contributing Partners: OSL
• Purchase of third party manufactured equipment

• Delivery of equipment to site
Description of work
Task 1: Negotiation of price of equipment with OEMs

Task 2: Place purchase orders
Task 3: Coordination of deliveries to site
Milestones:
MS3.1 – Purchase orders placed for long lead-time equipment

MS3.2 – All equipment delivered to site
• N/A
Ref (E/I)
D3.1 Purchase Orders available I CCC M2
Dependencies

MS1.1 CCC
WP4-5 CCC

Work Package 4: Pilot Build
Start date : M3
End date : M17
• Build, test & commission the pilot plant
Description of work
Task 1: Site preparation

Task 2: Installation of equipment
Task 3: Commissioning of the pilot
Task 4: Pilot handover to the trials team
Milestones:
MS4.1.1 – Site preparation work started

MS4.1.2 – Site ready for pilot install
MS4.2.1 – Installation started
MS4.2.2 – Plant installed
MS4.3 – Plant commissioned
MS4.4 – Pilot handed over to pilot trials team

• Demonstration unit, CCC lab facilities and scientific services.
Ref (E/I)
D4.1.1 Site cleared I OSL M3
D4.1.2 Site ready for equipment I OSL M6

installation
D4.2.1 Installation of equipment started I OSL M4
D4.2.2 All equipment installed I OSL M13
Dependencies

WP2&3 CCC & OSL
WP5 CCC
Work Package 5: Pilot Trials

Start date : M17
End date : M22
• Analysis of pilot outputs to test for purity and possible toxicity

• Determine the effectiveness of CO2 removal from air
• Optimisation of process parameters
• Carry out a full mass balance on the pilot inputs and outputs
Description of work
Task 1: Conduct initial trial runs

Task 2: Optimise process conditions to maximize efficiency
Task 3: Analysis of by-products
Task 4: Carry out full mass balance
Task 5: Produce a report
Milestones:
MS5.1 – Beginning of trials

MS5.1 – Pilot trials end

• Pilot Plant, CCC/University of Chester lab facilities and scientific services.
Summary of Deliverables : Detail the planned external (E) and internal (I) deliverables
Ref (E/I)
D5.1 Trial experimental plan I CCC M17
D5.2 Report on results of mass I CCC M22

balance an trial data
Dependencies

WP2-4 CCC
WP7-9 CCC
Work Package 6: Support Research Activities
Start date : M1
End date : M22
Contributing Partners: UoC/OSL
• Confirmation of key reaction rates and temperatures in support of detailed design phase
• By-product analysis and optimisation of process parameters during pilot trials in support of
WP5

• Trouble shooting and general scientific support
• Process plant design improvements and innovation
• Generation of new IP
• Summarise the results and findings of the project
• Secure any IP created during the project
• Prepare dissemination materials
• Plan dissemination activities
Description of work
Task 1: Confirmation of key process parameters and other reactor design input in detailed design phase
(WP2)
Task 2: Scientific support for the trial
Task 3: Process development and innovation
Task 4: Capture of new IP
Task 5: Preparation of materials and planning of dissemination of project outcomes
Milestones:
MS6.1 – Conclusion of DAC pilot research activity and research summary report and dissemination materials
and plan available

• CCC/University of Chester lab facilities and scientific services
Ref (E/I)
D6.1 Research summary report I CCC M22
Dependencies

WP2,3,4,5 OSL/CCC
WP7 & 8 CCC
Work Package 7: 50kt Plant planning
Start date : M5
End date : M24
• More detailed design of a future 50kt CO2LOC DAC plant based on learning from the pilot plant
• Construction plan and costing it support business planning and consortium building (WP8)

Description of work
Task 1: Review of previous Phase 1 FEED study

Task 2: Detailed design of key reactor components based on pilot data
Task 3: Identification and exploitation of heat recycling and other efficiency improvements between the
various process steps
Task 4: Detailed FEED study and costing
Task 5: Prepare costing and construction plan
Milestones:
MS7.1 – 50kt Plant FEED study report available

MS7.2 – 50kt Plant costing and construction plan available

• N/A
Ref (E/I)
D7.1 50kt Plant FEED study report I OSL M19
D7.2 50kt Plant costing and I CCC M25

construction plan report
Dependencies

WP2-6 OSL/CCC
WP8 CCC
Work Package 8: Business and Commercial Planning
Start date : M13

End date : M25
Contributing Partners: OSL/UoC
• Development of a business plan to attract investment and partners to deliver the 50kt DAC plant
• Bring together interested parties to form a consortium to deliver the 50kt DAC project
• Secure seed investment to support the business team focused on the development of the 50kt DAC
plant and delivery of the business plan
• Management of PR about the pilot project and future plans
Description of work
Task 1: Preparation of DAC business plan

Task 2: Identify and recruit key stakeholders
Task 3: Local market analysis for CO2LOC by-products
Task 4: Agree scope for the 50kt DAC project with key stakeholders, secure commitment to the consortia
Task 5: Secure seed investment to take the 50kt DAC plant project forward
Task 6: Manage PR activities around the pilot project

Milestones:
MS8.1 – Business and commercial plan available

• N/A
Ref (E/I)
D8.1 Business and commercial plan E CCC M24
Dependencies

WP1-7 CCC/OSL
N/A
Work Package 9: Pilot Plant Decommissioning
Start date : M23

End date : M24
• Decommissioning the pilot plant

• Return of site to landlord
Description of work
Task 1: Removal of plant from site and make good
Milestones:
MS9 – Pilot site cleared and returned to landlord

• Pilot site
Ref (E/I)
D9.1 Site decommissioned I OSL M24

Dependencies

WP1-5 CCC/OSL
N/A
Project Gantt Chart
Milestones
WP.MS Milestone Deliverable Date
1.1 Project Start Kick-off meeting report M1
1.2 Project Completed Close Out meeting report M25
2.1 Pilot design completed Full design documentation available M4
3.1 Long lead-time equipment Delivery schedule, purchase orders M2
procured
3.2 Equipment delivered to site Equipment delivered to site M10
4.1.1 Site work started Work schedule available M3
4.1.2 Site ready for pilot build Site ready for pilot build M6
4.2.1 Plant installation started Work schedule available M4
4.2.2 Plant Installed on site Pilot plant on site M13
4.3 Pilot commissioned Operational pilot plant M16
4.4 Pilot handed over to demo team Demo team on site M17
5.1 Pilot trials begin Trial plan available M17

5.2 Pilot trial completed Pilot performance report M22
6.1 Research summary reports Research summary report M22
available
7.1 Outline FEED study for a 50kt Design Report/FEED M19
plant

7.2 Costing and construction plan Costing and construction plan M25
for 50kt plant
8.1 Business plan for 50kt plant Business Plan M25
completed
9.1 Decommissioning Pilot site cleared M24
Project Management
Regular technical review meetings with the CCC team and quarterly meetings with our Monitoring
Officer during the 25-month project will provide the backbone for project progress monitoring and
reporting. Measurable, significant and timed key milestones have been included in our plan for each
work package task. This structure is also intended to help manage technical risk, as it provides
frequent opportunities to identify and correct any shortcomings in pilot equipment or methodology and
any timeline slippage.
As a further risk management strategy, the process of stakeholder consultation and experimental
review through the project provides the opportunity and time to make changes to the detail of
experiments & data collection if feedback from stakeholders warrants it.
Despite CCC having management of the overall project, management of the pilot design and
construction will be under the direct control of Otto-Simon Ltd, this will leverage their experience and
expertise, ensuring successful delivery of the pilot plant.

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DIRECT AIR CO2 CAPTURE & MINERALISATION

PHASE 1 FINAL REPORT (PUBLIC)

21st January 2022

Author: Michael Evans, CEO Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd

1 DESCRIPTION OF THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING UNDERPINNING CO2LOC DAC SOLUTION... 2

2 A DETAILED ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR A PILOT PROJECT .............................................................. 8

1 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

1.1 CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES USED, MATERIALS AND

DESCRIPTION OF THE DAC PROCESS.

In the modified CO2LOC process, a sustainable supply of magnesium hydroxide is produced

SOURCE OF MATERIALS USED

2 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

3 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

4 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

Input Materials Mineral Energy Input Mining operations Diesel -

Mineral mine CO2 from Transport Diesel -

Mineral Crushing Energy Input Crushing Grid Electricity -

Mineral Milling Energy Input Milling Grid Electricity -

Digestant Energy Input Manufacturing CO2 from -

Transport Shipping of CO2 from Shipping (1000 Diesel -

Digestion Digestion Heat Energy Input Countering heat Natural Gas -

Digestion CO2 released CO2 from Mineral -

Solids Filtering of Energy Input Pumping and Grid Electricity -

Air Capture - CO2 Capture Process -

Digestant Digestant Reagent CO2 reabsorbed by

Ultrafiltration Silica extraction Energy Input Pumping Grid Electricity -

Precious Metal Electro-refining Energy Input PM extraction - Grid Electricity -

CO2 Mineralisation of Energy Input Electrical Power Grid Electricity -

Water recovery Energy Input Electrical Power Grid Electricity -

Transport MgCO3 to Energy Input 200 miles by rail Diesel -

Silica to Energy Input 200 miles by rail Diesel

Fossil Fuel 494.52

Table 1: Energy intensity and source breakdown

5 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

1.3 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS.

The proposed location of the plant is Protos (https://www.protos.co.uk/), this is located in a

6 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS

7 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

2 A DETAILED ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR A PILOT PROJECT

• The separation of the CCC’s digestant flux from silica.

8 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

2.1 PILOT DESIGN.

The following basic approaches have been identified:

DIRECT AIR CONTACTOR

9 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

STAGE 2 MAGNESIUM OXIDE CONTACTOR

ALL OTHER ITEMS

2.2 OSL DRAWINGS AND DOCUMENTS

• Process Flow Diagram

2.3 MASS BALANCE.

2.4 COST SAVINGS COMPARED WITH EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

10 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

3.1 THE SELECTED PILOT SITE.

3.2 INTERACTION WITH CURRENT OR PROPOSED USE OF THE SITE

11 © Cambridge Carbon Capture Ltd 2022

3.3 PILOT PROJECT GANTT CHART.

• WP1: Project Management

The project Gantt Chart is presented in below.