Advancing low-carbon innovation
At Nippon Sanso, innovation and sustainability go hand in hand. A recent collaboration with Carmeuse highlights how our expertise can contribute to tackling one of the industry’s biggest challenges: reducing CO₂ emissions in lime production.
A pioneering pilot project in Wallonia : The Butterfly project
Carmeuse, an international leading manufacturer of lime, limestone and mineral-based products, has developed an innovative pilot plant in Wallonia (Belgium) aimed at concentrating CO2 directly at the level of the manufacturing process. This will facilitate CO2 capture (separation of CO2 from other gases like nitrogen and oxygen) before transportation, sequestration or potential reuse in industrial applications. What makes this project unique is its approach: instead of using only air in the combustion process, oxygen is used as well.
This innovative setup increases the concentration of CO₂ in the flue gases, making it much easier to capture, liquefy, and transport or store. This is a crucial step forward, as CO₂ emissions in lime production are inherently linked to the chemical process and cannot be eliminated through conventional methods.
The Butterfly pilot plant is a substantial and important step toward industrial application.
Role of Nippon Sanso: enabling the transition
The Benelux teams at Nippon Sanso collaborated with the Carmeuse teams before and during the Butterfly pilot project. 
Our contribution covered several aspects:
- Designing the oxygen injection systems together with Carmeuse team
- Supplying the oxygen injection systems
- Delivering and operating mobile oxygen units
- Providing support during the pilot testing period
- Offering technical expertise and training to ensure safe and efficient oxygen use
Promising results and strong potential
The test campaigns have delivered very positive results. The system demonstrates that CO₂ concentration directly at the level of the manufacturing process is achievable, significantly facilitating the feasibility of carbon capture and storage solutions in the lime industry.
As part of a subsidized innovation initiative (supported by the Walloon Region and the European Union through NextGenerationEU funding), the project has already demonstrated strong potential for scale-up.