South Middlesex Times

Rutgers start-up Queens Carbon will receive $14.5 million in government funding to advance its technology aimed at eliminating carbon emissions from the cement industry.

The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SCALEUP program, which funds the research, development, and commercialization of new energy-efficient technologies. Queens Carbon, based in Pine Brook, N.J., was among four companies sharing $63.5 million in this year’s funding.

Queens Carbon will use the funding to pilot its low-temperature, zero-carbon-dioxide technology in collaboration with a commercial partner in the cement industry. The technology was developed by now-CEO Daniel Kopp when he was a doctoral student at Rutgers while working with Distinguished Professor Richard Riman in his lab at the Department of Engineering.

“The SCALEUP grant is a tremendous step forward on our path to commercialization,” Kopp said.

Manufacturing large-volume products such as cement results in billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to the company’s website. Carbonation, the forming of carbonate materials, helps solve this problem by capturing carbon dioxide in minerals such as limestone. However, carbonation requires substantial amounts of heat and energy to release the carbon in these materials.

Queens Carbon’s hydrothermal technology addresses this issue by reducing the temperature of carbonate mineral processing to less than 1000 F compared with typical calcination temperatures greater than 1800 F. Additionally, this technology can produce carbon-neutral cement at less than 1000 F, significantly lower than typical cement production temperatures over 2700 F.

“We know that cement manufacturing requires innovative, scalable solutions to overcome the environmental impacts and logistical hurdles of traditional cement production. Queens Carbon is committed to tackling these challenges,” said Evelyn N. Wang, director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) at U.S. Department of Energy.

Once adopted globally, Queens Carbon’s technology will enable decarbonization and defossilization of the chemical industry without compromising cost or product performance.

“Queens Carbon’s technology has the potential to impact climate change significantly and positively by making the cement production process carbon neutral,” said Deborah Perez Fernandez, executive director of Technology Transfer at Rutgers Office of Research.

Rutgers Office for Research handled the patent applications process and executed an exclusive license between the university and the company for this technology. Entrepreneur David Gersholowitz helped launch the start-up and now serves as its chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

“The Technology Transfer and New Ventures teams are proud to have supported doctors Kopp and Riman through developing their technology and launching their company,” said Vince Smeraglia, executive director of New Ventures.