ABB and Coolbrook agreed Oct. 27 to accelerate the development, industrialization, commercialization and adoption of CoolBrook’s patented RotoDynamic technology to electrify and decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as petrochemicals and chemicals, cement and steel. RotoDynamic replaces the burning of fossil fuel with renewable electricity as the energy source. The new agreement expands ABB and Coolbrook’s existing partnership, launched in January 2022.
The two companies report that decarbonizing heavy industries is essential to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. They cite the International Energy Agency (IEA), which reports that chemicals, cement and steel production collectively account for 70% of industrial CO2 emissions, equal to approximately six billion tons annually (www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050). As a result, ABB will provide its automation, electrification and digitalization expertise, as well as integrate its electric motors and variable speed drives, to further enhance Coolbrook’s technology by optimizing energy efficiency and operational processes. ABB’s investment will also enable quicker technology readiness and increase corporate capacity to achieve the joint goal of industrial scale up.
“We believe RotoDynamic can help cut up to 2.4 billion metric tons of carbon emissions annually (coolbrook.com/the-pilot) and is one of the major inventions of our time. Together with ABB we can speed up the development of this groundbreaking technology to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions from energy-intensive processes and bring about the beginning of a clean new industrial era,” says Ilpo Kuokkanen, executive chair at Coolbrook. “ABB’s global footprint and technology leadership will be key to accelerating market adoption.”
Colin Ward, senior VP for chemicals and refining at ABB Energy Industries, adds that, “The electrification of heavy industry with Coolbrook technology will have a significant impact on our global decarbonization goals. This new agreement with Coolbrook supports our sustainability strategy and commitment to helping our customers reduce their annual CO2 emissions by 100 megatons by 2030.”
Earlier this year the two companies collaborated in the petrochemicals market to accelerate the adoption of Coolbrook’s RotoDynamic Reactors (RDR) technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in steam cracking plants. Together they created a combined offering to reduce energy consumption by 30% and improve yield by 20% in ethylene production. Across cement and steel, Coolbrook’s RotoDynamic Heaters (RDH) technology has potential to replace the burning of fossil fuels with high temperature electric heating to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase process efficiency.
Both RDR and RDH have received significant attention from leading players in chemicals, cement and steel industries, and Coolbrook has already started cooperation with major industry actors including Shell, CEMEX, Ultratech and ArcelorMittal. According to a study conducted by KPMG, RotoDynamic technology has an estimated gross market potential of approximately 400 billion euros and is expected to become the industry standard in industrial electrification.
