Piloting a Clean New Industrial Era
To develop our technology and broaden our partner network, we are testing the RotoDynamic Technology at our pilot unit at the heart of the petrochemical industry – the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands.
Pilot: RotoDynamic Heater
RDH – electrifying high-temperature process heating in the production of cement, steel, iron and chemicals
RotoDynamic HeaterTM (RDHTM) is the only technology in the world able to reach heats up to 1700°C without burning fossil fuels. This enables it to replace fossil-fired furnaces and kilns with electric heating in industrial processes.
In 2023, the successfully completed first test phase demonstrated RDH technology’s capabilities for industrial use in high-temperature process heating, enabling the technology to move forward to industrial scale projects at customer sites.
The main targets and progress of the RDH process heating pilot
- Targets:
- Validate modelling and design parameters for process heating applications.
- Demonstrate to industrial actors and other stakeholders of RDH applicability as a reliable source of process heat.
- Tests to be conducted with inert gases (air, steam and methane) and petrochemical feedstocks (naphtha, ethane, propane, butane).
- Demonstrate to olefin producers, technology providers and policy makers of the massive potential of this revolutionary new technology.
- First air tests with the reactor were conducted in 2021. Tests at the Pilot site, to be conducted for approximately 24 months, were started in December 2022, with testing conducted up to 650°C.
- In 2023, the successfully completed first test phase in 2023 demonstrated RDH’s capabilities for industrial use in high-temperature process heating. The pilot testing exceeded the temperature of 1000°C, which is above the range of conventional resistive heaters by several hundred degrees. (Read the full press release)
- The tests validated Coolbrook’s technical pathway up to 1700°C, covering more than 95% of the temperature range required to cover the EUR 1 trillion industrial heating market.
Pilot: RotoDynamic Reactor
RDR – electrifying high-temperature process heating in the production of petrochemicals
RotoDynamic ReactorTM (RDRTM) using electrification powered by renewable energy, is the only technology in the world capable of eliminating 100% of the CO2 emissions created in the steam cracking process, the first and most polluting step in the production of plastic. It will be further developed and proven in action during the pilot period.
The main targets of the RDR steam cracking process
- Optimize the cracking process inside the reactor and validate modelling results.
- Test yields and conversion with different feeds, understand the effect of RDR’s process conditions on coking.
- Demonstrate to olefin producers, technology providers and policy makers of the massive potential of this revolutionary new technology.
Pilot layout
The RDR & RDH pilot unit covers a number of buildings on the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands.
Located at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, Netherlands
The Brightlands Chemelot Campus boosts innovation and business growth by giving tenants access to talent knowledge and infrastructure and entrepreneurship.
With over 3,300 of the world’s leading experts in engineering, modelling, operations and maintenance, the Chemelot Campus is the best possible place to test and develop our RotoDynamic technology and collaborate with our partner network.
OUR Rotodynamic TECHNOLOGY CAN CUT OVER 30% OF THE WORLD’S INDUSTRIAL CO2 EMISSIONS ANNUALLY
500
Mt
estimated reduction potential in chemicals & petrochemicals industries
600
Mt
estimated reduction potential in iron & steel industries
1000
Mt
estimated reduction potential in cement industries
300
Mt
estimated reduction potential in other industries
Timeline to production
Ready for commercial launch at scale in 2025
This game-changing technology already exists today and a large and growing number of global industrial players and governments have already expressed great interest in using it to cut CO2 emissions and meet crucial climate targets. Our RDH and RDR technologies are currently being piloted, with commercial demonstration projects beginning in 2022. The technology can be retrofitted to existing production plants and will be ready for large-scale use in 2024.
2021 – 2023
- Demonstrate technology and engage customers in petrochemicals and other key industrial sectors
- Partnering with industrial actors, EPC partners and universities for successful piloting
- Ramp-up of organization
2023 – 2025
- Commercial scale units installed at customer sites:
- RDR connected to ethylene plant
- RDH in selected applications (e.g. steel and cement)
- Engage technology suppliers to include RDR and RDH in their offering
- Network of partners to secure successful commercial launch
- Strengthen organization and validate key assumptions for commercial launch
2025 →
- Commercial deliveries to customers
- RDR and RDH part of technology offering of key suppliers and EPC companies
- World class organization and capabilities to deliver value for all stakeholders
- Continued value-adding partnerships within network of globally leading actors in different sectors
Coolbrook has set out to build a committed and comprehensive ecosystem around RDR and RDH technology to commercialize it as soon as possible. Together with our partners in industry, academia, the public sector and key decision-makers, we can roll out this revolutionary technology and achieve significant emission reductions in the most energy and CO2 intensive industrial processes, which until now have been considered impossible to electrify.
Ilpo Kuokkanen
Executive Chairman
Press releases
Coolbrook calls for industrial decarbonisation through electrification at COP28, the UN Climate Change Conference in UAE
Coolbrook successfully completes first phase of pilot tests to demonstrate its RotoDynamic Technology and its potential to reduce global industrial CO2 emissions by 30%
