+31 314 373 333British start-up Material Evolution developed a sustainable alternative to cement in 2020. After successful trials on a small scale, the company was ready to take the next step towards industrial production. The co-founders reached out to the powder processing technology experts at Hosokawa Micron for advice and support with scaling up. Today, they are on the verge of opening a facility with a capacity of 150,000 tonnes per year.
When Dr Liz Gilligan learned that Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is one of the largest emitters of CO2 on the planet, she decided to do something about it. “Cement is the second most widely used commodity product, after drinking water. The traditional cement manufacturing process involves a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide and requires huge amounts of heat energy,” she says.
“I believe everyone can and should make a difference in helping to solve the climate crisis. The prize is planetary. Therefore, after doing my PhD in sustainable cement, I converted my parents’ garage into a lab, and set out to replace cement as we know it.” This led to her founding Material Evolution in 2020.
Material Evolution’s sustainable alternative to OPC is based on a process called alkali fusion. “Rather than having to bake cement at high temperatures, it’s possible to achieve a similar result by mixing various powder-based inputs together. This approach reduces the CO2 emissions of the production process by 85% and results in a more durable end product. Moreover, our product is made from industrial waste, so it supports circular economy practices,” explains Dr Gilligan.
Commercializing a go-to-market solution
“Once the concept had been proved on a small scale at the batch level in our pilot plant in Middlesborough, we were keen to commercialize this product as quickly as possible,” comments Sam Clark, Chief Operations Officer and Co-founder of Material Evolution, who shares Dr Gilligan’s urgency to take action against climate change. “Through word of mouth, I heard that Hosokawa Micron were experts in powder processing technology so we reached out to them to explore possibilities that would allow us to deliver our solution on an industrial scale.”
Homogeneous mixing at a high throughput rate
Marc Jacobs, Team Manager CMM at Hosokawa Micron, helped Material Evolution’s team to identify the most operationally effective powder mixing setup for their factory’s design. “For our plant’s success, homogeneous mixing, high throughput and flexibility of input materials were extremely important. We want to guarantee high standards of material consistency, quality and repeatability for our customers,” states Clark.
“Normally, we would have invited Liz and Sam over to our head office in the Dutch town of Doetinchem to discuss their needs and conduct some trials at our in-house Test Centre,” says Jacobs. “But this was all happening during the COVID restrictions, so we had lots of Zoom and Teams calls instead.”
“Marc eventually came over to us in Middlesborough in December 2021, bringing with him the proposed demo equipment and also his colleague Dirk de Jong, Service Engineer, who was personally involved in designing and developing the machines and prototypes. In fact, they arrived on my 30th birthday, which was a great birthday present!” recalls Dr Gilligan.
Gravity-fed system
“The system is gravity-fed, so they even helped us build a scaffolding system to elevate the mixer and the dosing equipment to the necessary height. Marc and Dirk then set up all the machine controls and spent around a week optimizing the flow rates,” adds Clark. “By the end of the trial, we had produced around 20 tonnes of material. In true start-up style, we pushed the limits of the machine. The Hosokawa guys initially anticipated around one tonne an hour and thought that four tonnes an hour would be the absolute max, but we got it up to six tonnes an hour, so it was an interesting discovery process for both sides,” he continues.
Impatience meets pragmatism
“I’m not known for my patience, so after the successful on-site trial I was even more eager to start producing commercially,” admits Dr Gilligan. “Marc was very pragmatic and helpful. He called in a few favours so that we could take over all the equipment that had been installed – which had officially only been provided to us on loan – rather than waiting for new equipment to be made for us. And it has been there for three years now, pretty much unchanged apart from a few optimizations, such as a conveyor system and winch to carry the powders up to the top of the rig. That has saved a lot of manual lifting!”
“For me, openness and honesty are the most important pillars of a relationship; the planet doesn’t have time for games. We need to challenge each other to make a real difference, and Marc was a terrific sparring partner who wasn’t afraid to probe the reasons for our decisions. We found collaboration in the hard questions,” she states.
Committed to sustainability
“I also love the fact that Marc and the company as a whole are so supportive of the green agenda. A lot of firms claim to be committed to sustainability, but at Hosokawa it is more than just hollow words. They are involved in such a wide range of initiatives – from reducing their own carbon footprint, to developing a process for carbon black recovery – that you can see and feel they really mean it,” continues Dr Gilligan.
The industry reaction to their alternative for OPC has already been very positive, according to Clark: “The construction industry is traditionally cautious, and there is a real reluctance to change the status quo. So we’ve actively looked for – and found – likeminded customers who are aligned with us in terms of the sustainability agenda and are excited about new technology that’s disruptive and green.”
Continuous production
One early adopter is a producer of building blocks in Wrexham, where Material Evolution is now in the process of setting up a new factory on-site. “Our pilot plant in Middlesborough has a capacity of up to 96 tonnes per day, still as a batch-led process. But when we open the new facility in Wrexham, we will produce 150,000 tonnes per year,” reveals Clark. “The cement will go straight from our factory into the customer’s manufacturing processes, which has the added bonus of virtually no carbon miles.”
Further scaling up
“It’s a great feeling to have gone from developing the technology in my parents’ garage and running trials at our pilot plant, to servicing real customers and scaling up to continuous production. We’re very happy with the relationship we’ve built with Hosokawa so far, and we hope they will continue to be part of our journey as we scale up further as a business,” concludes Dr Gilligan.
