HARMONI

HARMONI, a Horizon Europe project, aims to develop an innovative solution to reduce emissions from the cement industry, a sector that requires large amounts of energy and heat to manufacture its products.

Currently, processes such as clinker production, the base material used to manufacture cement, require kilns that operate continuously and reach very high temperatures. This makes replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources particularly complex, as sources such as solar and wind power do not always produce energy consistently.

To address this challenge, HARMONI will work on the use of ammonia as a renewable energy carrier, developing technologies that enable it to be used as a fuel with no direct CO₂ emissions in cement kilns. In addition, the project will investigate the recovery of ammonia from industrial wastewater streams, strengthening the circular economy approach and the symbiosis between the cement industry and wastewater treatment.

HARMONI will also develop an artificial intelligence-based digital system to support plant operation and optimise the use of different energy sources according to their availability, cost and environmental impact. In this way, the project will contribute to reducing emissions associated with industrial thermal processes, facilitating the integration of renewable energy and moving towards more flexible, circular and sustainable cement plants.