Plasma process challenges CCS as D-CRBN scales up carbon reuse technology

Belgian firm D-CRBN is developing a circular carbon utilisation model that converts waste carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide using plasma technology.

With partnerships spanning upstream CO2 suppliers and downstream offtakers, the company is now scaling towards a commercial demonstration targeting 10,000 tonnes per year.

The momentum behind alternatives like D-CRBN comes as Europe’s gas landscape undergoes a period of upheaval. High prices, climate policy shifts and the geopolitical fallout from the Russia–Ukraine war have driven a sustained drop in European gas demand. 

According to Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, Lead Energy Analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the gas market is entering a phase of unpredictability shaped by declining LNG imports, slack regasification capacity, and a looming supply glut.

“What life has shown in the last few years is how unpredictable the gas market is, and how geopolitical issues affect us constantly,” she said during a gasworld webinar.

Although gas continues to play a role in the energy transition, its future is far from secure. LNG, in particular, has been criticised for methane leakage and its unclear long-term emissions profile. 

“We are expecting a supply glut by 2030,” said Jaller-Makarewicz. “If that happens, then we’ll see prices come down and there will be some supply curtailment.”

Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz
Lead Energy Analyst, Europe
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)

At the heart of these changing dynamics is the industrial carbon value chain, which is slowly evolving from linear to circular. D-CRBN wants to sit at the centre of that shift, linking upstream capture with downstream utilisation.

“We’re positioning D-CRBN quite central in this value chain, enabling connections between both upstream partners and downstream users of carbon monoxide,” said co-founder and CEO Gil Scheltjens.

The company uses plasma-based splitting technology to remove an oxygen molecule from CO2, using electricity. This process is more efficient than reverse water-gas shift, the traditional process used to separate the oxygen molecule.

“We have been measuring an electricity consumption of 1.1 kilowatt hours per kilogramme of carbon monoxide being produced … up to five times more efficient than reverse water-gas shift,” said Scheltjens.

The process also competes economically with fossil-based carbon monoxide (for example, syngas from natural gas or oil). 

“If we translate these gains in efficiency into techno-economic numbers, then we are actually showcasing that we are on par with fossil carbon monoxide. Now we’re not talking only about sustainability, but also about profitability.”

Unlike carbon capture and storage, which treats CO2 as waste to be permanently sequestered, D-CRBN reactivates the molecule on-site for immediate reuse in industrial processes, a model the company sees as more circular, decentralised and value-adding.

“CCS is still treating CO2 as waste … there is no added value. With D-CRBN, we offer an alternative route.”

This cost parity underpins the company’s plans to scale up towards a 10,000 tonne-per-year commercial demonstration.

Scaling through partnerships

D-CRBN has already reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 with an on-site deployment at ArcelorMittal, the world’s second-largest steel producer. The next phase, according to Scheltjens, is to reach TRL8 within the next two years, a step that would mark continuous operation at industrial scale.

To support that journey, the company has secured four new host sites across the chemical, petrochemical and steel sectors, where it will showcase its plasma process under real-world conditions.

“We’re now aiming at the deployment of spearhead projects,” said Scheltjens. “Every time that we scale, we go better and bigger.”

Its upstream partnerships are equally crucial. The company has teamed up with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which supplies CO2 using amine-based capture technology, and Nippon Gases, which provides highly pure CO2 via oxy-fuel combustion. These sources help ensure a clean and consistent feedstock for conversion – an essential input for D-CRBN’s process.

“Nippon Gases is using oxy-fuel technology to provide a much more pure CO2 stream that we can convert into carbon monoxide,” said Scheltjens.

D-CRBN is also developing its downstream partnerships. The company is working with a German company to produce fossil-free methanol-based products. This could be a step towards making olefins or ethylene and propylene within the petrochemical sector.

“[Our moonshot is] within the steel sector, [where] we are aiming for a fully circular blast furnace,” he added. “It’s the existing type of blast furnace that has been optimised and scaled for the last century – and we want to decarbonise it without touching the specific technology that already exists.”

The full webinar can be watched on-demand here.