Mineralization of alkaline waste for CCUS

Ex-situ mineralization processes leverage the reaction of alkaline materials with CO₂ to form solid carbonate minerals for carbon capture, utilization, and storage. Annually, enough alkaline waste is generated to reduce global CO₂ emissions by a significant percentage via mineralization. However, while the reaction is thermodynamically favorable and occurs spontaneously, it is kinetically limited. Thus, a number of techniques have emerged to increase the efficiency of mineralization to achieve a scalable process. In this review, we discuss mineralization of waste streams with significant potential to scale to high levels of CO₂ sequestration. Focus is placed on the effect of operating parameters on carbonation kinetics and efficiency, methods, cost, and current scale of technologies.