Skip to main content

Sulphur 421 Nov-Dec 2025

21 November 2025

Travertine starts operation of demonstration plant

UNITED STATES

Travertine starts operation of demonstration plant

Travertine Technologies, Inc., has begun operations at its demonstration plant in New York state. The core Travertine process demonstrated at this plant combines three major unit operations: salt-splitting electrolysis, caustic direct air capture, and mineralisation. This process produces sulphuric acid, calcium carbonate, and green hydrogen from waste gypsum and carbon dioxide captured directly from the air. The demonstration plant will produce 125 t/a of sulfuric acid, 125 t/a of calcium carbonate, and 55 t/a of carbon dioxide sequestration. The plant will supply sustainable sulphuric acid for local partner Sabin Metal Corporation’s precious metals recycling and refining business.

“This demo plant is an exciting next step as we scale up the core Travertine process. Our process can be used for a number of vital industrial applications, including using our sulphuric acid to produce phosphoric acid for the fertilizer and LFP battery industries with our proprietary phosphoric acid production process,” said Laura Lammers, PhD, founder and CEO of Travertine. “What is unique about Travertine is that we enable carbon-negative critical chemical production without making mineral byproducts that need to be landfilled.”

The Travertine Technologies demonstration plant, Rochester, New York.
PHOTO: TRAVERTINE TECHNOLOGIES

“Sabin Metal has long been committed to precious metals recycling with a focus on chemical reuse, sustainable procurement, and minimising byproducts.

We are pleased to partner with Travertine to incorporate their sustainable sulphuric acid into our process and continue the legacy of innovation in the Rochester area,” said Brent Vesa, technical director at Sabin Metal Corporation.

Latest in Industrial

Price Trends

The global sulphur market has entered a holding pattern, as a wave of bearish sentiment has so far failed to move stubbornly high spot prices. The departure of a significant volume of product from the Middle East has emboldened buyers and shifted market sentiment firmly towards bearish, but at time of writing this has so far failed to translate into lower prices. With sellers in no hurry to lower prices and spot availability still tight, the market has stalled as both sides wait for the other to blink first.

Restart for Hongda smelter

Hongda's 100,000 t/a zinc smelter, in China's Sichuan Province, completed scheduled maintenance and equipment upgrading and officially resumed production on 21st June, the company said. The smelter had been shut down for planned maintenance since January, during which time a modernisation project for the electrolytic zinc smelting system was also carried out. Following the nearly six-month revamp, the resumption of production is expected to improve overall operational efficiency, reduce unit production costs, and increase the utilisation rate, The company said. The stable supply of sulphuric acid generated by the zinc smelter will effectively leverage the synergies of the "sulphur-phosphorus" industrial chain in the company, an help alleviate cost pressures on the company's phosphorus chemical business segment.