Towards Sustainable Energy: Synthesis of Green Fuels with Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

A large percentage of the United States energy demands are currently met using energy sources imported from politically unstable parts of the world. Such imports pose a potential threat to our national security and therefore, finding an alternative source to supply our country’s ever growing energy demand is critical. The synthesis of green fuels from domestic carboneous sources such as coal, biomass and municipal solid wastes are particularly attractive, particularly if it is integrated with the carbon capture and storage (CCS) schemes in order to achieve both energy and environment sustainability. Predictions of global energy usage suggest a continued increase in carbon emissions and rising concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere unless major changes are made to the way energy is produced and used. The containment of carbon dioxide involves CO2 separation, transportation, and storage. Until now, these technologies have been developed independently of one another, which has resulted in complex and economically challenged large scale designs. CO2 capture fluids based on the nanoparticle ionic materials (NIMS) are currently developed and their absorption isotherms are characterized as a function of CO2 partial pressure and temperature (i.e., combustion and gasification conditions). NIMS are a new class of organicinorganic hybrids that consist of a hard nanoparticle core functionalized with a molecular organic (sometimes polymeric) corona. NIMS are nanoscale analogs of ionic liquids (ILs), which are often nonvolatile and stable over a very wide temperature range. Once captured, CO2 is chemically fixed into solid matrix that is thermodynamically stable for permanent storage. The tailored synthesis of mineral carbonates will allow its use as carbon-neutral filler materials and this will further improve the life cycle of the CCS technology

TAILORED SYNTHESIS OF PRECIPITATED MAGNESIUM CARBONATES AS CARBON-NEUTRAL FILLER MATERIALS DURING CARBON MINERAL SEQUESTRATION

Predictions of global energy usage and demand trends suggest that fossil fuels will remain as the main energy source for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the increased amount of anthropogenic carbon emitted during the energy production leads to environmental issues, including climate change. Thus, reducing carbon dioxide emissions in order to stabilize atmospheric CO2 levels is crucial, and this would not be achieved without significant changes in the energy conversion processes and the implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Currently, the geological storage of carbon dioxide is considered to be the most economical method of carbon sequestration, while mineral carbonation is a relatively new and less explored method of sequestering CO2. The advantage of carbon mineral sequestration is that it is the most permanent and safe method of carbon storage, since the gaseous carbon dioxide is fixed into a solid matrix of Mg-bearing minerals (e.g., serpentine) forming a thermodynamically stable solid product. The current drawback of carbon mineral sequestration is its relatively high cost. Therefore, this study focuses on tailored synthesis of high purity precipitated magnesium carbonate (PMC) to mimic commercially available CaCO3-based filler materials, while sequestering CO2. The effects of pH, reaction time and reaction temperature on the mean particle size, particle size distribution, and particle morphological structures, have been investigated for the synthesis of magnesium carbonates as carbon-neutral filler materials

Technologies to Capture CO2_2 directly from Ambient Air

Building a carbon-neutral world needs to remove the excess CO$_2$ that has already been dumped into the atmosphere. The sea, soil, vegetation, and rocks on Earth all naturally uptake CO$_2$ from the atmosphere. Human beings can accelerate these processes in specific ways. The review summarizes the present Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology that contribute to Negative Emissions. Research currently being done has suggested future perspectives and directions of various methods for Negative Emission. New generations of technologies have emerged as a result of recent advancements in surface chemistry, material synthesis, and engineering design. These technologies may influence the large-scale deployment of existing CO$_2$ capture technologies in the future

Water-stable MOFs and Hydrophobically Encapsulated MOFs for CO2 Capture from Ambient Air and Wet Flue Gas

The extra CO2 that has already been released into the atmosphere has to be removed in order to create a world that is carbon neutral. Technologies have been created to remove carbon dioxide from wet flue gas or even directly from ambient air, however these technologies are not widely deployed yet. New generations of creative CO2 capture sorbents have been produced as a consequence of recent improvements in material assembly and surface chemistry. We summarize recent progress on water-stable and encapsulated metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for CO2 capture under a wide range of environmental and operating conditions. In particular, newly developed water-stable MOFs and hydrophobic coating technologies are discussed with insights into their materials discovery and the synergistic effects between different components of these hybrid sorbent systems. The future perspectives and directions of water-stable and encapsulated MOFs are also given for Direct Air Capture of CO2 and CO2 capture from wet flue gas

Chapter 9 : CO2 Use

This report on carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) answers the Secretary of Energy's request for advice on the actions needed to deploy CCUS technologies at scale in the United States. The report concludes that at-scale deployment requires strong collaboration between industry and government; improved policies, financial incentives, and regulations; broad-based innovation and technology development; and increased understanding and confidence in CCUS–to create a roadmap for achieving at-scale deployment over the next 25 year

Nanoscale Hybrid Electrolytes with Viscosity Controlled Using Ionic Stimulus for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage

As renewable energy is rapidly integrated into the grid, the challenge has become storing intermittent renewable electricity. Technologies including flow batteries and CO 2 conversion to dense energy carriers are promising storage options for renewable electricity. To achieve this technological advancement, the development of next generation electrolyte materials that can increase the energy density of flow batteries and combine CO 2 capture and conversion is desired. Liquid-like nanoparticle organic hybrid materials (NOHMs) composed of an inorganic core with a tethered polymeric canopy (e.g., polyetheramine (HPE)) have a capability to bind chemical species of interest including CO 2 and redox-active species. In this study, the unique response of NOHM-I-HPE-based electrolytes to salt addition was investigated, including the effects on solution viscosity and structural configurations of the polymeric canopy, impacting transport behaviors. The addition of 0.1 M NaCl drastically lowered the viscosity of NOHM-based electrolytes by up to 90%, reduced the hydrodynamic diameter of NOHM-I-HPE, and increased its self-diffusion coefficient, while the ionic strength did not alter the behaviors of untethered HPE. This study is the first to fundamentally discern the changes in polymer configurations of NOHMs induced by salt addition and provides a comprehensive understanding of the effect of ionic stimulus on their bulk transport properties and local dynamics. These insights could be ultimately employed to tailor transport properties for a range of electrochemical applications

Geological Storage of CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e in Sub-Seafloor Basalt: The CarbonSAFE Pre-Feasibility Study Offshore Washington State and British Columbia

The CarbonSAFE Cascadia project team is conducting a pre-feasibility study to evaluate technical and nontechnical aspects of collecting and storing 50 MMT of CO2 in a safe, ocean basalt reservoir offshore from Washington State and British Columbia. Sub-seafloor basalts are very common on Earth and enable CO2 mineralization as a long-term storage mechanism, permanently sequestering the carbon in solid rock form. Our project goals include the evaluation of this reservoir as an industrial-scale CO2 storage complex, developing potential source/transport scenarios, conducting laboratory and modeling studies to determine the potential capacity of the reservoir, and completing an assessment of economic, regulatory and project management risks. Potential scenarios include sources and transport options in the USA and in Canada. The overall project network consists of a coordination team of researchers from collaborating academic institutions, subcontractors, and external participants. Lessons learned from this study at the Cascadia Basin location may be transferrable elsewhere around the globe

Geological Storage of CO2 in Sub-Seafloor Basalt: The CarbonSAFE Pre-Feasibility Study Offshore Washington State and British Columbia

The CarbonSAFE Cascadia project team is conducting a pre-feasibility study to evaluate technical and nontechnical aspects of collecting and storing 50 MMT of CO2 in a safe, ocean basalt reservoir offshore from Washington State and British Columbia. Sub-seafloor basalts are very common on Earth and enable CO2 mineralization as a long-term storage mechanism, permanently sequestering the carbon in solid rock form. Our project goals include the evaluation of this reservoir as an industrial-scale CO2 storage complex, developing potential source/transport scenarios, conducting laboratory and modeling studies to determine the potential capacity of the reservoir, and completing an assessment of economic, regulatory and project management risks. Potential scenarios include sources and transport options in the USA and in Canada. The overall project network consists of a coordination team of researchers from collaborating academic institutions, subcontractors, and external participants. Lessons learned from this study at the Cascadia Basin location may be transferrable elsewhere around the globe

Recent Advances in Anhydrous Solvents for CO2 Capture: Ionic Liquids, Switchable Solvents, and Nanoparticle Organic Hybrid Materials

CO2 capture by amine scrubbing, which has a high CO2 capture capacity and a rapid reaction rate, is the most employed and investigated approach to date. There are a number of recent large-scale demonstrations including the Boundary Dam Carbon Capture Project by SaskPower in Canada that have reported successful implementations of aqueous amine solvent in CO2 capture from flue gases. The findings from these demonstrations will significantly advance the field of CO2 capture in the coming years. While the latest efforts in aqueous amine solvents are exciting and promising, there are still several drawbacks to amine-based CO2 capture solvents including high volatility and corrosiveness of the amine solutions, as well as the high parasitic energy penalty during the solvent regeneration step. Thus, in a parallel effort, alternative CO2 capture solvents, which are often anhydrous, have been developed as the third-generation CO2 capture solvents. These novel classes of liquid materials include: Ionic Liquids (ILs), CO2-triggered switchable solvents (i.e., CO2 Binding Organic Liquids (CO2BOLs), Reversible Ionic Liquids (RevILs)), and Nanoparticle Organic Hybrid Materials (NOHMs). This paper provides a review of these various anhydrous solvents and their potential for CO2 capture. Particular attention is given to the mechanisms of CO2 absorption in these solvents, their regeneration and their processability – especially taking into account their viscosity. While not intended to provide a complete coverage of the existing literature, this review aims at pointing the major findings reported for these new classes of CO2 capture media