Process Integration of Calcium Looping Technology

Around 36 gigatonnes of CO₂ are released into the atmosphere every year. Mitigation of CO₂ emissions is essential in reducing the rising level of greenhouse gas emissions and associated climate change. Calcium Looping Process (CLP) is one of the promising technologies developed as part of the continuous efforts for Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU). It is essentially a CO₂ capture process that utilizes calcium oxide (CaO) as a sorbent for the removal of CO₂, producing a concentrated stream of CO₂ (~99%) that is suitable for storage and reuse is produced in this process. Although still in the pilot stage, CLP presents several advantages over conventional carbon capture systems like amine-scrubbing. These advantages include low cost of the sorbent and relative ease of bolt-on retrofitting of existing power plants and industrial processes. The objective of this work is to use mass and energy integration to couple CLP with industrial facilities and power plants in order to enhance industrial symbiosis and reduce cost. Special attention is given to plants that generate large amount of CO₂ and/or provide excess heat that can be used in driving CLP. A case study was solved to assess the integration of CLP with candidate processes including power plants, cement production, gas-to-liquid (GTL) facility, and ammonia synthesis. The captured CO₂ can be re-utilized in CO₂ sinks that utilize CO₂ as a raw material for making chemicals. This use of CO₂ as a chemical feedstock provides a suitable alternative to sequestration and storage. The CO₂ sinks considered in the case study include the production of: urea, polymer, methanol and acetic acid. The solution to the case study shows the merits for integration of a GTL plant with CLP to supply CO₂ for the production of a polymer, methanol and acetic acid. Additionally, the captured CO₂ stream from the ammonia plant is integrated with urea production. Excess heat from the GTL facility and the power plant were also used. Cogeneration of power and heat improves the economic feasibility of the integrated system. The highlights of this symbiosis are the re-use of waste calcium oxide from the cement plant, utilization of waste heat and reduction of CO₂ emissions and raw-material usage due to utilization of the captured CO

Process integration of Calcium Looping with industrial plants for monetizing CO2 into value-added products

A Calcium Looping Process (CLP) is an emerging approach for Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU). It is essentially a CO2 capture process that utilizes calcium oxide (CaO) as a sorbent for the removal of CO2. A concentrated stream of CO2 (∼96%) that is suitable for storage and reuse is produced in this process. The objective of this work is to use mass and energy integration to couple CLP with industrial facilities and power plants in order to enhance industrial symbiosis and reduce cost via the chemical conversion of CO2 into value-added products. Special attention is given to plants that generate large amount of CO2 and/or provide excess heat that can be used in driving CLP. A case study is solved to assess the integration of CLP with candidate processes including power plants, cement production, gas-to-liquid (GTL) facility, and chemical plants for the production of ammonia, urea, polymer, methanol and acetic acid. The solution to the case study shows the merits integrating CLP with processing facilities

Multi-gene testing in neurological disorders showed an improved diagnostic yield: data from over 1000 Indian patients

Background Neurological disorders are clinically heterogeneous group of disorders and are major causes of disability and death. Several of these disorders are caused due to genetic aberration. A precise and confirmatory diagnosis in the patients in a timely manner is essential for appropriate therapeutic and management strategies. Due to the complexity of the clinical presentations across various neurological disorders, arriving at an accurate diagnosis remains a challenge. Methods We sequenced 1012 unrelated patients from India with suspected neurological disorders, using TruSight One panel. Genetic variations were identified using the Strand NGS software and interpreted using the StrandOmics platform. Results We were able to detect mutations in 197 genes in 405 (40%) cases and 178 mutations were novel. The highest diagnostic rate was observed among patients with muscular dystrophy (64%) followed by leukodystrophy and ataxia (43%, each). In our cohort, 26% of the patients who received definitive diagnosis were primarily referred with complex neurological phenotypes with no suggestive diagnosis. In terms of mutations types, 62.8% were truncating and in addition, 13.4% were structural variants, which are also likely to cause loss of function. Conclusion In our study, we observed an improved performance of multi-gene panel testing, with an overall diagnostic yield of 40%. Furthermore, we show that NGS (next-generation sequencing)-based testing is comprehensive and can detect all types of variants including structural variants. It can be considered as a single-platform genetic test for neurological disorders that can provide a swift and definitive diagnosis in a cost-effective manner