{"142421":{"#nid":"142421","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Research Shows Chemical and Economic Feasibility for Capturing Carbon Dioxide Directly from Air","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith a series of papers published in chemistry and chemical engineering journals, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have advanced the case for extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air using newly-developed adsorbent materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technique might initially be used to supply carbon dioxide for such industrial applications as fuel production from algae or enhanced oil recovery. But the method could later be used to supplement the capture of CO2 from power plant flue gases as part of efforts to reduce concentrations of the atmospheric warming chemical.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a detailed economic feasibility study, the researchers projected that a CO2 removal unit the size of an ocean shipping container could extract approximately a thousand tons of the gas per year with operating costs of approximately $100 per ton. The researchers also reported on advances in adsorbent materials for selectively capturing carbon dioxide.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEven if we removed CO2 from all the flue gas, we\u2019d still only get a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted each year,\u201d noted \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/sholl.php\u0022\u003EDavid Sholl\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cIf we want to make deep cuts in emissions, we\u2019ll have to do more \u2013 and air capture is one option for doing that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech research into air capture techniques was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Papers describing the economic analysis and new adsorbent materials were published in the journals \u003Cem\u003EChemSusChem\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Cem\u003EIndustrial and Engineering Chemistry Research\u003C\/em\u003E, the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Physical Chemistry Letters\u003C\/em\u003E and the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of the American Chemical Society\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECarbon dioxide from large sources such as coal-burning power plants or chemical facilities account for less than half the worldwide emissions of the gas, noted \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/jones.php\u0022\u003EChristopher Jones\u003C\/a\u003E, also a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering. Much of the remaining emissions come from mobile sources such as buses, cars, planes and ships, where capture would be much more costly per ton.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones is collaborating with a startup company \u2013 Global Thermostat \u2013 to establish a pilot plant to demonstrate the direct air capture technique. The technology for capturing carbon dioxide from the air would be similar to that required for removing the gas from smokestack emissions, though CO2 concentrations in flue gases are dramatically higher than those in the atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFlue gases contain about 15 percent carbon dioxide, while CO2 is found in the atmosphere at less than 400 parts per million. That\u2019s a factor of 375, notes Sholl, who said the difference in capture efficiency could be partially made up by eliminating the need to transport CO2 removed from flue gas to sequestration locations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause the atmosphere is generally consistent, you could operate the capture equipment wherever you had a sequestration site,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think air capture will ever produce carbon dioxide as cheaply as capturing it from flue gas. But on the other hand, it doesn\u2019t seem to be wildly more expensive, either.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBased on his work with Global Thermostat, Jones believes that the costs of an optimized process will prove to be even lower than the estimates of Sholl\u2019s team. \u201cSholl\u2019s paper is important because it shows that direct capture of CO2 from the air can be up to ten times less expensive than had been estimated by others,\u201d he said. \u201cProcess improvements based on their initial modeling study could bring costs down even further.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn its economic analysis, Sholl\u2019s team considered all of the energy that would have to be put into the capture process. The cost estimates did not include the capital cost of establishing the capture facilities because the technology is still too new for reliable projections.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe batch extraction process modeled by the Georgia Tech team involves blowing air through a ceramic honeycomb structure coated with dry amino-modified silica material to capture the CO2, then flowing steam through the structure to release the gas. The technique could produce carbon dioxide that is roughly 90 percent pure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe technical challenges are similar to those of flue gas capture: demonstration at scale, demonstration of long-term adsorbent stability and demonstration of process feasibility and stability,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIncreased funding for air capture work is needed, because most of the funding invested in carbon capture over the past decade has been directed at flue gas capture.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESholl and Jones have also been contributing to work on flue gas treatment, conducting research into adsorbent materials, including theoretical and experimental research into adsorbent alternatives such as metal-organic framework (MOF) materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong their recent papers on direct capture of CO2 from the air are:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA \u003Cem\u003EJournal of the American Chemical Society\u003C\/em\u003E paper that described the role of zirconium in producing more efficient amine-based adsorbents. \u201cPast work has focused on maximizing the amount of CO2 captured per gram of adsorbent by adding ever-increasing amounts of amines,\u201d Jones explained. \u201cWe are the first to show that an alternate strategy is to change the oxide support that the amines lay on, and for a fixed amount of amine, each amine works more efficiently.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA paper published in \u003Cem\u003EChemSusChem\u003C\/em\u003E describing the role played by primary, secondary and tertiary amines in capturing carbon dioxide from ultra-dilute gases like air. \u201cWe showed conclusively that primary amines are responsible for CO2 capture from the air, that secondary amines work to some degree, and that tertiary amines don\u2019t absorb from air in any appreciable amount,\u201d Jones said.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA paper in \u003Cem\u003EIndustrial \u0026amp; Engineering Chemistry Research\u003C\/em\u003E that describes detailed cost estimates for the air capture process.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones believes air capture should be among the options developed to address global warming produced by increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cInitial demonstrations of the air capture process will probably be targeted for applications that can use the carbon dioxide for commercial purposes,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAs the technology matures, we envision implementing CO2 capture from the air as a climate stabilization strategy, in parallel with CO2 capture from flue gas and enhanced utilization of alternative energies.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 309\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith a series of papers published in chemistry and chemical engineering journals, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have advanced the case for extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air using newly-developed adsorbent materials.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers have advanced the case for extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-07-24 11:01:32","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:33","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-07-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-07-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"142381":{"id":"142381","type":"image","title":"Testing aminosilicate samples","body":null,"created":"1449178723","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:38:43","changed":"1475894774","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:14","alt":"Testing aminosilicate samples","file":{"fid":"194966","name":"carbon-capture9.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-capture9_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-capture9_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1441502,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/carbon-capture9_0.jpg?itok=pTaQ374z"}},"142401":{"id":"142401","type":"image","title":"Testing monolith for capture","body":null,"created":"1449178723","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:38:43","changed":"1475894774","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:14","alt":"Testing monolith for capture","file":{"fid":"194968","name":"carbon-capture127.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-capture127_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-capture127_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1543094,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/carbon-capture127_0.jpg?itok=_K6GCoKC"}},"142391":{"id":"142391","type":"image","title":"Steam stripping system","body":null,"created":"1449178723","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:38:43","changed":"1475894774","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:14","alt":"Steam stripping system","file":{"fid":"194967","name":"carbon-capture87.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-capture87_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-capture87_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1330300,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/carbon-capture87_0.jpg?itok=BKlKKCzs"}}},"media_ids":["142381","142401","142391"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"38801","name":"adsorbent"},{"id":"7508","name":"carbon dioxide"},{"id":"38821","name":"carbon dioxide capture"},{"id":"1700","name":"Chris Jones"},{"id":"7454","name":"CO2"},{"id":"38811","name":"David Sholl"},{"id":"167750","name":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}