{"71383":{"#nid":"71383","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Low-cost Reusable Material Could Facilitate Carbon Dioxide Capture","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have developed a new, low-cost material for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants and other generators of the greenhouse gas.  Produced with a simple one-step chemical process, the new material has a high capacity for absorbing carbon dioxide - and can be reused many times.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECombined with improved heat management techniques, the new material could provide a cost-effective way to capture large quantities of carbon dioxide from coal-burning facilities.  Existing CO2 capture techniques involve the use of solid materials that lack sufficient stability for repeated use - or liquid adsorbents that are expensive and require significant amounts of energy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is something that you could imagine scaling up for commercial use,\u0022 said Christopher Jones, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \u0022Our material has the combination of high capacity, easy synthesis, low cost and a robust ability to be recycled - all the key criteria for an adsorbent that would be used on an industrial scale.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDetails of the new material, known as hyperbranched aminosilica (HAS), are scheduled to appear in the March 19th issue of the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of the American Chemical Society\u003C\/em\u003E.  The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy\u0027s National Energy Technology Laboratory.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGrowing concern over increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide has prompted new interest in techniques for removing the gas from the smokestacks of such large-scale sources as coal-fired electric power plants.   But to minimize the economic impact, the cost of adding such controls must be minimized so it doesn\u0027t raise the price of electricity significantly. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce removed from the stack gases, the CO2 might be sequestered in the deep ocean, in mined-out coal seams or in depleted petroleum reservoirs.  If the CO2 capture and sequestration process can be made practical, America\u0027s large resources of coal could be used with less impact on global climate change.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking with Department of Energy scientists Daniel Fauth and McMahan Gray, Jones and graduate students Jason Hicks and Jeffrey Drese developed a way to add CO2-adsorbing amine polymer groups to a solid silica substrate using covalent bonding.  The strong chemical bonds make the material robust enough to be reused many times.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Given the volumes involved, you must be able to recycle the adsorbent material for the process to be cost-effective,\u0022 said Jones.  \u0022Otherwise, you would be creating large and expensive waste streams of adsorbent.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EProduction of the HAS material is relatively simple, and requires only the mixing of the silica substrate with a precursor of the amine polymer in solution.  The amine polymer is initiated on the silica surface, producing a solid material that can be filtered out and dried.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo test the effectiveness of their new material, the Georgia Tech researchers passed simulated flue gases through tubes containing a mixture of sand and HAS.  The CO2 was adsorbed at temperatures ranging from 50 to 75 degrees Celsius.  Then the HAS was heated to between 100 and 120 degrees Celsius to drive off the gas so the adsorbent could be used again.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested the material across 12 cycles of adsorption and desorption, and did not measure a significant loss of capacity.  The HAS material can adsorb up to 5 times as much carbon dioxide as some of the best existing reusable materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe HAS material works in the presence of moisture, an unavoidable by-product of the combustion process.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdsorption of the CO2 generates considerable amounts of heat, which must be managed and thermally recycled.  Removal of the carbon dioxide requires heating the adsorbent.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022How to manage this heat is one of the most critical issues controlling the economics of a potential large scale process,\u0022 Jones added.  \u0022You must control the production of heat by the adsorption step, and you don\u0027t want to put any more energy into the desorption process than necessary.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of their chemical structure, the amine groups provide three different classes of binding sites for carbon dioxide, each with a different binding energy.  Optimizing the production of binding sites is a goal for future research, Jones said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the material, other components of the separation and sequestration process must also be improved and optimized before it can become a practical technique for removing CO2 from flue gases.  The best way to expose the flue gases to the adsorbent material is also key issue.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There are many pieces that must fit together to make the overall economics of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration work,\u0022 Jones added.  \u0022The biggest challenge for this whole field of research right now is to do this as inexpensively as possible.  We think that our class of materials - a hyperbranched amine polymer bound to a solid support - is potentially ideal because it is simple to make, reusable and has a high capacity.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Christopher Jones (404-385-1683); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:christopher.jones@chbe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Echristopher.jones@chbe.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a new, low-cost material for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants and other generators of the greenhouse gas.  Produced with a simple one-step chemical process, the new material has a high capacity for absorbing carbon dioxide - and can be reused many times.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research could help reduce power plant greenhouse gas emissions"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-03-06 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-03-06T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2008-03-06T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71384":{"id":"71384","type":"image","title":"tubular reactor","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"},"71385":{"id":"71385","type":"image","title":"Flow system","body":null,"created":"1449177376","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:16","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"},"71386":{"id":"71386","type":"image","title":"Tubular reactor","body":null,"created":"1449177376","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:16","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"}},"media_ids":["71384","71385","71386"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/jones.php","title":"Christopher Jones"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7457","name":"capture"},{"id":"7454","name":"CO2"},{"id":"464","name":"emissions"},{"id":"7455","name":"greenhouse"},{"id":"7456","name":"power-plant"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}