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Results for “carbon capture and utilization”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Hierarchical Porous Activated Carbon from Wheat Bran Agro-Waste: Applications in Carbon Dioxide Capture, Dye Removal, Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution Reactions

Here this work reports an efficient method for facile synthesis of hierarchically porous carbon (WB-AC) utilizing wheat bran waste. Obtained carbon showed 2.47 mmol g -1 CO 2 capture capacity with good CO 2 /N 2 selectivity and 27.35 to 29.90 kJ mol -1 isosteric heat of adsorption. Rapid removal of MO dye was observed with a capacity of ~555 mg g -1 . Moreover, WB-AC demonstrated a good OER activity with 0.35 V low overpotential at 5 mA cm -2 and a Tafel slope of 115 mV dec -1 . It also exhibited high electrocatalytic HER activity with 57 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm -2 and a Tafel slope of 82.6 mV dec -1 . The large SSA (757 m 2 g -1 ) and total pore volume (0.3696 cm 3 g -1 ) result from N 2 activation contributing to selective CO 2 uptake, high and rapid dye removal capacity and superior electrochemical activity (OER/HER), suggesting the use of WB-AC as cost effective adsorbent and metal free electrocatalyst.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Crystal Engineering of Hydrogen Bonding for Direct Air Capture of CO2: A Quantum Crystallography Perspective

Rising atmospheric CO2 levels demand efficient and sustainable carbon capture solutions. Direct air capture (DAC) via crystallizing hydrogen-bonded frameworks such as carbonate salts has emerged as a promising approach. This review explores the potential of crystal engineering, in tandem with advanced quantum crystallography techniques and computational modeling, to unlock the full potential of DAC materials. We examine the critical role of hydrogen bonding and other noncovalent interactions within a family of bis-guanidines that governs the formation of carbonate salts with high CO2 capture capacity and low regeneration energies for utilization. Quantum crystallography and charge density analysis prove instrumental in elucidating these interactions. A case study of a highly insoluble carbonate salt of a 2,6-pyridine-bis-(iminoguanidine) exemplifies the effectiveness of these approaches. However, challenges remain in the systematic and precise determination of hydrogen atom positions and atomic displacement parameters within DAC materials using quantum crystallography, and limitations persist in the accuracy of current energy estimation models for hydrogen bonding interactions. Future directions lie in exploring diverse functional groups, designing advanced hydrogen-bonded frameworks, and seamlessly integrating experimental and computational modeling with machine learning. This synergistic approach promises to propel the design and optimization of DAC materials, paving the way for a more sustainable future.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Abstract for CRADA between National Energy Technology Laboratory and Giner Inc.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Giner Inc. will collaborate in the development and scaling of an electrochemical system to capture and regenerate CO 2 from air with high efficiency and low energy input under an awarded project from the Department of Energy’s Direct Air Capture Pre Commercialization Technology Prize. Giner’s prototype design utilizes a hydroxide-based sorbent to capture the CO 2 from ambient air and convert it to carbonate in solution. The carbonate is then regenerated electrochemically back into CO 2 , releasing a purified, concentrated CO 2 stream ideal for downstream utilization. This process recycles the capture solution and all generated byproducts, including water and hydrogen, making it an extremely resource- and energy-efficient system. This collaboration will facilitate the deployment of this cost-effective solution for direct air capture of CO 2 to enable reduction in global greenhouse gases and advance NETL’s ongoing CO 2 conversion efforts.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Time-lapse VSP integration and calibration of subsurface stress field utilizing machine learning approaches: A case study of the morrow B formation, FWU

This study aims to develop a methodology for calibrating subsurface stress changes through time-lapse vertical seismic profiling (VSP) integration. The selected study site is a region around the injector well located within Farnsworth field unit (FWU), where there is an ongoing CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operation. In our study, a site-specific rock physics model was created from extensive geological, geophysical, and geomechanical characterization through 3D seismic data, well logs, and core assessed as part of the 1D MEM conducted on the characterization well within the study area. Here, the Biot-Gassmann workflow was utilized to combine the rock physics and reservoir simulation outputs to determine the seismic velocity change due to fluid substitution. Modeled seismic velocities attributed to mean effective stress were determined from the geomechanical simulation outputs, and the stress-velocity relationship developed from ultrasonic seismic velocity measurements. A machine learning-assisted workflow comprised of an artificial neural network and a particle swarm optimizer (PSO) was utilized to minimize a penalty function created between the modeled seismic velocities and the observed time-lapse VSP dataset. The successful execution of this workflow has affirmed the suitability of acoustic time-lapse measurements for 4D-VSP geomechanical stress calibration pending measurable stress sensitivities within the anticipated effective stress changes and the availability of suitable and reliable datasets for petroelastic modeling. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

NREL Price Series Developed for the ARPA-E FLECCS Program

The price data for four regions (CAISO, ERCOT, MISO-W, and PJM-W) are developed using the ReEDS to PLEXOS conversion as described in (Gagnon et al. 2020). The reference ReEDS case chosen is based on the 2020 Standard Scenario Mid-case, which uses the 2020 ReEDS model version (Cole et al. 2020; Ho et al. 2021). All ReEDS model inputs use 2020 Standard Scenarios Mid-case assumptions except for CO2 prices, which are implemented as linearly increasing CO2 price trajectories beginning at $0/tCO2 in 2020 and ending at either $100/tCO2 or $150/tCO2 in 2035 to dive capacity expansion towards a low-carbon system that could support CCS deployment. However, these scenarios also prohibit CCS deployment in this time frame so that resulting price data are not influenced by the deployment and operation of CCS itself. Implementing the ReEDS to PLEXOS conversion tool, PLEXOS is then simulated using the 2035 ReEDS infrastructure for both CO2 price scenarios, with the following model version and setup: PLEXOS Version: 8.2 Solver: Xpress-MP 35.01.01 Mixed integer optimization relative gap 1% System configuration: • Total number of nodes: 134 (consistent with ReEDS balancing areas) • Line losses enforced using piecewise linear approximation • Energy dump was enabled Price data is aggregated to the ISO/RTO level using load-weighted averages. References: Cole, Wesley, Sean Corcoran, Nathaniel Gates, Daniel Mai, Trieu, and Paritosh Das. 2020. “2020 Standard Scenarios Report: A U.S. Electricity Sector Outlook.” NREL/TP-6A20-77442. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77442.pdf. Gagnon, Pieter, Will Frazier, Elaine Hale, and Wesley Cole. 2020. “Cambium Documentation: Version 2020.” NREL/TP-6A20-78239. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). https://doi.org/10.2172/1734551. Ho, Jonathan, Jonathon Becker, Maxwell Brown, Patrick Brown, Ilya (ORCID:0000000284917814) Chernyakhovskiy, Stuart Cohen, Wesley (ORCID:000000029194065X) Cole, et al. 2021. “Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) Model Documentation: Version 2020.” NREL/TP-6A20-78195. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.2172/1788425.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Technoeconomic and Life Cycle Analysis of Synthetic Methanol Production from Hydrogen and Industrial Byproduct CO 2

Here CO 2 capture and utilization provides an alternative pathway for low-carbon hydrocarbon production. Given the ample supply of high-purity CO 2 emitted from ethanol and ammonia plants, this study conducted technoeconomic analysis and environmental life cycle analysis of several systems: integrated methanol-ethanol coproduction, integrated methanol-ammonia coproduction, and stand-alone methanol production systems, using CO 2 feedstock from ethanol plants, ammonia plants, and general market CO 2 supply. The cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions of methanol produced from the stand-alone methanol, integrated methanol-ethanol, and integrated methanol-ammonia systems are 13.6, 37.9, and 84.6 g CO 2 -equiv/MJ, respectively, compared to 91.5 g CO 2 -equiv/MJ of conventional methanol produced from natural gas. The minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of methanol ($\$0.61-0.64$/kg) is 61-68% higher than the average market methanol price of $\$0.38$/kg, when using a Department of Energy target renewable hydrogen production price of $\$2.0$/kg. The methanol price increases to $\$1.24-1.28$/kg when the hydrogen price is $\$5.0$/kg. Without CO 2 abatement credits, the H 2 price needs to be within $\$0.77-0.95$/kg for the MFSP of methanol to equal the average methanol market price. With a CO 2 credit of $\$35$/MT according to tax credit per metric ton of CO 2 captured and used, the methanol price is reduced to $\$0.56-0.59$/kg.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Harnessing photoautotroph-methanotroph interactions for biogas conversion to fuels and chemicals using binary consortia (Project Final Technical Report)

Industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste streams containing stranded organic carbon represent a significant and underutilized feedstock to produce fuels and chemicals. With anaerobic digestion deployed at large scales to capture organic waste streams, over 6 million tons of biogas are available today. However, the utilization of biogas represents a significant challenge due to its low pressure and presence of contaminants such as H 2 S, ammonia, and volatile organic carbon compounds. To tap into this immense potential, effective biotechnologies that co-utilize both CO 2 and CH 4 are needed. Recent studies demonstrated that, in nature, microbial communities have developed a highly efficient way to recover energy and capture carbon from both CH 4 and CO 2 through metabolic coupling of methane oxidation to oxygenic photosynthesis. Using two synthetic methanotroph – photoautotroph (M-P) co-cultures that exhibit stable growth under a broad range of cultivation conditions, in this project we proposed to harness the interspecies interactions within these cocultures for biogas conversion to fuels and chemicals. To facilitate this overarching objective, we aim to develop experimental and computational tools to gain qualitative and quantitative understandings on the interactions and dynamics of the coculture at both systems and molecular levels, and to validate our findings through experiments and mutant development. The fundamental understanding on the interactions and dynamics of the photoautotroph-methanotroph will lay the foundation for the design and optimization of synthetic binary consortia for production of fuels and chemicals from biogas. We expect the knowledge gained from this project may be generally applicable to other cross-feeding binary consortium, and the tools developed can be adapted to study the interactions and dynamics of other multi-organism platforms.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effect of changes of physical properties on CO2 capture solvents on its absorption rate

Concern over greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO2 from fossil fuel combustion, is leading to new regulations on fossil-fuel fired power generation facilities. Using amine-based solutions for CO2 capture in power plants is the most common method utilized industrially and studied in the laboratory environment. However, a limited number of amines are available for carbon capture research after balancing the capital cost and energy penalty. In the carbon capture process, physical properties such as viscosity, surface tension, wettability, etc. are found to play important roles in solvent performance. In this context, we are exploring an approach to enhance the CO2 capture of amine solvents by tuning the physical properties of the amine solvents by the addition of additives. These additives in the amine solution utilize controlled bubble generation to increase liquid-gas contact surface area. This method can increase mass transfer in the absorber column, specifically at the bottom where the mass transfer is limited. These additives can enhance the CO2 capture efficiency by changing the physical property of the solvent which in turn can lower the capital cost associated with the system. This work can be applied to all common aqueous amine solvent and would be of great interest to those in the CCS community.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Comparative Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Analysis of Water Oxidation and Hydrogen Oxidation at the Anode in a CO 2 Electrolysis to Ethylene System

We compare the economic viability of employing hydrogen oxidation versus water oxidation at the anode of a commercial-scale electrolysis plant that converts CO 2 to ethylene. We vary the electrolyzer capital cost, membrane lifetime, and renewable electricity price to represent a current and future market scenario. We find that anodic hydrogen oxidation with membraneless reactor design can reduce the electrolyzer capital cost by up to 48% and reduce electricity demand by at least 50% with the current underdeveloped electrolyzer market. These capital and operating cost savings could further lead to a lower ethylene production cost from anodic hydrogen oxidation than the anodic water oxidation system with hydrogen supplied at less than $\$6$ kg. In the future scenario with a fully developed electrolyzer market and cheap renewable electricity, we find that the anodic hydrogen oxidation system requires hydrogen cheaper than $0.7/kg to compete with the anodic water oxidation system. Moreover, hydrogen oxidation at the anode enables extremely low cradle-to-gate emission ethylene by utilizing negative emission hydrogen such as biomass gasification with carbon capture and sequestration, ~240% lower than ethylene produced from the wind/solar electricity-driven water oxidation system. Furthermore, this low carbon footprint ethylene can further boost the economic competitiveness for anodic hydrogen oxidation with a future carbon credit market.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Energy-efficient carbon capture from industrial point sources via commercially available green solvent and hollow fiber membrane contactors

Solvent-based absorption systems have emerged in the carbon capture space due to their high absorption capacities, reusability, and favorable energy requirements. Using diethyl sebacate as a solvent for pre- and post-combustion carbon capture has advantages over other solvents, including high hydrophobicity, low viscosity, low vapor pressure, high CO 2 solubility, high CO 2 selectivity, and being commercially available in large quantities. Despite these advantageous properties, the use of diethyl sebacate as a solvent for post-combustion carbon capture has not been studied in detail. To examine the capability of diethyl sebacate, a scalable, energy-efficient, hollow fiber membrane (microporous polypropylene and polyvinylidene fluoride) contactor (HFMC)-based process with low-cost and high surface area is investigated. A purity of 95.3 % CO 2 with 46 % recovery in one absorption stage was achieved, with a permeate flux over one magnitude greater than using a deep eutectic solvent in the same system. Technoeconomic analysis determined a ∼ 0.8 GJ per ton of CO 2 at a processing cost of ∼$93 per ton of CO 2 . Results from this work underscore the potential for utilizing green solvents in HFMC-based separation processes for effective carbon capture and provide a pathway towards practical deployment.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modeling direct air carbon capture and storage in a 1.5 °C climate future using historical analogs

Limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5 °C will rely, in part, on technologies to remove CO 2 from the atmosphere. However, many carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies are in the early stages of development, and there is limited data to inform predictions of their future adoption. Here, we present an approach to model adoption of early-stage technologies such as CDR and apply it to direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS). Our approach combines empirical data on historical technology analogs and early adoption indicators to model a range of feasible growth pathways. We use these pathways as inputs to an integrated assessment model (the Global Change Analysis Model, GCAM) and evaluate their effects under an emissions policy to limit end-of-century temperature change to 1.5 °C. Adoption varies widely across analogs, which share different strategic similarities with DACCS. If DACCS growth mirrors high-growth analogs (e.g., solar photovoltaics), it can reach up to 4.9 GtCO 2 removal by midcentury, compared to as low as 0.2 GtCO 2 for low-growth analogs (e.g., natural gas pipelines). For these slower growing analogs, unabated fossil fuel generation in 2050 is reduced by 44% compared to high-growth analogs, with implications for energy investments and stranded assets. Residual emissions at the end of the century are also substantially lower (by up to 43% and 34% in transportation and industry) under lower DACCS scenarios. The large variation in growth rates observed for different analogs can also point to policy takeaways for enabling DACCS.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Gas diffusion electrodes, reactor designs and key metrics of low-temperature CO 2 electrolysers

We report that CO 2 emissions can be recycled via low-temperature CO 2 electrolysis to generate products such as carbon monoxide, ethanol, ethylene, acetic acid, formic acid and propanol. In recent years, progress has been made towards an industrially relevant performance by leveraging the development of gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs), which enhance the mass transport of reactant gases (for example, CO 2 ) to the active electrocatalyst. Innovations in GDE design have thus set new benchmarks for CO 2 conversion activity. In this Review, we discuss GDE-based CO 2 electrolysers, in terms of reactor designs, GDE composition and failure modes, to identify the key advances and remaining shortfalls of the technology. This is combined with an overview of the partial current densities, efficiencies and stabilities currently achieved and an outlook on how phenomena such as carbonate formation could influence the future direction of the field. Our aim is to capture insights that can accelerate the development of industrially relevant CO 2 electrolysers.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

High Energy Systems for Transforming CO 2 to Valuable Products (Final Report)

The objective of this project is to develop the Direct E-Beam Synthesis (DEBS) process that uses high-energy electron beams (E-Beam) to break chemical bonds. This allows the production of valuable chemicals, such as acetic acid, methanol, and carbon monoxide, at relatively low severity (pressure near one atmosphere and temperatures <150°C) from near-pure CO 2 captured from a pulverized coal-fired power plant and methane, imported as natural gas. Creating such valuable products will offset the cost of carbon capture and storage. Through this project, we have designed, constructed, and operated an E-Beam reactor to examine the feasibility of performing dry reforming reaction without a catalyst using only DEBS. We have verified the production of syngas with 1:1 H2:CO ratio and calculated that the energy cost for conversion is about 5.2 eV/molecule of product for dry reforming reaction which is similar to the energy cost for conversion using conventional thermochemical conversion but under significantly milder conditions (room temperature and atmospheric pressure). We have performed a technoeconomic analysis (TEA) to estimate the total capital requirement and the cost of production for a 99.4 MMSCFD syngas production plant via non-catalytic Direct E-Beam Synthesis (DEBS) technology utilizing a high-energy electron beam (E-Beam) accelerator. No assumption is made for syngas utilization downstream, and the incoming reactants are pure CO 2 from carbon capture (assumed to be at zero cost) and natural gas. The Total As-Spent Cost (TASC) was calculated to be $\$242.5$ million, resulting in a levelized cost of syngas (LCOS) of $\$175.84$/tonne (metric) at a natural gas price of $\$6.24$/MMBTU1. The cost of syngas is primarily determined by the price of natural gas. If the cost of the CO 2 feedstock is assumed to be non-zero, then the price of the CO 2 feed also heavily influences the levelized cost of syngas. The potential impact on the cost of electricity from syngas revenue is significant. Following DOE NETL’s guidance, a lifecycle analysis (LCA) was conducted to compare the cradle-to-gate life cycle emissions of GTI Energy’s novel Direct E-Beam Synthesis (DEBS) process that produces syngas via the reaction of methane and carbon dioxide to the emissions of a state-of-the-art Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) process that also produces syngas via the reaction of methane and steam. The DEBS process results in less GHG emissions than SMR (with CO product as the basis of comparison). openLCA was used for the LCA and the results show that the total global warming potential (GWP) of DEBS is 0.981 kg CO 2 e per kg CO product, while the SMR process has a global warming potential of 2.573 kg CO 2 e per kg CO product. The ratio of the GWP of the proposed product system to the comparison product system is 0.381. This percent change is 61.9% lower GWP than SMR.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Hybrid biophysical systems for atmospheric CO 2 capture

Negative emissions technologies will be essential for limiting anthropogenic global temperature increases to 2 °C in the later years of the 21st century. Carbonic anhydrase (CA) metalloenzymes catalyze the otherwise slow conversion of CO 2 into carbonic acid (H 2 CO 3 ), suggesting their utility in the rapid hydration and downstream capture of dissolved CO 2 in aqueous media for a variety of CO 2 capture methods, such as thermal and pH swings and mineralization. The possibility of driving the rapid capture of CO 2 by catalyzing the CO 2 hydration bottleneck carries real potential for realizing efficient direct air capture (DAC) and direct ocean capture (DOC) systems. However, scaled application of CAs will be dependent on some way of economically sourcing the enzymes at volumes relevant to scaled DAC/DOC operations. In this perspective, we consider the prospect of catalyzing CO 2 hydration using a CA that is bound to the outer membrane of a cyanobacterial host, engineered constructs we call CyCAMs. Coupling extracellular CA expression to a marine, photosynthetic cyanobacterial host results in a CO 2 hydration catalyst that is continuously refreshed during the bacterial growth cycle, without the need for enzyme purification or harvesting steps. In the case of marine cyanobacteria, sunlight and the solutes native to seawater provide the respective energy, nutrients and sources of inorganic carbon essential to maintaining the bacterial population. We consider the potential impact of CA-mediated CO 2 hydration on a variety of DAC processes, with CO 2 mineralization explored as a primary use case.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Summary Report of the Reactive CO 2 Capture: Process Integration for the New Carbon Economy Workshop, February 18-19, 2020

This report provides a summary of feedback from the “Reactive CO 2 Capture: Process Integration for the New Carbon Economy” workshop held February 18-19, 2020. The focus of this workshop was to discuss approaches for merging carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture and CO 2 conversion/utilization systems into an integrated "reactive capture" strategy. By the workshop’s definition, reactive capture (RC) of CO 2 is the coupled process of capturing CO 2 from a mixed gas stream and converting it into a valuable product without going through a purified CO 2 intermediate. Participants were able to identify four key themes and associated calls to action for the reactive capture community: (1) essential role of partnerships; (2) critical challenges; (3) defining the value proposition; and (4) approach to support technological advancement.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗