Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Sequestration”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Improved Microalgal Carbon Utilization Efficiency via Integrated CO 2 Electro-Conversion to Formate and Microalgal Sequestration

This project developed a process to convert industrial carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions into high-value, sustainable products through genetically engineered algae cultivation. While traditional microalgae cultivation depends on sparging CO 2 gas through water, this method is often inefficient because much of the gas escapes into the atmosphere before the algae can consume it. To overcome this challenge, the project designed an integrated system that first uses a CO 2 to formic acid electrolyzer to convert CO 2 into water-soluble formic acid/formate, then introduces formic acid/formate into the algae pond for cultivation, which allows the algae to access and utilize nearly all of the provided carbon, greatly increasing the efficiency of carbon utilization. The project team has successfully scaled up the CO 2 to formic acid electrolyzer from lab-scale to 1000 cm² and demonstrated industrially relevant current densities with the scaled-up electrolyzers using a CO 2 source that simulates industrial CO 2 waste.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Uptake, Efflux, and Sequestration of Mercury in the Asian Clam, Corbicula fluminea , at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations, and the Implications for Mercury Remediation

(1) Mercury (Hg) is a persistent, ubiquitous contaminant that readily biomagnifies into higher trophic level species in aquatic environments across the globe. It is crucial to understand the movement of environmentally relevant concentrations of Hg in impacted freshwater streams to minimize risks to ecological and human health. (2) The bioconcentration kinetics of aqueous Hg exposure (20, 100, and 200 ng/L) in the invasive Asian Clam, Corbicula fluminea, were measured. A toxicokinetic model, the first parameterized for Hg accumulation in freshwater clams, was developed to estimate uptake and efflux parameters and compared to previous parameter values estimated for other mollusk species. (3) Results demonstrated that even at low Hg concentrations, Corbicula record signals of contamination through bioconcentration, and both direct measurement and toxicokinetic models demonstrate large Hg bioconcentration factors (as high as 1.34 × 10 5 mL/g dry tissue), similar to partitioning coefficients seen in engineered Hg sorbents. (4) Our study found that Corbicula accumulated Hg at aqueous concentrations relevant to impacted streams, but well below regulatory drinking water limits, demonstrating their utility as a sensitive sentinel species and potential bioremediator.

bioaccumulation↗
DOE OSTI2024

SOSAT: Geohazard Risk Assessment in Carbon Sequestration Operations

Like all operations in which fluids are injected into the subsurface, geologic carbon storage (GCS) presents inherit risks that must be assessed and mitigated to successfully deploy such technology in the field. For example, alterations to pore pressure and the stress state due to fluid injection may trigger certain geohazards, such as potential fault activation and induced seismicity or unintentional hydraulic fracturing. Here we present capabilities for assessing these potential risks using the State of Stress Analysis Tool (SOSAT): a Python library and web-based application capable of probabilistically estimating the subsurface state of stress informed by various field observations. Using posterior distributions of principal stress components, SOSAT can assess the risk of fault activation within the injection formation for either a critically oriented fault or a fault with a user-prescribed orientation. Additionally, SOSAT can estimate the probability of unintentional hydraulic fracturing of the intact reservoir rock. Here, we demonstrate these SOSAT capabilities using a hypothetical GCS site. This type of risk assessment can assist with the effective deployment of GCS technology in the field by informing safe design and management practices.

Haagenson, Ryan J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Modified Light Use Efficiency Model for Assessment of Carbon Sequestration in Grasslands of Kazakhstan: Combining Ground Biomass Data and Remote-sensing

A modified light use efficiency (LUE) model was tested in the grasslands of central Kazakhstan in terms of its ability to characterize spatial patterns and interannual dynamics of net primary production (NPP) at a regional scale. In this model, the LUE of the grassland biome (εn) was simulated from ground-based NPP measurements, absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) and meteorological observations using a new empirical approach. Using coarse-resolution satellite data from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), monthly NPP was calculated from 1998 to 2008 over a large grassland region in Kazakhstan. The modelling results were verified against scaled up plot-level observations of grassland biomass and another available NPP data set derived from a field study in a similar grassland biome. The results indicated the reliability of productivity estimates produced by the model for regional monitoring of grassland NPP. The method for simulation of εn suggested in this study can be used in grassland regions where no carbon flux measurements are accessible.

Kazakhstan↗
NASA NTRS2015

Evidence for the Sequestration of Hydrogen-Bearing Volatiles Towards the Moons Southern Pole-Facing Slopes

The Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) detects a widespread suppression of the epithermal neutron leakage flux that is coincident with the pole-facing slopes (PFS) of the Moon's southern hemisphere. Suppression of the epithermal neutron flux is consistent with an interpretation of enhanced concentrations of hydrogen-bearing volatiles within the upper meter of the regolith. Localized flux suppression in PFS suggests that the reduced solar irradiation and lowered temperature on PFS constrains volatility to a greater extent than in surrounding regions. Epithermal neutron flux mapped with LEND's Collimated Sensor for Epithermal Neutrons (CSETN) was analyzed as a function of slope geomorphology derived from the Lunar Orbiting Laser Altimeter (LOLA) and the results compared to co-registered maps of diurnally averaged temperature from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment and an averaged illumination map derived from LOLA. The suppression in the average south polar epithermal neutron flux on equator-facing slopes (EFS) and PFS (85-90 deg S) is 3.3 +/- 0.04% and 4.3 +/- 0.05% respectively (one-sigma-uncertainties), relative to the average count-rate in the latitude band 45-90 deg S. The discrepancy of 1.0 +/- 0.06% between EFS and PFS neutron flux corresponds to an average of approximately 23 parts-per-million-by-weight (ppmw) more hydrogen on PFS than on EFS. Results show that the detection of hydrogen concentrations on PFS is dependent on their spatial scale. Epithermal flux suppression on large scale PFS was found to be enhanced to 5.2 +/- 0.13%, a discrepancy of approximately 45 ppmw hydrogen relative to equivalent EFS. Enhanced poleward hydration of PFS begins between 50 deg S and 60 deg S latitude. Polar regolith temperature contrasts do not explain the suppression of epithermal neutrons on pole-facing slopes. The Supplemental on-line materials include supporting results derived from the uncollimated Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer and the LEND Sensor for Epithermal Neutrons.

Ices↗
NASA NTRS2015

The Age of Lunar South Circumpolar Craters Haworth, Shoemaker, Faustini, and Shackleton: Implications for Regional Geology, Surface Processes, and Volatile Sequestration

The interiors of the lunar south circumpolar craters Haworth, Shoemaker, Faustini, and Shackleton contain permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) and have been interpreted to contain sequestered volatiles including water ice. Altimetry data from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter provide a new means of examining the permanently shadowed interiors of these craters in unprecedented detail. In this study, we used extremely high-resolution gridded LOLA data of Haworth, Shoemaker, Faustini, and Shackleton to determine the size-frequency distributions and the spatial density of craters superposing their rims, inner slopes, and floors. Based on their population of superposed D greater than or equal to 2 km craters, Haworth, Shoemaker, and Faustini have pre-Nectarian formation ages. Shackleton is interpreted as having a Late Imbrian age on the basis of craters with diameter D greater than or equal to 0.5 km superposed on its rim. The local density of craters with sub-km diameters across our study area is strongly dependent on slope; because of its steep interior slopes, the lifetime of craters on the interior of Shackleton is limited. The slope-dependence of the small crater population implies that the population in this size range is controlled primarily by the rate at which craters are destroyed. This is consistent with the hypothesis that crater removal and resurfacing is a result of slopedependent processes such as diffusive mass wasting and seismic shaking, linked to micrometeorite and meteorite bombardment. Epithermal neutron flux data and UV albedo data show that these circumpolar PSRs, particularly Shoemaker, may have approximately 1-2% water ice by mass in their highly porous surface regolith, and that Shoemaker may have approximately 5% or more water ice by mass in the near subsurface. The ancient formation ages of Shoemaker, Faustini and Haworth, and the Late Imbrian (approximately 3.5 Ga) crater retention ages of their floors suggests that any water ice that might have been deposited in their permanently shadowed areas was insufficient to modify the superposed crater population since that time.

Circumpolar↗
NASA NTRS2023

Cryogenic Oxygen Storage Modules with Carbon Dioxide Sequestration for Environmental Control and Life Support Applications

NASA Kennedy Space Center engineers developed a Cryogenic Oxygen Storage Module (COSM) to store oxygen in solid-state form and deliver it as a gas to an end-use environmental control and/or life support system. Additionally, the COSM can scrub out nuisance or containment gases such as carbon dioxide and/or water vapor in conjunction with supplying oxygen, forming a synergistic system when used in a closed-loop application. Closed-loop life support systems require both oxygen supply and removal of toxic or nuisance gases such as CO2 from the breathing loop. In most deployed systems, these two requirements are accomplished independently. COSM combines these capabilities to work simultaneously which may allow for reduced system volume, mass, complexity and cost of a rebreathing device.

Jeffrey A Kohler↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electrochemically Enhanced Carbonate Precipitation into Building Materials: A Scalable Carbon Sequestration Strategy

Decarbonization goals across hard-to-abate industries have prompted an urgent need for advanced carbon capture and storage technologies. Sequestering CO2 into carbonate minerals is a scalable method of carbon management with the ability to produce value-added carbon negative materials from waste streams for the construction industry. Waste streams rich in Ca and Mg such as nickel mine tailings, iron/steel slag, and reverse osmosis brines can store 7.6 Mt CO2/year as minerals. Additionally, CO2 mineralization in acid-neutralization processes currently present in industrial waste treatment can eliminate associated CO2 emissions of lime processing by improving process circularity. The carbonate minerals formed from these waste sources are valuable as components of carbon-negative concrete, which have the potential to sequester 1.8 billion Mt of CO2/year. Electrochemical means of CO2 mineralization improves the kinetics of the thermodynamically favorable mineralization process, lessening or eliminating the high energy requirements of traditional methods. Here, we investigate benchtop scale electrochemical CO2 mineralization of alkaline mining waste, highlighting the effects of key constituents in mining waste on the mineralization process.

carbon capture↗
DOE OSTI2025

MRCI - Final Technical Report

The objective of the Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative (MRCI) project was to implement a collaborative Regional Initiative to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in the Midwest-Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States. This area encompasses a 20-state region with much of the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The MRCI project is co-led by Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle) in Columbus, Ohio, and the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) in Champaign, Illinois, and benefitted from the experience these organizations have acquired over the past 10-plus years leading two Department of Energy (DOE) Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSPs): the Midwestern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP), led by Battelle, and the Midwest Geologic Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), led by the ISGS.

CCS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluating CO 2 mitigation strategies in SAF biorefineries: Techno-economic and life cycle analysis

The aviation sector requires scalable decarbonization strategies, and lignocellulosic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) represents a promising pathway. This study comparatively evaluates the techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA) of three CO 2 management strategies integrated within a U.S.-based gasification–Fischer–Tropsch SAF biorefinery: (i) catalytic hydrogenation of captured CO 2 to methanol, (ii) geological CO 2 sequestration, and (iii) mineralization to sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ). Techno-economic analysis indicates that methanol synthesis requires approximately 26% higher capital investment and 33% higher operating costs than mineralization. Although methanol co-production generates the highest gross revenue, NaHCO 3 production reduces the SAF minimum selling price by approximately 38% relative to both methanol synthesis and geological sequestration pathways, reflecting a more balanced cost allocation through mineral co-product valorization. Geological sequestration lowers operating costs by nearly 50% compared with methanol synthesis but remains highly dependent on carbon credit mechanisms. LCA reveals substantial divergence in climate performance. Relative to methanol synthesis, sequestration improves net greenhouse gas performance by approximately 163%, transitioning the system from net-positive to net-negative emissions. Mineralization further enhances carbon mitigation, achieving roughly 85% greater carbon reduction than sequestration and over sixfold improvement relative to methanol synthesis within the defined system boundary. Sensitivity analysis identified hydrogen price, co-product market value, and process emissions as dominant drivers. Under baseline assumptions, CO 2 mineralization is found to offer the most balanced pathway.

Carbon capture and storage↗
DOE OSTI2024

Accelerating CO2 Storage Site Characterization through a New Understanding of Favorable Formation Properties and the Impact of Core-Scale Heterogeneities

CO2 sequestration in deep geologic formations can permanently reduce atmospheric CO2 emissions and help to abate climate change. Target formations must undergo a time- and resource-intensive site evaluation process, assessing storage capacity, environmental safety, and suitability for CO2 trapping via reactive transport models based on data from a limited number of core samples. As such, simulations are often simplified and omit heterogeneities in formation properties that may be significant but are not well understood. To facilitate more rapid site assessment, this work first defines the aquifer properties of favorable storage formations through the analysis of promising and active storage sites. Data show quartz is the most prevalent formation mineral with carbonate minerals, highly reactive with injected CO2, present in over 75% of formations. Porosity and permeability data are highly clustered at 10–30% and 10–1000 mD. Field-scale reactive transport simulations are then constructed and used to analyze CO2 trapping efficiency. The models consider porosity and carbonate mineral heterogeneity as well as the impacts of typical temperature gradients. Simulated sequestration efficiencies are compared to results from a comparable homogenous model to understand the implications of aquifer non-uniformities. The results show a lower sequestration efficiency in the homogeneous model during the injection phase. During the post-injection phase, the homogenization of porosity and carbonate mineralogy results in a higher sequestration efficiency. Incorporating the temperature gradient also increases the sequestration efficiency. Importantly, the maximum deviation between the homogeneous and heterogeneous simulations at the end of the 50-year study period is only ~10%. Larger impacts may be incurred for properties outside the defined, promising ranges suggested here.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
NASA NTRS2002

Controls on Variations of Surface Energy, Water, and Carbon Budgets within Large-Scale Amazon Basin

A key research focus of the LBA Research Program is understanding the space-time variations in interlinked surface energy, water, and carbon budgets, the controls on these variations, and the implications of these controls on the carbon sequestering capacity of the large scale forest-pasture system that dominates the Amaz6nia landscape. Quantification of these variations and controls are investigated by a combination of in situ measurements, remotely sensed measurements from space, and a realistically forced hydrometeorological model coupled to a carbon assimilation model, capable of simulating details within the surface energy and water budgets along with the principle processes of photosynthesis and respiration. Herein we describe the results of an investigation concerning the space-time controls of carbon sources and sinks distributed over the large scale Amazon basin. The results are derived from a carbon-water-energy budget retrieval system for the large scale Amazon basin, which uses a coupled carbon assimilation-hydrometeorological model as an integrating system, forced by both in situ meteorological measurements and remotely sensed radiation and precipitation fluxes obtained from a combination of GOES, SSM/I, TOMS, and TRh4M satellite measurements. Results include validation of (a) retrieved surface radiation and precipitation fluxes based on 30-min averaged surface measurements taken at Ji-Parani in Rondania and Manaus in Amazonas, and (b) modeled sensible, latent, and C02 fluxes based on tower measurements taken at Reserva Jaru, Manaus and Fazenda Nossa Senhora. The space-time controls on carbon sequestration are partitioned into sets of factors classified by: (1) above canopy meteorology, (2) incoming surface radiation, (3) precipitation interception, and (4) indigenous stomatal processes varied over the different land covers of pristine rainforest, partially, and fully logged rainforests, and pasture lands. These are the principle meteorological, thermodynamical, hydrological, and biophysical control paths which perturb net carbon fluxes and sequestration, produce time-space switching of carbon sources and sinks, undergo modulation through atmospheric boundary layer feedbacks, and respond to any discontinuous intervention on the landscape itself such as produced by human intervention in converting rainforest to pasture or conducting selective/clearcut logging operations. The results demonstrate how relative carbon sequestration capacity of the Amazonian ecosystem responds to these controls, and how interpretation of space-time heterogeneities in carbon sequestration depends on a fairly exact quantification of the interacting non-linear properties of photosynthesis in response to incoming solar flux, air-canopy temperatures, and leaf water interception -- and soil respiration in response to upper layer soil temperature and water content. The results also show how the interpretation of the control processes is highly sensitive to the scales at which the surface fluxes are analyzed.

Smith, Eric A.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Complex carbonate phases drive geologic CO2 mineralization

Abstract Geologic carbon sequestration in mafic and ultramafic reservoirs is a scalable strategy for carbon dioxide removal, offering permanent storage via mineralization as stable carbonates. However, there is limited information on the structure and composition of key mineralization endpoints during sequestration. Here, we unravel the atomic structure, composition, and nanoscale morphology of carbonates recovered from a field-scale demonstration of CO 2 mineralization in basalt. Using transmission electron microscopy, we mapped mineralogical variations from the initial to later stages of subsurface carbonate growth and identified a previously unknown cation-ordered ankerite phase that exerts a primary control over carbonation processes. This study has provided a new understanding of subsurface carbonation pathways which will impact the parameterization of predictive geochemical models for future sequestration efforts in basalt formations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗