carbon capture: beyond 2020

Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

Paul AlivisatosLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Michelle BuchananOak Ridge National Laboratory

Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee MeetingAugust 5, 2010

Stemming CO2 Emissions is a Daunting Challenge

Global energy use accounts for over 85% of the 37 Gt of CO2 released to the atmosphere annually

U.S. Energy Information Administration / International Energy Outlook 2010; OECD = Organization Economic Cooperation and Development member countries



Projected global electricity generation shows continued reliance on carbon-based fuels

U.S. Energy Information Administration / International Energy Outlook 2010

Carbon Capture - a necessary part of the solution

Source: IPCC

NuclearRenewables

Efficiency

Coal SubstitutionCCS

Cost of Carbon Capture today:

~$80/ton of CO2; ~8c/kWhParasitic energy of 25-30%


Today’s technologies I – multiple separation approaches


Today’s technology II – post combustion amine separations


Typical 550 MW coal-fired electrical plant– 2 million ft3 of flue gas per minute– Contains CO2, H2O, N2, O2, NOx, SOx, and ash

Today’s technologies III – scope of the problem

Co- Chairs:Paul Alivisatos (LBNL)Michelle Buchanan (ORNL)

Goal - To identify the global challenges and fundamental science needed to provide transformative carbon capture technologies in the time frame beyond 2020.

Breakout Session Panel and Leaders:

Liquids‐Based AbsorptionBill Schneider, Notre Dame University Peter Cummings, Vanderbilt University

MembranesBenny Freeman, U. Texas-AustinSamuel Stupp, Northwestern University

Solid SorbentsOmar Yaghi, U. California-Los Angeles Chris Murray, U. Pennsylvania,

Crosscutting Theory, Modeling, & SimulationBerend Smit, U. California-Berkeley Paulette Clancy, Cornell University

Crosscutting Analysis and CharacterizationMurray Gibson, Argonne National LabMartin Zanni, U. Wisconsin-Madison

Sponsored Jointly by BES (Lead) and FE

Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020 March 4‐5, 2010

Contents:IntroductionCarbon Capture Technologies

•Post Combustion CO2 Capture•Pre-Combustion CO2 Capture•Oxy-Combustion•Cyrogenic Separations•Status of CO2 Capture Technology Field Testing

Materials for Carbon Capture•Liquid Absorbents•Solid Adsorbents•Membranes

Alternative Gas Separation PathwaysSummary and Technical Challenges

Technology Perspectives-A Factual Document for the Workshop

Technology and Applied R&D Needs for Carbon Capture:Beyond 2020

Resource Document for the Workshop on Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020March 2010



• Few energy technologies are so far off from the achievable limits! There is a real opportunity here.

• The Carbon Capture problem provides inspiration for deep new basic science.

• Nanoscience opens up new opportunities to tailor materials for carbon capture - Liquids, membranes, and solids.

• A challenge to design complex new interactions utilizing architecture, shape, controlled binding, new triggers, and new approaches to cooperative binding.

Summary of this report

10


Liquid Absorbents: Solubility and Pressure

CO2

CO2

A-CO2

A-CO2A

PCO2

cCO2

O2

N2

H2O

liquid

gas

WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL

THESE ISOTHERMS

A + CO2 (g) ↔ A CO⋅ 2 Keq(T)


Fundamental Challenges in Liquid Absorbents

• Can the non-ideal solution behavior in mixtures be predicted and exploited?

• Can chemically / thermally stable materials be designed with high and reversible reactivity and specificity? Ionic Liquids…

• How do we use both enthalpy AND entropy for separations? How do we vary these ‘independently’? ΔG = ΔH – T∆S

• Gas-liquid interface controls kinetics – studies of structure and dynamics

• Can complex fluids be employed?


• Intermolecular interactions of gases dissolved in liquids– Understand chemical and physical changes, dynamics,

effects of complex mixtures• New chemistries and systems

– Understand and independently control thermodynamic, kinetic, and transport characteristics of absorbents to cause controlled, reversible reactions with CO2

• Non-ideal absorption– Predict and use differences in shape and size (entropy) as

an alternative to differences in interaction energy (enthalpy) to achieve both high capacity and high selectivity

Novel Solvents and Chemistries

O

O

OO O

OO

OOO

O OCs+


• Understand the concentration and chemical state of targeted gases at liquid interfaces– New analytical and computational

tools to examine both static and dynamic processes

• Tailor surface chemistry to enhance reactivity and improve reversibility/switchability – Design new tailored systems for

faciitated transport mechanisms

Interfacial processes and kinetics

CO2 switches a solvent between non-ionic and ionic states


Membrane Separations: Solubility and Diffusivity

• Separation based on selective permeation of targeted gas

• Selectivity based on relative solubility and diffusivity in membrane

• Selectivity is not 100%• Membranes often have multiple

layers with different functions• Trade-off on selectivity and

permeability—need to have both• Change in pressure needed to

drive separation


High temperature transport membranes – a possible model for CO2?

Permeability:Highly permeable nanopores

Durability: Nonporous filling matrix (mechanical strength, chemical resistance, temperature resistance)

Ultrathin selective layerHighly permeable support Selectivity:

Chemistry on CNT entrance to create a selective gate

10 nm


New classes of “polymeric” membranes

Polymer-peptide block co-polymers

Electro-spun block copolymers

Many other new configurations…

Separate problems of interaction energy tuning fromproblems of thin membrane integrity


Bio-inspired approaches – especially new triggers


Fundamental Challenges in Membranes

• How can chemical and physical properties be used to design new membrane materials for enhanced performance?

• Can new energy efficient driving forces be developed?

• Can the structures and driving forces used by nature provide inspiration for new membranes?

• What is the relationship between nano-scale structure and separation performance?

• Can new materials be designed with nanoscale structures to enhance transport and selectivity?

100

101

102

103

10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104

Glassy PolymersRubbery Polymers

H /N2 2

H2 Permeability 1010 [cm3(STP)cm/(cm2 s cmHg)]

Upper Bound


A rapidly expanding library of porous materials

Continuous innovation in control of:

Pore structure/ connectivityDimensionality and symmetryAdsorbate site interactions


• Solid adsorption can occur via two mechanisms on particles or in porous solids– Physisorption via weak interactions– Chemisorption via covalent bonds

• Porous solid adsorbent material can be designed to be highly size- and shape-selective

• Requires selective removal of targeted gas and efficient recycling of material

• Requires high capacity for targeted gas

Solid Adsorbants: Tunable Structures


• New synthetic approaches for 3D nanoscale membrane and solid sorbent materials, including self-assembly

• Understanding of key structural, physical and chemical features that will allow fine-tuning of guest binding and release

• Understanding structural dynamics, transport dynamics at broad length scales in 3D structures

Hierarchical Environments for Carbon Capture

ZIF-69 has substantially greater uptake capacity for CO2 over CO (Yaghi)


• New materials that respond to gas binding

– Design new material that CO2 absorption/desorption would result in a structural or chemical change

– Resulting process is more thermo-neutral, alleviating energetic penalty

• Non-linear responses– Exploit local effects to absorb

multiple gas molecules– Nanoscale confinement to act as

mechanical sponges

Exploiting Cooperative Phenomena

Neutron studies at NIST revealed that structure of ZIF changes with sorption of CD4


Fundamental Challenges in Solid Sorbents

• Can theory predict new materials based on structure/property relationships?

• Can physical and chemical phenomena be understood and controlled at the nanoscale to design materials with tuned composition and particle size?

• Can materials with novel architectures permit highly selectivity uptake and efficient release of target gases?

• How can huge energetic penalties associated with stripping be alleviated?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Carboxysome.png


Cross-Cutting Science for Carbon Capture

New Capture and Release Triggers• Materials and methods to realize new

mechanisms for binding and/or release of target gases

Advances in Characterization• New tools for in situ and multi-dimensional

analysis of structure and dynamics over broad spatial and temporal scales

Theory, Modeling and Simulation• New computational tools to understand and

predict structure, dynamics, and interactions of materials and target gases

Carbon Capture: Beyond 202026Carbon Capture: Beyond 202026

Technology Maturation & DeploymentApplied Research

Grand Challenges Discovery and Use-Inspired Basic Research Design and synthesis of

hierarchical materials tailored on multiple length scales, from atomic to macroscopic

Predict and control properties of materials and chemical processes far from equilibrium

Conceive new materials and processes inspired by nature

Understand, predict, and control structure and dynamics of systems to obtain desired function

BESAC & BES Basic Research Needs Workshops

BESAC Grand Challenges Report DOE Technology Office/Industry Roadmaps


Basic Energy Sciences Goal: new knowledge / understandingMandate: open-endedFocus: phenomenaMetric: knowledge generation

DOE Technology Offices: FE, EEREGoal: practical targetsMandate: restricted to targetFocus: performanceMetric: milestone achievement

Demonstrate efficiencies and kinetics of separation systems at bench scale

Assess systems with simulated gas streams

Evaluate and benchmark systems with respect to cost, recyclability, lifetimes

Develop advanced separation systems with modeling, testing and analysis

Demonstrate use of advanced systems at pilot scale

Optimize process design and integration with combustion systems

Validate performance in field demonstrations

Evaluate cost reduction and scale-up

Couple characterization and computational tools to guide the synthesis of revolutionary new materials

Discover new trigger mechanisms to provide efficient gas uptake and release

Understand CO2 and O2 chemistry and transport in solution, at interfaces, and in confined spaces

Understand and predict interactions in complex environments

Discover “smart” materials that respond to stimuli for capture / release of target gases

Design durable materials optimized for both high permeability and high selectivity

Enable multi-dimensional analysis of capture and release processes in situ

Characterize structure and dynamics of materials (solid, liquid, gas) and interfaces in situ across broad temporal and spatial scales


If you are looking for a new problem to work on…

Carbon Capture seems like a really great one

carbon capture: beyond 2020

Documents

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minutecontains co2