technological challenges and opportunities for co2 capture and sequestration - andrei federov,...

http://www.me.gatech.edu/faculty/fedorov.shtml

Towards “Sustainable Carbon

Economy”Technological Challenges and

Opportunities for CO2 Capture & Sequestration

Andrei G. Fedorov, PhDProfessor & Woodruff Faculty Fellow

George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical EngineeringGeorgia Institute of Technology

404-385-1356 (voice) & [email protected] (e-mail)

Presentation includes materials provided by Professors Jones, Koros, Chance, Eckert, Liotta and Lieuwen (Georgia Tech) & ARPA-E website

Prof. A. G. [email protected]

Power Management Summit, Oct. 17-18

Slide 2

The Need for Sustainable Energy Options

1) Reduce energy consumption (conservation; efficiency but economic growth worldwide???)

2) Rely on renewable energy (solar; wind; nuclear; carbon-neutral/biofuels but accessibility/usability/transportability & time scale for implementation???)

3) Sequester CO2 emissions (capture & “permanent” storage: oceans, deep earth but feasibility/accessibility/sustainability???)

Long term challenges:

- Meet the growing global demand for energy (~25 TW by 2050 & ~45 TW by 2100 globally) as fossil fuel reserves become depleted

- Stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentration at a “safe” level

Sustainable Future in a carbon-constrained world?

Every available options will have to be utilized (no silver bullet)!

What is feasible/economic & time horizons for different applications?



Slide 3

Energy Outlook

– Energy demand growth to 2030 will be dominated by developing (non-Kyoto, non-OECD) countries.

– With business as usual, fossil fuels will supply the bulk of the demand growth.

– With business as usual, CO2 emissions will continue to grow.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

2003 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030BIL

LIO

N M

ET

RIC

TO

NS

Non-OECDOECD

60% of CO2 Emissions Growth in Developing World



Slide 4

Continued use of fossil fuel in a carbon constrained world will require all of the following:

• Moderating demand (e.g., by improving energy efficiency) near-term (2-5 years)

• Implementing large scale CO2 abatement strategies, including capture and sequestration near-term to mid-term (2-10 years)

• Developing low/no-carbon renewable energy sources mid-term to long-term (5-10 and beyond 10 years)

Energy Outlook and CO2 Capture



Slide 5

Active Sequestration of CO2 Emissions

Bad & Good News for Electric Power Generation

Source: DOE

Large point sources (e.g. power plants) account for ~1/3 of CO2 emission, but

steady-state, large physical size, economy of scale

well covered in literature; area of active research [DOE, industry support]

Small distributed sources (transportation) account for ~1/3 of CO2 emission, but

transient operation, constrained size, convenience, harsh environments

neglected in literature; little or no active research [few notable exceptions]

280

300

320

340

360

380

400

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

Atmospheric Concentration of CO2

Year

Ca

rbo

n D

ioxi

de

[p

pm

]



Slide 6

Economic Drivers for Technological Advances

Wedges with negative cost and large abatement potential (base) should drive tactical (near term) research: focus on technology development and deployment based on already established scientific foundation.

Strategic (longer term) wedges with largest abatement potential (base) and largest positive cost: dramatic lowering the cost will require drastic, step-change in technology based on scientific discoveries and engineering inventions.



Slide 7

CO2 Capture and Sequestration

is

Likely Near/Mid-Term Need

as

Transition to Sustainable Energy



Slide 8

Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Can we capture fossil carbon and sequester it safely?

• Consider our largest point sources of fossil-derived CO2: electricity generating power plants.

• Roughly 1/3 of US carbon emissions come from power plants.

• Can we capture CO2 from fossil-fueled power plants today?

YES! But the cost is significant………….

• If we capture CO2 from fossil-fueled power plants today, can we sequester it in a semi-permanent manner?

YES! But technical and legal questions remain………



Slide 9

Typical 500 MW coal power stations produces ~9.2 tons of CO2 per minute

Capture with current technology is expensive Developing low-cost approach is key for

implementation

Coal

Air

Power StationSOx scrubber

To stackTo CO2 pipeline

CO2 capture system

Coal

Air

Power StationSOx scrubber

To stackTo CO2 pipeline

CO2 capture system

Power Generation with CO2 Capture: Scale & Cost



Slide 10

Carbon Capture Today: Post-Combustion CO2 Capture

• CO2 capture from pulverized coal plants using liquid amine scrubbers has been developed in the oil and gas industry for removing CO2 from methane• Mature, commercial technology, but expensive for flue gas applications (could raise the cost of electricity by 65-81% from ~5 cents per kilowatt-hour to ~8-9 cents per kilowatt-hour).

Source: DOE-NETL



Slide 11

Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Today

• Aqueous amine-based (liquid phase) CO2 absorption is “mature” technology with major problems:

-- massive amounts of recirculating amine and water needed.-- large energy loss in heating the water in the stripping (regeneration) step.

• National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has estimated an 65-81% increase in the cost of electricity for capture with this mature amine technology.

NH2HO

monoethanolamine, MEA

HN

HO OH

diethanolamine, DEA

NHO OH

methyldiethanolamine, MDEA



Slide 12

Near-Future Transition: Oxy-Combustion with CO2 Capture

• Burn coal using pure oxygen rather than air, producing a more concentrated CO2 stream that is more amenable to capture and sequestration. • No reliable cost-increase estimates have been reported.

Source: DOE-NETL



Slide 13

Why coal?... Abundant worldwide reserves (Top 5 coal reserves ~70% of total resource: USA, Russia, China, Australia, Germany (70%)

“Coal’s future is … not a matter of resource availability or … cost but one of environmental acceptability.” (V. Smil “Energy at the Crossroads”)

coal CO, H2O CO2, H2

CO2 capture(contaminants OK)

H2 for energy use(high purity)

Partial oxidation Water gas shift

Coal gasification provides an avenuefor CO2-neutral use of coal(DOE FutureGen program)

Gasification is a “platform technology” that can also be used with natural gas & biomass

CO2 - Neutral Use of Coal: Is it Possible/Feasible?



Slide 14

Future Carbon Capture: Pre-Combustion CO2 Capture

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC): Gasify coal to synthesis gas (H2+CO), convert CO to CO2 and more H2, and separate CO2 from H2 before combustion.

Analysis conducted at NETL shows that CO2 capture and compression raises the cost of electricity from a newly built IGCC power plant by 30%, from an average of 7.8 cents per kilowatt-hour to 10.2 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Source: DOE-NETL



Slide 15

CO2 Sequestration

What are the possibilities?



Slide 16

Holistic View of Carbon Capture & Sequestration

Source: IPCC, 2005



Slide 17

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon Sequestration Options Under Evaluation:

• Depleted Oil and Gas Reservoirs – a layer of porous rock with a layer of non-porous rock above such that the non-porous layer forms a dome. It is the dome shape that trapped the oil and gas. This same dome offers great potential to trap CO2.

• Unmineable Coal Seams - are too deep or too thin to be mined economically. All coals have varying amounts of methane adsorbed onto pore surfaces, and wells can be drilled into unmineable coalbeds to recover this coalbed methane (CBM). CO2 can be pumped in, and two or three molecules of CO2 are adsorbed for each molecule of methane released, thereby providing an excellent storage sink for CO2.

• Basalt Formations - are geologic formations of solidified lava. Basalt formations have a unique chemical makeup that could potentially convert all of the injected CO2 to a solid mineral form, thus isolating it from the atmosphere permanently.

Source: DOE-NETL



Slide 18

• Saline formations - are layers of porous rock that are saturated with brine. They are much more commonplace than coal seams or oil- and gas-bearing rock, and represent an enormous potential for CO2 storage capacity. Much less is known about saline formations than is known about crude oil reservoirs and coal seams, and there is greater uncertainty associated with their amenability to CO2 storage.

• Ocean storage: many technical and legal questions…

1. How long can CO2 be stored in the above mentioned scenarios?

2. Who “owns” the pore space in the ground? Legal differences from oil and mineral rights? Limited/no national or international laws.

3. Impacts on groundwater and ocean ecosystem?

Carbon Sequestration Source: DOE-NETL



Slide 19

Carbon Sequestration Alternatives - Utilization

• No currently practical use of CO2 as a feedstock for chemicals or conventional fuels can make a significant impact on CO2 emissions.

• Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is a current use for CO2, but can be practiced only in specific locations and total storage capacity is small.

• Emerging, longer-term solution for CO2 utilization as a feedstock include algae-based biofuels and solar (photocatalytic) fuels.

Photo from Popular Mechanics: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4213775.html



Slide 20

Latest R&D Advances

Snapshots from the ARPA-E Portfolio



Slide 21

ARPA-E IMPACT Projects/Performers

• Inertial CO2 Extraction System (ICES) Using Solid (Sublimed) CO2 Precipitation via Supersonic Expansion and Swirling Flow Separation [ATK Defense Contractor & ACEnT Labs]

• Weathering Silicate Minerals (Mg3Si2O5OH4) as Low Cost Source of Chemical Catalysts (Mg2+) for CO2 Fixation via Carbonation (MgCO3) [Columbia Univ, Sandia Nat Lab, Reaction Eng Int]

• Phase-Changing Aminosilicate and Organic Liquid Amine Absorbents for Direct Gas to Solid CO2 Capture/Sequestration [GE, Univ Pitt]

• Electrochemically-Mediated Quinoid Redox Active Carriers for Low Energy (Isothermal) CO2 Capture [MIT, Siemens]

• Phase-Changing (Solid-to-Liquid) Ionic Liquid (IL) Sorbents for Low Energy (via Phase Change Recovery) CO2 Capture [Univ Notre Dame]

• Non-Aqueous CO2-Binding Organic Liquid Solvents for Dramatic Reduction of Parasitic Energy Load for Regeneration [RTI]

• Cryogenic Carbon Capture via Staged Flue Gas Compression and Component Condensation [SES, Air Liquide, GE, BYU]

• Hybrid Liquid Solvent/Membrane CO2 Capture for Reduced Energy & Solvent Loss [Univ KY]



Slide 22

Georgia Tech R&D Advances

Portfolio Overview & Examples



Slide 23

The CO2 Separations Portfolio: Near-Term Options

– CO2 Capture from Low Concentration Sources (e.g., Flue Gas) – Profs Jones, Koros, Chance, Sholl, Realff, Fan, Eckert, Liotta, Fedorov

• New sorbent-based separation concepts (materials and contacting systems)• Fundamental materials design and modeling • Comprehensive systems analysis

– CO2 Capture from High Concentration Sources (e.g., Natural Gas) – Profs Koros, Chance, Jones, Nair, Sholl, Fedorov

• Hybrid membrane and sorbent materials• Inorganic membranes

– CO2 Capture from the Atmosphere – Profs Jones, Koros, Chance

• Air capture, if economic, can be implemented anywhere and is not tied to point sources.

– Current Partners • Siemens & GE Energy (Power generation with CO2 Capture /Sequestration)• Air Liquide (membrane/sorbent production for gas separations)• DOE-NETL, ARPA-E, NSF (CO2 capture)• King Abdullah University of Science and Technology-Saudi Arabia (CO2 Capture)• ExxonMobil, Chevron, Conoco Phillips (CO2 Capture/Separation)

Georgia Tech has a world-leading R&D program in CO2 management



Slide 24

Georgia Tech is developing alternatives to the expensive liquid amine scrubbing step:

1. Solid adsorbents

2. Novel contactors

Preliminary economic analysis suggests thatnew GT technologiescould cut CO2 capture costs by 50%.

Near-Term Focus: Post-Combustion CO2 Capture



Slide 25

Bore fed cooling water

Clean N2

Flue gas in

Modules with millions of hollow fibers can provide the equivalent of 2 foot ball fields of contact area in a volume the size of a standard office desk --very compact !!

Thermally-moderated uptake fiber walls

Clean N2 outFlue gas with CO2 in

CO2

cooling water in fiber bore

Thermally-driven removal from fiber walls

CO2

Bore fed steam

Bore fed cooling water

Clean N2

Flue gas in

CO2

Bore fed steam

Rapid cycling

GT Hollow Fiber Sorbents for Low-Cost Post Combustion CO2 Capture(Profs. Koros & Chance)



Slide 26

GT New Solid Adsorbent Material: Hyperbranched Aminosilica (HAS)(Prof. Jones)

Minimal cost is the key driver: simple amine adsorbents via an easily scalable synthesis.

O

HN

N

NHN

H2N

H2NNH2

SiO2

OH OHOH

SiO2

OH O

HN

N

NHN

H2NNH2

NH2

HN

O

HN

NH2

OH

aziridine+ Toluene, Acetic acid

• Hyperbranching polymerization of aziridine on/in mesoporous silica.

• Largest regenerable CO2 capacity of any low temperature adsorbent!

Hicks, Drese, Fauth, Gray, Qi, Jones, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 2902.& Hicks, Fauth, Gray, Jones, 2006, US Patent App.



Slide 27

GT New Reversible Molecular-Ionic Liquid Solvents to Replace MEA GT New Reversible Molecular-Ionic Liquid Solvents to Replace MEA (Profs. Eckert, Liotta) (Profs. Eckert, Liotta)

0

50

100

150

200

250

Co

nd

uc

tiv

ity

(uS

/cm

)

Cycle

Uptake of Bubbled CO2

Regeneration by heating

Si NH2

R

R

R + CO2

- CO2

Si NH

R

R

R O

O

SiH3NR

RR

1 2 3

• Absorbs CO2 at ambient T and P

• Releases CO2 with inert gas sparge or higher T• Completely recyclable

Key advantages over MEAs



Slide 28

Reversible ML-IL Liquid Solvents - Reversible ML-IL Liquid Solvents - Utilizing Dual Capture MechanismProfs. Eckert, Liotta

IonicLiquid

+ CO2CO2

Swollen Ionic Liquid

CO2 Swollen

Ionic Liquid

Highly Selective Chemical Absorption

Si NH2

R

R

R + CO2

- CO2

Si NH

R

R

R O

O

SiH3NR

RR

Added Capacity By Physical Absorption

- CO2



Slide 29

Cost Savings

1. Minimize solvent amount (~50% less) and energy needs2. Optimize ΔT and ΔHrxn to achieve highest uptake with least energy for regeneration 3. Take advantage of both physisorption and chemi-sorption for increased uptake

Reversible ML-IL Solvents - Advantages for CO2 CaptureProfs. Eckert, Liotta

HeatExchanger

Flue Gas

Scrubbed Gas

CO2-RichSolvent

CO2-LeanSolvent

CO2 Product Gas

Energy Penalty

Q = mCpΔT +

ΔHrxn (regen.)

Typical Conditions: P = Ambient from Tlow = 40-50°C to Thigh = 70-100°C



Slide 30

Summary

• A carbon-constrained world will require a reduction in CO2 emissions coinciding with an increased energy demand.

• Carbon capture and sequestration technologies must be developed to facilitate transition to sustainability, as the world will continue to rely on fossil fuels for the foreseeable future.

• A portfolio of new ideas and technologies for CO2 capture and sequestration has been growing at leading universities and companies with recent significant support from ARPA-E.

• The big questions remains – if successful, can any of these technologies be cost-effective and scalable to the TW level???

• Balance of plant technologies for CO2 capture have been unjustly neglected and may become the key barrier to scale-up!



Slide 31

Back-Up Slides



Slide 32


Additional Emerging Technologies forCO2 Management



Slide 33

CO2-capture from natural gas reservesUS companies (e.g. ExxonMobil) own large natural gas fields that are contaminated with high levels of CO2. These fields could produce billions of dollars of natural gas if the CO2 can readily be removed and reinjected.

No current technology can achieve this chemical separation in an economical manner. High performance membranes could revolutionize this market. Membranes from this market could also play a key role in other CO2 separations.

Metal-organic frameworks: novel chemical building blocks for rationally designed porous materials

Carbon nanotubes: a nanotechnology approach to creating high throughput membranes

Work at GT by Prof. David Sholl and Prof. Sankar Nair is combining high performance computational methods and practical device fabrication to develop “game changing” materials for large-volume gas separations (Industrial partners: ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips).

Zeolites: versatile inorganicporous materials for harshchemical environments



Slide 34

Metal Film

H2

HH

H

H

H H

H

H

H

H

HH2

H2

H2

H2

H2

CO2

43

2

1

Hydrogen membranes will play a key role in deploying gasification with carbon capture

Recent work at GT by Prof. David Sholl has shown that using glassy metals increase performance of membranes by 10-100 times compared to conventional materials

GT Metal/Metal-Alloy Nano-Membanes for H2/CO2 SeparationProfs. Fedorov, Sholl

Prof. Fedorov at GT ME has shown that submicron thick Pd/Ag membranes can support record-high H2 permeation fluxes by controlling material microstructure



Slide 35


Specific Examples of Combustion &

Fuel Processing for CO2 Capture



Slide 36

Largest university combustion research program in the country

Facility shared by 5 faculty ~70 staff and students

State-of-the-art facilities Ability to simulate conditions (pressure,

temperature) of modern, high efficiency systems Extensive diagnostics and instrumentation

Focus on clean, sustainable energy for power generation and propulsion

Alternative fuels Ultra low emissions combustion concepts

Industrial and Government Partners Extensive industrial support

General Electric Energy, Siemens Energy, Exxon Mobil, Rolls Royce, Conoco-Philips, ….

US Government agencies Department of Energy, National Science

Foundation, Dept. of Defense, NASA, etc.

“CO2-Sensible” Combustion Research at GT: Ben Zinn Lab



Slide 37

Pre-combustion fuel decarbonization concepts

Carbon removed prior to combustion, producing high H2 fuel stream

Burning high H2 fuels in modern power plants poses numerous practical challenges

Windows

Instrumentation Access Flange

Low CO2 Combustion of Fossil FuelsProf. Lieuwen/AE

Post-combustion carbon capture concepts

Research being performed on oxycombustion processes

Most concepts involve burning fuel in diluted oxygen mixture, and recycling CO2 or steam from combustion products



Slide 38

Biofuels have widely variable and very different combustion properties Research bis eing performed on “fuel flexibility” to allow adaptation of current

combustion technologies to highly variable gasifier streams

Low CO2 Combustion of Biofuels FuelsProf. Lieuwen/AE



Slide 39

CO2 Capture and Sequestration

with

Focus on Transportation

as

Transition to Sustainable Energy



Slide 40

The present carbon-based economy is unsustainable!

Fossil Fuel,Coal, Gas

Distillates(liquid)

Pipeline

Refueling

Ground Transportation:Trucking, Shipping, Trains, etc.

EnergyConversion(IC Engine)

Carbon Economy(current)

CO2 toAtmosphere

Primary Energy Sources Conversion, Distribution, Infrastructure End Use Applications

Carbon Economy of Today



Slide 41

Electron economy? Hydrogen economy?


CO2Sequestered

Hydrogen(gas)

Pipeline

Refueling

Ground Transportation:Trucking, Shipping, Trains,

etc.

EnergyConversion(Fuel Cell)

Hydrogen Economy(Does Not Exist)


CO2Sequestered

EnergyConversion

Electron Economy

Grid

Solar, Wind, Nuclear

Solar, Wind, Nuclear

Additional Reading: West & Kreith (2006) “A vision for a secure transportation system without hydrogen or oil”, J. Energy Res. Tech., 128, 236-243.



Slide 42

Georgia Tech has a world-class program in CO2 Separations Research.

The CO2 Separations Portfolio: Non-Fossil & Long-Term Options

– On-Board CO2 Capture & Recycle for Transportation – Fedorov• Fuel cell vehicles with on-board CO2 capture.

• Synthetic hydrocarbon fuel synthesis using recycled CO2 and only renewable (solar) energy via photocatalysis (“solar fuels”)

CO2 Capture: The Georgia Tech Portfolio

Synthetics(liquid)

Pipeline

Refueling/Collection

Ground Transportation:Trucking, Shipping, Trains, etc.

EnergyConversion(FC w/ CO2

Capture)

Carbon Economy(Sustainable)

CO2 Collected

CO2 Recycled

RenewableEnergy

(Solar, Wind)

H2O



Slide 43

The Alternative Energy Portfolio: Non-Fossil Energy

- Solar Energy and Photovoltaics– ECE, Chem, ChBE, MSE, ME, Physics

Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics

Center of Excellence in Photovoltaic Research and Education

- Biofuels - ChBE, Chem, ME, AE, ISyE

Chevron Biofuels Program – Strategic Energy Institute

DOE Bioenergy Science Center (with ORNL, Tennessee, UGA, Dartmouth, others)

- Nuclear Energy – ME, Chem

- Hydrogen Energy – ChBE, MSE, AE, GTRI, Chem, ME, Physics

Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technology

- Wind Energy – ME, Physics, AE, GTRI

Coastal wind farms (GT-Savannah)

Alternative Energy: The Georgia Tech Portfolio

technological challenges and opportunities for co2 capture and sequestration - andrei federov,...

Business

carbon capture

minute capture

fossil carbon

energy efficiencynearterm

smil energy

scale cost

cost of electricity

large energy loss