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At least 325 records · Page 18

Integrated Carbon Capture and Propane Oxidative Dehydrogenation for Olefins Production under Isothermal Conditions over Cr₂O₃-ZSM-5/CaO-CaZrO₃ Reactive Capture Materials

Converting captured CO₂ into fuels and marketable chemicals using bifunctional materials (BFMs) represents a promising sustainable solution. In this study, a BFM composed of a Cr₂O₃/ZSM-5 catalyst and a CaO-CaZrO₃ sorbent was developed and tested for the integrated CO₂-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (CO₂-ODHP) in a fixed bed reactor. The CaO-CaZrO₃ sorbent, prepared using the citrate sol-gel method, demonstrated high CO₂ adsorption capacity and improved cyclic stability compared to pure CaO. The BFM achieved 23.5% propane conversion, 52.5% propylene selectivity, and 68.7% olefin selectivity at isothermal adsorption-reaction conditions (630-630 °C). Overall, this study provides insights into enhancing CO2 adsorption and developing materials for integrated CO2 capture and conversion.

Baamran, Khaled↗

Techno-Economic Performance of Nuclear Reactors to Power Direct Air Capture Technologies

This research contributes to the expanding body of work by academia and industry on the synergy between nuclear energy and DAC systems. It provides an independent and transparent assessment of the cost associated with capturing CO2 from the atmosphere when powering DAC with various nuclear technologies, and by comparing these findings with non-nuclear alternatives. This study utilizes the latest models and cost estimates for both nuclear and DAC technologies.

direct air capture (DAC)↗

Process Design and Techno-Economic Analysis of the Modular Staged Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (SPOC) Power Plant for Biomass

This work describes the process design and techno-economic analysis (TEA) of the modular SPOC power plant for biomass firing and coal-biomass co-firing. Two Rankine cycles were considered: a supercritical steam cycle (242 bar, 593°C, 593°C) with 550 MWe net output and a subcritical cycle (166 bar, 566°C, 566°C) with 200 MWe net output. For both cases, 95% carbon capture was modeled, and hybrid poplar biomass was chosen to generate carbon-negative power. In addition, the supercritical 500 MWe case included a 25% biomass co-firing (carbon neutral) case. For both cycles, a 100% Powder River Basin coal firing case was used for comparison purposes. In the SPOC process, oxygen is produced via a cryogenic air separation unit (ASU) and the heat generated from the compression of air is integrated into the steam cycle and utilized for boiler feed water pre-heating. Unique to the SPOC process, the boilers are pressurized and arranged in a series-parallel configuration, with minimized flue gas recirculation. The flue gas is cooled and scrubbed in the direct-contact cooler (DCC) column, and the moisture in the flue gas is condensed, leaving the bottom of the DCC at a sufficiently high temperature such that it can be used for boiler feed water pre-heating, improving plant thermal efficiency. Following drying and purification, CO2 in the flue gas is at the purity required for storage or utilization. The performance data were obtained from process modelling via Aspen Plus®. The stream data from Aspen Plus® were used as an input for the AACE Class 5 cost study. Ultimately, the capital costs, Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), and cost of CO2 captured and avoided were obtained. The HHV efficiency of the carbon negative 550 MWe supercritical SPOC case (34.8%) was clearly above those reported by NETL for the BECCS baseline cases of supercritical pulverized coal with capture (B12B, 31.5%) and the 49% biomass co-firing case with capture (PA3, 29.2%). The HHV efficiency of the carbon-negative subcritical plant is also higher than the subcritical baseline PC plant with capture (case B11B.95) presented by NETL (32% vs 29.7%). The LCOE for the SPOC 100% biomass case was similar to the LCOE for the BECCS 49% biomass with carbon capture case ($147/MWh), and the SPOC carbon neutral case LCOE was lower ($110/MWh) than the cost for the NETL baseline SC coal firing case with 90% carbon capture ($114/MWh).

Magalhaes, Duarte↗

Application of quantitative risk assessment to address stakeholder questions in geologic carbon storage

Ambitious international greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets demand a rapid transformation to a low-carbon economy. This transformation includes the accelerated adoption of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) technology. However, as with any large-scale engineering enterprise, the widespread commercial-scale deployment of geologic carbon storage (GCS) raises important questions about technology and cost-effectiveness, safety, environmental risk, and long-term liability. Effectively assessing and managing risks and liability associated with GCS projects is a key technical need throughout the project life cycle-from site selection and permitting to monitoring design, operational risk management, and post-operational site closure. This presentation highlights recent advancements in tools for quantitative risk assessment, being developed by the National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP). NRAP is a multi-year, multinational laboratory research collaboration sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. Our focus will be on these tools' applications in addressing critical stakeholder questions related to supporting permitting to ensure secure and environmentally protective storage; designing effective and efficient monitoring plans; evaluating the effectiveness of remedial actions and risk management alternatives; and informing liability assessment and investment decisions. This paper will detail the key functionality of NRAP’s Open-Source Integrated Assessment Model (NRAP-Open-IAM), a computational framework for assessing leakage risk and containment assurance. This model features streamlined workflows for calculating leakage risk profiles, delineating risk-based area of review, and assessing contingency plans and post-injection site care requirements. ORION is an open-source, observation-based ensemble forecasting toolkit to help operators assess the seismic hazard at a carbon storage site. The State of Stress Analysis Tool (SOSAT), designed to assess subsurface stress conditions and evaluate geomechanical risk resulting from CO2 injection in an area of interest will also be presented. We will also introduce a prototype model to evaluate storage project costs and liability associated with risk management. The Technoeconomic and Liability Evaluation for Storage (TALES) model uses results from forecasts of leakage and induced seismicity risk to estimate the lifecycle cost of managing risk. Finally, a preliminary example of how the NRAP Risk-based Adaptive Monitoring Plan (RAMP) tool can be used to design efficient and effective site monitoring plans and estimate the detectability of fluid leakage will be provided. The relevance of these tools for addressing key stakeholder questions amidst uncertainty will be emphasized.

decision support↗

Design and Experimental Demonstration of an Additive Manufactured Smart Oxy-Methane Burner for High Pressure and Supercritical Combustion

Pressurized oxy combustion-based systems can improve efficiency by recovering latent heat of the steam in the Flue Gas and achieving 90% CO2 capture. In addition, the novel Directly Heated Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (DH-SCO2) power cycles can achieve high thermal efficiencies and provide nearly full carbon capture. Additionally, due to the reduction of flue gas at higher pressure, smaller system size and capital cost reductions are also possible. Recent thermodynamic analysis of the DH-SCO2 cycle performed by the UTEP research team shows that combustion conditions in the vicinity of 300 bar pressure and 1000-1400 K temperature allow for relatively high system efficiencies while operating within the limit of available combustor materials. However, the realization of a directly heated supercritical power cycle requires combustion systems to operate in supercritical conditions and at temperature far below the blowout limit of conventional flames (above 1500 K). The thermodynamic properties along with the combustion properties and kinetics are unexplored at such conditions. Additionally, the interaction of the supercritical environment with energy components is also unknown. High-pressure combustion tests are performed using a smart burner at some intermediate pressure ranges (<20 bar) to help minimize these knowledge gaps. The knowledge obtained from the high-pressure test will assist in understanding the combustion chamber pressurization mechanism, ignition and flame behavior at the elevated pressure. The obtained data will act as a systematic first step in testing at higher pressures of 100 and 300 bar pressures.The primary purpose of this Dissertation is to demonstrate the operability of a low NOx smart burner for oxy-methane combustion at high pressure (< 20 bar) and scalable up to supercritical conditions. A shear co-axial smart burner is designed with a real-time temperature monitoring capability to understand the burner face interaction at high-pressure conditions. In addition, the burner has four independent injection ports to allow the independent injection of fuel and dilution gases in the combustor. The maximum operating capability of the burner is 575 kWth. The burner was fabricated using a Laser Powder Bed Fusion process with Nickel Alloy 718. A powder removal technology was invented comprising ultrasonic vibration, liquid nitrogen exposure and media blasting to remove powders from internal channels of the burner. The burner operability tests are performed in the high-pressure combustor and the swirl combustor. The high-pressure combustor was used to investigate the burner operability and thermal soak back at different pressurized conditions. The experimental tests in high-pressure combustor up to 275 kWth input resulted in 16.5 bar chamber pressure and 198°C thermal soaks back to the burner. The burner was capable of providing the required thermal input within a 3% deviation range. In addition, soot formation occurred at high-pressure tests. The swirl combustor was used to observe the flame stability of the burner. Flame lift-off was observed for jet velocities above 450 m/s. Additionally, lift-off decreased for low co-flow velocities. CO2 dilution experiments showed increased flame instabilities for all conditions above 50% dilution ratios. At lower thermal inputs, partial flame blow-offs occurred for dilution ratios above 50%. All conditions significantly reduced the flame temperature and increased the flame lift-off height. Finally, a 2nd generation AM smart burner was designed using the knowledge from the 1st generation burner experiments. The 2nd generation burner incorporated two sets of swirlers with 0.9 swirl no. A cooling system was also designed for long-duration tests at higher pressures. The thermal input and division of the burner's power are kept the same as the 1st generation burner. The burner is to be fabricated using nickel-alloy 718 for high-pressure handling capability. The design can sustain at high-pressure conditions up to 100 bar.

Islam, Md Nawshad Arslan↗

Network Optimization of the Electrosynthesis of Chemicals from CO2

Carbon dioxide electroreduction (ECO2R) is gaining attention due to its capacity to mitigate CO2 emissions while using electricity that would otherwise be curtailed. Its foreseeable industrial implementation requires of holistic methods to assess the technological and economic performance of ECO2R processes and integrate them in current chemical supply chains and power systems. Here, we combine techno-economic assessment and mathematical programming to find the optimal paths to electroreduce CO2 into valuable chemicals under variable electricity prices. The proposed approach is tested with a case study addressing the CO2 capture from flue gas or direct air and its electricity-powered reduction into carbon monoxide, formic acid or multi-carbon compounds. The results obtained demonstrate the ability of the framework to build ECO2R networks and provide operation profiles that respond to fluctuating electricity prices.

carbon dioxide↗

Demonstration of the carbon capture with building make-up air unit

Building-integrated carbon capture technology has the potential to reduce the cost of CO 2 capture while improving indoor air quality (IAQ). To promote the adoption of CO 2 capture in a building environment, this study investigated the possibility of integrating carbon capture technology with an existing rooftop make-up air unit (MAU) system to trap CO 2 . Here, in this study, a modular compact CO 2 capture system containing amine-functionalized polymer fibers was examined. The system, which was installed at the exhaust of the MAU, captures CO 2 before it leaves the building to enter the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. The demonstrated average amount of CO 2 captured was 1.1–1.4 mmol/g of adsorbent material. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) was further performed on the CO 2 capture system, considering material costs, energy costs, as well as transportation and regeneration costs. These results were then used to estimate the levelized cost per ton CO 2 captured (LCOC). To achieve LCOC below $\$$100/t-CO 2 , adsorbents should have working capacities of 4.9 t and 3 t-CO 2 /year for 5 years and 10 years of operation, respectively. In summary, this study highlights a viable path toward the decarbonization of the commercial buildings sector and provides quantitative performance and economic insight on the suitability of building-integrated carbon capture technology.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Understanding How Ligand Functionalization Influences CO2 and N2 Adsorption in a Sodalite Metal–Organic Framework

In this work, a detailed study is conducted to understand how ligand substitution influences the CO2 and N2 adsorption properties of two highly crystalline sodalite metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) known as Cu–BTT (BTT–3 = 1,3,5-benzenetristetrazolate) and Cu–BTTri (BTTri–3 = 1,3,5-benzenetristriazolate). The enthalpy of adsorption and observed adsorption capacities at a given pressure are significantly lower for Cu–BTTri compared to its tetrazole counterpart, Cu–BTT. In situ X-ray and neutron diffraction, which allow visualization of the CO2 and N2 binding sites on the internal surface of Cu–BTTri, provide insights into understanding the subtle differences. As expected, slightly elongated distances between the open Cu2+ sites and surface-bound CO2 in Cu–BTTri can be explained by the fact that the triazolate ligand is a better electron donor than the tetrazolate. The more pronounced Jahn–Teller effect in Cu–BTTri leads to weaker guest binding. The results of the aforementioned structural analysis were complemented by the prediction of the binding energies at each CO2 and N2 adsorption site by density functional theory calculations. In addition, variable temperature in situ diffraction measurements shed light on the fine structural changes of the framework and CO2 occupancies at different adsorption sites as a function of temperature. Finally, simulated breakthrough curves obtained for both sodalite MOFs demonstrate the materials’ potential performance in dry postcombustion CO2 capture. The simulation, which considers both framework uptake capacity and selectivity, predicts better separation performance for Cu–BTT. The information obtained in this work highlights how ligand substitution can influence adsorption properties and hence provides further insights into the material optimization for important separations.

adsorption capacities↗

A Novel Framework to Evaluate the Costs and Potential of Bioenergy in Decarbonization of the U.S. Economy

The long-term strategy of the United States targets reaching economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050 and a carbon-neutral electricity grid by 2035 (U.S. Department of State and U.S. Executive Office of the President, 2021). Meeting these targets would require considerable changes to the energy system. Some key characteristics of illustrative net-zero energy systems include increased penetration of renewable energy and carbon sources, use of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in hard-to-abate sectors, and a greater role for energy carriers such as electricity and hydrogen (Davis et al, 2018). Another common feature of such energy systems is the need for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches (Horowitz et al, 2022). Across all these characteristics of net-zero energy systems, bioenergy and biomass feedstock is anticipated to play an important role. Biomass feedstock serves as a renewable carbon source. This can enable conversion of such feedstock into fuels and energy carriers for hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation. Indeed, the U.S. Government has a target to meet all jet fuel demand by 2050 from sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), where biofuel pathways are likely to have an important role (EERE, 2020). Bioenergy is also highly versatile with the possibility to convert feedstock into electricity, hydrogen, liquid fuels, heat or high-value products, based on biomass type, demand and technology availability (Clarke et al, 2022). Combination of bioenergy with CCS can also nominally deliver CDR (Fuhrman et al, 2023). As such, the share of bioenergy is expected to grow by at least five time across scenarios studied for the long-term strategy of the U.S. between 2020 and 2050 (Horowitz et al, 2022). Notwithstanding the role of bioenergy in the energy systems, its deployment, costs and scalability are influenced by a number of factors. Some of these factors pertain to policy interventions such as imposition of a binding decarbonization target either at an economy-wide level or the sectoral level. Resource availability and type of biomass feedstock also varies considerably across regions. From a technological perspective, the readiness of bioenergy conversion pathways is subject to high variability. This influences the costs of deployment. Moreover, the sourcing of feedstock, grid carbon intensity, and co-product handling approaches all affect the life cycle efficacy of bioenergy. The latter, in turn, is particularly important in determining the extent to which bioenergy with CCS or BECCS can effectively deliver CDR (Fajardy and Mac Dowell, 2017).

air emission↗

SECARB 2020 Semi-Annual Field Review Reports - Anthropogenic Test

The Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) managed the overall Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) Phase III project and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) managed all activities associated with the Anthropogenic Test site. Advanced Resources International, Inc. (ARI) assisted EPRI with the management of site activities. EPRI and ARI followed reporting procedures that included monthly and quarterly technical progress reports, as well as periodic reporting on key field activities. Subsequent sections of this report catalog the field activities and are organized in a semi-annual chronology. The SECARB Anthropogenic Test was the largest demonstration of a fully integrated, pulverized coal-fueled carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the United States as of 2012 and supports a commercial prototype of CO 2 capture; transportation; subsurface storage; and monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA); and assessment. The demonstration-scale, post-combustion CO 2 capture facility at Alabama Power Company’s Plant Barry diverted flue gas (25MW equivalent) from its Unit #5 coal burning facility and captured the CO 2 using Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) KM-CDRTM advanced amine technology. The captured CO2 was compressed at Plant Barry and transported by pipeline to the injection location southeast of Citronelle, Alabama. The Citronelle Project’s geologic storage and MVA sites were located on the flanks of the Citronelle Dome, approximately three miles southeast of the city of Citronelle. The injection zone, the Paluxy Formation, a saline formation that occurs at approximately 9,400 feet and overlies the oil production horizon of the Citronelle oilfield, presents a favorable injection reservoir in terms of areal extent and petrophysical characteristics. The confining zone, the basal shale of the overlying Washita-Fredericksburg Formation, is persistent throughout the Citronelle area and possesses the appropriate criteria to act as an effective CO 2 seal.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Establishing capabilities for quantum computing and simulations for energy applications

Quantum information science (QIS) is creating potential transformative opportunities to exploit intricate quantum mechanical phenomena in new ways for obtaining and processing information to advance many areas of science and engineering. Since the National Quantum Initiative Act was signed into law in 2018, developing QIS capability and competency is one of the most urgent tasks of DOE to make sure the US win the quantum race. The QIS contains four pillars: quantum computing, quantum simulations, quantum sensing, and quantum networking. To apply QIS in energy related applications, the key is to develop the capability of quantum computing &amp; simulation tools. In this project, we propose to develop the capability of quantum computing and simulations at NETL to target fossil energy related problems. We will install a simulator (e. g. IBM qiskit) on the NETL supercomputer to simulate the environments of quantum computer. Based on the current available quantum algorithms for quantum chemistry, we will develop quantum computing codes to perform simulation which will focus on fossil energy sector challenges, including CO2 capture &amp; conversion, sensing, and fuel conversion. We then will seek opportunities to run our codes on real quantum computers (such as IBM-Q, google Sycamore, etc.). Through this project, the new capability of quantum computing and simulations will be established at NETL. In addition, the NETL workforce in this area will be trained ready to conduct more complicated tasks in line with NETL missions to enhance the nation’s energy foundation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Machine-Learned Force Field Modeling of Metal Organic Frameworks for CO2 Direct Air Capture

To cope with legacy greenhouse gas emissions and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is funding efforts to develop direct air capture (DAC), a method for removing CO2 directly from air. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have been well studied as DAC sorbent materials due to their tunable structural and compositional properties. Thermodynamic simulations using force fields are often used to provide predictions of a material’s performance in many separations. However, these force fields often make assumptions about bonds and the physics of the adsorption process. A new class of force fields called machine-learned force fields (MLFFs) use machine learning to form quantitative relationships between a material’s chemical structure and the forces and energies predicted by more accurate quantum mechanical calculations, such as dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT). In this work, models were developed to achieve DFT-level accuracy for the forces and energies associated with MOF flexibility and CO2 adsorption using MLFFs. These methods were parametrized based on thousands of DFT calculations of CO2 in flexible MOFs and used to predict MOF structural properties as well as CO2 adsorption in several MOFs.

Findley, John↗

Recent Advances of PyROS: A Pyomo Solver for Nonconvex Two-Stage Robust Optimization in Process Systems Engineering

This poster highlights uncertainty and technical risk reduction capabilities in CCSI2, with a focus on robust optimization. It presents recent advances of the two-stage robust optimization (RO) solver PyROS and applications to advanced energy systems optimization. To demonstrate the computational performance and reliability of PyROS, a benchmarking study on a library of over 8,500 small-scale RO problems is presented. Further, PyROS is used to obtain robust system designs of a MEA-based CO2 absorber under uncertainty in the thermodynamic property models for a variety of CO2 capture rate threshold requirements. Overall, the results demonstrate that the PyROS solver, including recent extensions to multi-stage RO settings, provides a reliable avenue to optimize the design and operation of advanced energy systems subject to various sources of parametric uncertainty.

Sherman, Jason↗