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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 451 records · Page 25
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Impact of the dark matter velocity distribution on capture rates in the Sun

Dark matter could be captured in the Sun and self-annihilate, giving rise to an observable neutrino flux. Indirect searches for dark matter looking for this signal with neutrino telescopes have resulted in tight constraints on the interaction cross-section of dark matter with ordinary matter. We investigate how robust limits are against astro-physical uncertainties. We study the effect of the velocity distribution of dark matter in our Galaxy on capture rates in the Sun. We investigate four sources of uncertainties: orbital speed of the Sun, escape velocity of dark matter from the halo, dark matter velocity distribution functions and existence of a dark disc. We find that even extreme cases currently discussed do not decrease the sensitivity of indirect detection significantly because the capture is achieved over a broad range of the velocity distribution by integration over the velocity distribution. The effect of the uncertainty in the high-velocity tail of dark matter halo is very marginal as the capture process is rather inefficient at this region. The difference in capture rate in the Sun for various scenarios is compared to the expected change in event rates for direct detection. The possibility of co-rotating structure with the Sun can largely boost the signal and hence makes the interpretation of indirect detection conservative compared to direct detection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Electron Transitions during the Capture of an Electron by a He{sup 2+} Ion at the Argon Atom

We have measured the absolute values of the total cross section of the one-electron capture by He{sup 2+} ions in the kinetic energy range 2–30 keV at the Ar atoms. The absolute values of the differential scattering cross sections of He{sup +} ions formed during the one-electron capture and the electron capture with ionization at energies of 2.2, 5.4, and 30 keV have been determined. The electronic states of the formed ions have been determined using collision spectroscopy based on analysis of the change in the kinetic energy of He{sup +} after the interaction. We have measured doubly differential (with respect to the kinetic energy and the scattering angle) cross sections of the formation of free electrons. The free electron formation channels (direct ionization and electron capture with ionization) have been analyzed by calculating the electron terms of the (HeAr){sup 2+} system. The calculated cross section of capture with ionization is in conformity with the cross section measured using collision spectroscopy.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Highly expressed captured genes and cross-kingdom domains present in Helitrons create novel diversity in Pleurotus ostreatus and other fungi

Background: Helitrons are class-II eukaryotic transposons that transpose via a rolling circle mechanism. Due to their ability to capture and mobilize gene fragments, they play an important role in the evolution of their host genomes. We have used a bioinformatics approach for the identification of helitrons in two Pleurotus ostreatus genomes using de novo detection and homology-based searching. We have analyzed the presence of helitron-captured genes as well as the expansion of helitron-specific helicases in fungi and performed a phylogenetic analysis of their conserved domains with other representative eukaryotic species. Results: Our results show the presence of two helitron families in P. ostreatus that disrupt gene colinearity and cause a lack of synteny between their genomes. Both putative autonomous and non-autonomous helitrons were transcriptionally active, and some of them carried highly expressed captured genes of unknown origin and function. In addition, both families contained eukaryotic, bacterial and viral domains within the helitron’s boundaries. A phylogenetic reconstruction of RepHel helicases using the Helitron-like and PIF1-like helicase conserved domains revealed a polyphyletic origin for eukaryotic helitrons. Conclusion: P. ostreatus helitrons display features similar to other eukaryotic helitrons and do not tend to capture host genes or gene fragments. The occurrence of genes probably captured from other hosts inside the helitrons boundaries pose the hypothesis that an ancient horizontal transfer mechanism could have taken place. The viral domains found in some of these genes and the polyphyletic origin of RepHel helicases in the eukaryotic kingdom suggests that virus could have played a role in a putative lateral transfer of helitrons within the eukaryotic kingdom. The high similarity of some helitrons, along with the transcriptional activity of its RepHel helicases indicates that these elements are still active in the genome of P. ostreatus.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Mass transfer intensification through increased surface wetting and liquid turbulence using 3D printing structured packing for CO2 capture

The absorber column is one of the most expensive pieces of equipment to construct in the solvent-based post-combustion carbon capture unit. In order to decrease the absorber size and reduce capital costs, novel polymer packings were proposed by enhancing surface wettability and local turbulence within liquid solvent. The novel packings intensify the mass transfer in CO2 absorption and show better separation efficiency than traditional structured packings. In this work, the economic influence of applying the more efficient packing with a shorter absorber column is studied in a techno-economic analysis for a carbon capture unit at a coal-fired power plant. The baseline case includes CO2 capture unit in a supercritical pulverized coal power plant to generate 650 MWe (net) of electricity, where the additional CO2 capture unit leads to 63.4% increase of LCOE. While implementing UK PCC with traditional and novel packings, there will be 47.2% and 46.4% LCOE increase separately, both of which are lower than the baseline value. Applying more efficient packing and smaller absorber could further lessen the LCOE increase. The UK PCC with traditional packings reduces CO2 capture cost by 23.4% and the application of the advanced packings allows to the reduction increases to 24.4%.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Coal-Derived Warm Syngas Purification and CO 2 Capture-Assisted Methane Production

Gasifier-derived syngas from coal has many applications in the area of catalytic transformation to fuels and chemicals. Raw syngas must be treated to remove a number of impurities that would otherwise poison the synthesis catalysts. Inorganic impurities include alkali salts, chloride, sulfur compounds, heavy metals, ammonia, and various P, As, Sb, and Se- containing compounds. Systems comprising multiple sorbent and catalytic beds have been developed for the removal of impurities from gasified coal using a warm cleanup approach. This approach has the potential to be more economic than the currently available acid gas removal (AGR) approaches and improves upon currently available processes that do not provide the level of impurity removal that is required for catalytic synthesis application. Gasification also lends itself much more readily to the capture of CO 2 , important in the regulation and control of greenhouse gas emissions. CO 2 capture material was developed and in this study was demonstrated to assist in methane production from the purified syngas. Simultaneous CO 2 sorption enhances the CO methanation reaction through relaxation of thermodynamic constraint, thus providing economic benefit rather than simply consisting of an add-on cost for carbon capture and release. Molten and pre-molten LiNaKCO 3 can promote MgO and MgO-based double salts to capture CO 2 with high cycling capacity. A stable cycling CO 2 capacity up to 13 mmol/g was demonstrated. This capture material was specifically developed in this study to operate in the same temperature range and therefore integrate effectively with warm gas cleanup and methane synthesis. By combining syngas methanation, water-gas-shift, and CO 2 sorption in a single reactor, single pass yield to methane of 99% was demonstrated at 10 bar and 330°C when using a 20 wt% Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 catalyst and a molten-phase promoted MgO-based sorbent. Under model feed conditions both the sorbent and catalyst exhibited favorable stability after multiple test cycles. The cleanup for warm gas cleanup of inorganics was broken down into three major steps: chloride removal, sulfur removal, and the removal for a multitude of trace metal contaminants. Na 2 CO 3 was found to optimally remove chlorides at an operating temperature of 450ºC. For sulfur removal two regenerable ZnO beds are used for bulk H 2 S removal at 450ºC (<5 ppm S) and a non-regenerable ZnO bed for H 2 S polishing at 300ºC (<40 ppb S). It was also found that sulfur from COS could be adsorbed (to levels below our detection limit of 40 ppb) in the presence of water that leads to no detectable slip of H 2 S. Finally, a sorbent material comprising of Cu and Ni was found to be effective in removing trace metal impurities such as AsH 3 and PH 3 when operating at 300ºC. Proof-of-concept of the integrated cleanup process was demonstrated with gasifier-generated syngas produced at the Western Research Institute using Wyoming Decker Coal. When operating with a ~1 SLPM feed, multiple inorganic contaminant removal sorbents and a tar-reforming bed was able to remove the vast majority of contaminants from the raw syngas. A tar-reforming catalyst was employed due to the production of tars generated from the gasifier used in this particular study. It is envisioned that in a real application a commercial scale gasifier operating at a higher temperature would produce lesser amount of tar. Continuous operation of a poison-sensitive copper-based WGS catalyst located downstream from the cleanup steps resulted in successful demonstration.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

From Fundamental Understanding To Predicting New Nanomaterials For High Capacity Hydrogen/Methane Storage and Carbon Capture

On-board hydrogen/methane storage in fuel cell-powered vehicles is a major component of the national need to achieve energy independence and protect the environment. The main obstacles in hydrogen storage are slow kinetics, poor reversibility and high dehydrogenation temperatures for the chemical hydrides; and very low desorption temperatures/energies for the physisorption materials (MOF’s, porous carbons). Similarly, the current methane storage technologies are mainly based on physisorption in porous materials but the gravimetric and volumetric storage capacities are below the target values. Finally, carbon capture, a critical component of the mitigation of CO 2 emissions from industrial plants, also suffers from similar problems. The solid-absorbers such as MOFs are either not stable against real flue-gas conditions and/or do not have large enough CO 2 capture capacity to be practical and cost effective. In this project, we addressed these challenges using a unique combination of computational, synthetic and experimental methods. The main scope of our research was to achieve fundamental understanding of the chemical and structural interactions governing the storage and release of hydrogen/methane and carbon capture in a wide spectrum of candidate materials. We studied the effect of scaffolding and doping of the candidate materials on their storage and dynamics properties. We reviewed current progress, challenges and prospect in closely related fields of hydrogen/methane storage and carbon capture. For example, for physisorption based storage materials, we show that tap-densities or simply pressing MOFs into pellet forms reduce the uptake capacities by half and therefore packing MOFs is one of the most important challenges going forward. For room temperature hydrogen storage application of MOFs, we argue that MOFs are the most promising scaffold materials for Ammonia-Borane (AB) because of their unique interior active metal-centers for AB binding and well defined and ordered pores. Here the main challenge is to find a chemically stable MOF required for regeneration of the AB-spent fuel. Finally, for carbon capture application of MOFs, we investigate the performance of a number of metal–organic frameworks with particular focus on their behavior at the low pressures commonly used in swing adsorption. This comparison clearly shows that it is the process that determines which MOF is optimal rather than there being one best MOF, though MOFs that possess enhanced binding at open metal sites generally perform better than those with high surface area.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Design of Stratified Functional Nanoporous Materials for CO 2 Capture and Conversion

The objective of this project is to develop novel nanoporous materials for CO 2 capture and conversion. The motivation of this work is that capture of CO 2 from flue gas or the atmosphere coupled with catalytic hydrogenation of CO 2 into valuable chemicals and fuels can reduce the net amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere while providing liquid transportation fuels and other commodity chemicals. One approach to increasing the economic viability of carbon capture and conversion is to design a single material that can be used for both the capture and catalytic conversion of CO 2 , because such a material could increase efficiency through process intensification. We have used density functional theory (DFT) methods to design catalytic moieties that can be incorporated into various metal organic framework (MOF) materials. We chose to work with MOFs because they are highly tailorable, can be functionalized, and have been shown to selectively adsorb CO 2 over N 2 , which is a requirement for CO 2 capture from flue gas. Moreover, the incorporation of molecular catalytic moieties into MOF, through covalent bonding, produces a heterogeneous catalytic material having activities and selectivities close to those of homogeneous catalysts, but without the draw-backs associated with homogeneous catalysis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Electrochemical Membrane for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Power Generation

FuelCell Energy, Inc. (FCE), in collaboration with AECOM Corporation (formerly URS Corporation) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has been developing a novel Combined Electric Power and Carbon-dioxide Separation (CEPACS) system. The CEPACS system is based on electrochemical membrane (ECM) technology derived from FCE’s carbonate fuel cell products featuring internal (methane steam) reforming and carrying the trade name of Direct FuelCell®. The unique chemistry of carbonate fuel cells offers an innovative approach for separation of CO 2 from existing fossil-fuel power plant exhaust streams (flue gases). The ECM-based CEPACS system has the potential to become a transformational CO 2 -separation technology by working as two devices in one: it separates the CO 2 from the exhaust of other plants such as an existing coal-fired plant and simultaneously produces clean electric power at high efficiency using a supplementary fuel. The development effort was carried out under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) cooperative agreement DE-FE0007634. The overall objective of this project was to successfully demonstrate the ability of FCE’s ECM-based CEPACS system technology to separate ≥90% of the CO 2 from a simulated Pulverized Coal (PC) power plant flue gas stream and to compress the captured CO2 to a state that can be easily transported for sequestration or beneficial use. In addition, a key objective was to show, through the technical and economic feasibility study and bench scale testing, that the ECM-based CEPACS system is an economical alternative for CO 2 capture in PC power plants, and that it meets DOE’s objective related to the incremental cost of electricity (COE) for post-combustion CO 2 capture (no more than 35% increase in COE). The project was performed in three budget periods (BP). The specific objective for BP1 was to complete the Preliminary Technical and Economic Feasibility Study. The T&EF study was based on the carbon capture system size suitable for a reference 550 MW PC power plant. The specific objectives for BP2 were to perform (flue gas) contaminant effect evaluation tests, small area membrane tests using clean simulated flue gas, design a flue gas pretreatment system for processing of the gas feed to ECM, update the Technical & Economic Feasibility Study (T&EFS) incorporating results of contaminant effect tests and small area membrane tests, and to prepare a test facility for bench scale testing. The specific objectives for BP3 were to perform bench scale testing (parametric and long-duration testing) of a 11.7 m 2 ECM-based CO 2 capture, purification and compression system, and update (as final) the Technical and Economic Feasibility Study. In addition, an Environmental Health and Safety evaluation (assessment) of the ECM technology was included. This final technical report presents the progress made under the project.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2018

A Simple Correlation for Neutron Capture Rates from Nuclear Masses

Recent studies of neutron capture performed at LANL have revealed a previously unrecognized connection between nuclear masses and the average neutron capture cross section. A team of three scientists from Los Alamos (P-27), Yale Univ., and Istanbul Univ. (Turkey) recently discovered this connection and have published their results as a Rapid Communication in Physical Review C. Neutron capture is a reaction in which a free neutron is absorbed by the nucleus, keeping the element unchanged, but changing isotopes. This reaction is typically exothermic. As a result, the reaction can proceed even when many other reaction channels are closed. In an astrophysical environment, this means that neutron capture is the primary mechanism by which all of the elements with atomic number greater than nickel are produced is neutron capture.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of Mixed-Salt Technology for CO 2 Capture from Coal Power Plants

SRI International (SRI), in collaboration with Stanford University, OLI Systems (OLI), Politecnico de Milano (PoliMi), and Aqueous Systems Aps (ASApS) performed a 45-month effort to develop a promising Mixed-Salt Process (MSP) for carbon dioxide capture. The MSP combines existing ammonia and potassium-carbonate technologies with improved absorption steps for rate enhancement and ammonia emission reduction and a novel selective regeneration process with a high-pressure CO 2 product to introduce a new and advanced transformational solvent-based technology. The striking advantages of the SRI MSP include: low heat of reaction, high loading of CO 2 , high-pressure regeneration of > 99% pure dry CO 2 , low sensitivity to impurities, low process cost, use of a non-degradable low-cost solvent with a very low carbon footprint for its production, low emissions, and reduced water use compared to the state-of-the-art ammonia-based and amine technologies. The overall objective of the project was to develop and test a solvent-based CO 2 capture technology that can capture CO 2 from existing or new pulverized coal (PC) power plants at low cost. Our specific goal was to test SRI’s newly developed MSP at the large bench-scale level to demonstrate that the process could capture CO 2 at high efficiency (> 90%) with very high CO 2 loading (> 10 wt.%), require less than 2 GJ/tonne for solvent regeneration, and produce a CO 2 stream at high pressure with a purity > 95 vol.%. This 45-month MSP development program was designed to conduct (1) extensive test campaigns with different process flowsheet variants, and (2) detailed thermodynamic, kinetic, and process modeling. These tests and models were very important to identify any issues associated with the process in the early stages and then resolve them before moving into the next scale-up (> 1 MWe scale) testing. The technology development plan consisted of balanced experimental and process modeling activities as shown in Figure i. Such an approach reduces the risks associated with the process operability at large scales and provides capital and operating expenditure (CAPEX/OPEX) predictions with improved accuracies. Under the MSP development program at SRI, we performed an aggressive testing campaign with individual subsystems as well as integrated CO 2 capture and regeneration system to identify the best operating conditions. The project was carried out in two budget periods (BP1 & BP2).

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of Mixed-Salt Technology for CO 2 Capture from Coal Power Plants (Final Report)

SRI International (SRI), in collaboration with Stanford University, OLI Systems (OLI), Politecnico de Milano (PoliMi), and Aqueous Systems Aps (ASApS) performed a 45-month effort to develop a promising Mixed-Salt Process (MSP) for carbon dioxide capture. The MSP combines existing ammonia and potassium-carbonate technologies with improved absorption steps for rate enhancement and ammonia emission reduction and a novel selective regeneration process with a high-pressure CO 2 product to introduce a new and advanced transformational solvent-based technology. The striking advantages of the SRI MSP include: low heat of reaction, high loading of CO 2 , high-pressure regeneration of > 99% pure dry CO 2 , low sensitivity to impurities, low process cost, use of a non-degradable low-cost solvent with a very low carbon footprint for its production, low emissions, and reduced water use compared to the state-of-the-art ammonia-based and amine technologies. The overall objective of the project was to develop and test a solvent-based CO 2 capture technology that can capture CO 2 from existing or new pulverized coal (PC) power plants at low cost. Our specific goal was to test SRI’s newly developed MSP at the large bench-scale level to demonstrate that the process could capture CO 2 at high efficiency (> 90%) with very high CO 2 loading (> 10 wt.%), require less than 2 GJ/tonne for solvent regeneration, and produce a CO2 stream at high pressure with a purity > 95 vol.%. This 45-month MSP development program was designed to conduct (1) extensive test campaigns with different process flowsheet variants, and (2) detailed thermodynamic, kinetic, and process modeling. These tests and models were very important to identify any issues associated with the process in the early stages and then resolve them before moving into the next scale-up (> 1 MWe scale) testing. Such an approach reduces the risks associated with the process operability at large scales and provides capital and operating expenditure (CAPEX/OPEX) predictions with improved accuracies. Under the MSP development program at SRI, we performed an aggressive testing campaign with individual subsystems as well as integrated CO 2 capture and regeneration system to identify the best operating conditions. The project was carried out in two budget periods (BP1 & BP2).

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Atmospheric CO 2 Capture and Membrane Delivery (Final Report)

Motivation: A major bottleneck for growing microalgae as a sustainable alternative to fossil carbon in economically producing fuels and chemical products is the cost of delivering CO 2 in sufficient concentrations for it not to limit growth. This project sought to develop and integrate two innovative technologies for capturing and concentrating CO 2 from air and delivering it to microalgae with high efficiency into an Atmospheric CO 2 Enrichment and Delivery (ACED) system. The CO 2 capture technology is based on moisture swing sorption (MSS), where specialized resin materials selectively capture CO 2 when dry and release it when wet into a confined space where the concentration can be increased up to 500-fold. The CO 2 -delivery technology is based on membrane carbonation (MC), which uses hollow fiber membranes that allow CO 2 to diffuse into the algae-containing liquid without forming bubbles, achieving nearly 100% delivery efficiency. Work completed: 1. Subsystem design, construction, and characterization [Months 1-6]. ACED integration requirements were defined; prototype MSS and MC sub-systems were constructed to conform to these requirements and characterized independently. 2. Subsystem optimization and evaluation [Months 7-12]. An iterative process of operating and upgrading each subsystem at lab scale, leading to compatibility at full integration. 3. System Integration with open raceway, testing, and modeling [Months 13-24]. Operation and testing of the integrated ACED system in an open raceway pond and modeling. Broader impacts: The ACED research program added to our understanding of 1) MC technology’s (i.e., hollow fiber membranes) utility for transferring pure CO 2 and CO 2 gas mixtures into microlagal cultures in laboratory and outdoor environments, 2) the first-of-a-kind MSS technology to capture CO 2 from ambient outdoor air, and 3) methods for storing captured CO 2 in carbonate/bicarbonate brines from which the CO 2 can be retrieved at high concentration (> 90%). Near-term commercial opportunities were outlined for the MC technology for small scale algae cultivation with high CO 2 costs (> $100/ton) and larger scale operators with continued development. This will help reduce costs for producing sustainable fuels and products and reduce cost for microalgal research for developing new applications. Research areas were identified for MSS technology to achieve cost competitive CO 2 produced from ambient air ($100/ton) as a means for closing the carbon cycle to make products from atmospheric CO 2 instead of fossil fuels and remove CO 2 from air to mitigate climate change.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of a Pre-combustion CO 2 Capture Process Using High-Temperature PBI Hollow-Fiber Membranes

The overall goal of this research project was to develop a high-temperature, membrane-based CO 2 capture technology for coal gasification facilities and make progress toward meeting overall fossil energy performance goals of CO 2 capture with 95% CO 2 purity at a cost of electricity (COE) 30% less than baseline capture approaches. The primary objectives of the project were to evaluate, at a bench-scale size, a technically and economically viable CO 2 capture system based on a high-temperature polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymer hollow-fiber membrane (HFM) separation system, and to optimize the process for integration of that system into an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant. The specific objectives of the proposed project are to: (1) fabricate high-performance PBI-HFMs for H 2 /CO 2 separation; (2) collect laboratory data for separating hydrogen from simulated synthesis gas using PBI-based membrane modules; (3) transfer the membrane fabrication technology to an industrial firm that specializes in the manufacture of HFMs; (4) fabricate membrane modules to process a syngas stream (50 kWth) equivalent to that of shifted gas from an oxygen-blown gasifier; (5) obtain design and steadystate performance data for membrane modules using syngas from an operating coal gasifier; (6) estimate the cost of CO 2 capture from pre-combustion gas streams integrated into a 550-MW (net) power plant; and (7) conduct a process environmental health & safety (EH&S) assessment.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
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

A combined biological and chemical flue gas utilization system towards carbon dioxide capture from coal-fired power plants (Final Report)

Photosynthetic algal cultivation has been intensively studied for CO 2 capture and utilization for several decades. The footprint for using algae to capture CO 2 emitted from carbon-intensive industrial processes (power plants, cement plants, and fermentation processes) is extremely large, which creates serious technical and economic hurdles that must be cleared if algal technologies are to be commercially implemented. Fortunately, algal biomass is rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, providing a good chemical source for organic absorbents and other value-added chemical feedstocks. In particular, amino acids from algal protein can be used to generate amino acid salt solutions that have been proven to be effective for capturing CO 2 . In order to take advantage of both algal cultivation and biomass utilization, the goal of the proposed project is to develop a combined biological and chemical system for coal-fired power plants for sequestering CO 2 in biological absorbents and generating value-added products. This approach significantly reduces the land and energy footprint of CO 2 capture, and minimizes capital and operational expenses. Three specific objectives are targeted: 1) optimizing the growth of the selected algal strain to maximize biomass accumulation from the coal-fired flue gas; 2) developing a cascade biomass utilization to produce amino acid absorbents, polyurethanes, biodiesel, and methane; and 3) conducting techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of the proposed process. Three key technical outcomes were achieved: (1) With the selected robust algal strain and unique photobioreactor design, long-term culture stability can be extended, and algal biomass productivity reached 0.5 g dry biomass/L/day year-round at a biomass concentration of 1.2 g/L in the pilot photobioreactor; (2) The biomass utilization process led to complete utilization of the algal biomass to produce amino acid salt absorbent, polyurethanes, and methane; and (3) The combined biological and chemical flue gas utilization process concluded a technically and economically feasible commercial-scale system that completely captures CO 2 in coal-fired flue gas with greatly reduced energy consumption.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development and Bench-Scale Testing of a Novel Biphasic Solvent-Enabled Absorption Process for Post-Combustion Carbon Capture (Final Technical Report)

A new class of biphasic solvents was developed, and the concept of the enabled carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) absorption process was tested for post-combustion carbon capture in our previous lab-scale research. The primary goals of this project were to advance the development of the novel biphasic CO 2 absorption process (BiCAP) and validate its technical advantages by testing the integrated technology at a 40 kWe bench-scale with actual coal-derived flue gas in a power plant environment. The project was led by the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign (UIUC), and Trimeric Corporation served as a sub-awardee providing support in basic design and techno-economic studies. To achieve the project goals and objectives, solvent management studies, process modeling and optimization, bench-scale equipment design, construction and testing, and technical, economic and environmental assessments have been conducted. The two top-performing biphasic solvents developed in our previous research were used in this project. Biphasic solvent emissions and control were investigated in the laboratory. The emissions of the biphasic solvents from the absorber were comparable to or lower than the reference 30 wt% monoethanolamine (MEA) solution, while they could be more effectively removed in the water wash column. Lab-scale testing of solvent degradation reclamation has revealed that vacuum distillation was feasible for biphasic solvent reclamation. Aspen Plus models were used to optimize the BiCAP, and a CO 2 stripping configuration introducing a secondary cold solvent feed to the stripper was identified to be the most energy efficient. A 40 kWe bench-scale, integrated BiCAP system was successfully designed, fabricated, and installed at the UIUC’s Abbott Power Plant. Parametric testing with synthetic flue gas has demonstrated that the two biphasic solvents required a more than 40% lower heat duty for CO 2 desorption as compared to the reference MEA tested on the same bench-scale skid. Slipstream testing with actual coal flue gas for a total of 31 days in two test campaigns has further demonstrated stable operation of the bench-scale skid. During the first campaign targeting 90% CO 2 removal, the heat duty averaged at 2,183 MJ/tonne of CO 2 captured and during the second campaign targeting 95% removal, the heat duty averaged at 2,450 MJ/tonne of CO 2 captured. A techno-economic analysis has revealed that for integration of the BiCAP into a 650-MWe pulverized coal-fired power plant, the parasitic power loss was reduced by ~20%, and the cost of CO 2 capture was reduced by ~21% ($36.3/tonne on a December 2018 dollar basis) compared to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s baseline Case B12B. As progression from this bench-scale development effort, a new project “Engineering-Scale Testing of the Biphasic Solvent Based CO 2 Absorption Capture Technology at a Covanta Waste-to-Energy Facility” was awarded by the DOE, launched in February 2023, to allow the team to further test the technology and demonstrate its technical and economic advantages at a pilot scale.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

CO2 Capture from Biofuels Production and Storage into the Mt Simon Sandstone

Advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies offer significant potential for reducing anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, while minimizing the cost of employing these technologies. Under the Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (ICCS) Program, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) collaborated with industry in cost-sharing arrangements to demonstrate technologies that captured CO2 emissions from industrial sources and either stored or beneficially re-use them. The technologies included in the ICCS program progressed beyond the research and development stage to a scale that can be deployed into commercial practice within the industry. The Illinois Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (IL-ICCS) project sought to demonstrate the ability of the Mt. Simon Sandstone to accept and retain industrial-scale volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from an anthropogenic source for permanent geologic sequestration. The project was a collaboration of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company, the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), Schlumberger Carbon Services (SCS), and Richland Community College (RCC), and had average annual injection rate of between 1,500 and 2,400 metric tons per day (MTPD) or 0.5 to 0.7 million metric tons (MMT) annually. The project site is in Decatur, Illinois on the property of ADM and RCC (Fig 1) and is directly adjacent to the Illinois Basin – Decatur Project (IBDP), a large scale pilot project of the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), which collected and injected CO2 from the ADM fuel ethanol production unit, where high purity biogenic CO2 is produced during the anaerobic fermentation of sugars to alcohol. The IL-ICCS project had an operational period of approximately six (6) years, in which 3.5 MMT of CO2 was captured, compressed, injected, and permanently stored in the Mt Simon Sandstone.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2024

Engineering Design of a Polaris Membrane CO 2 Capture System at a Cement Plant

Sargent & Lundy (S&L) and Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) in cooperation with CEMEX, completed an initial engineering design study to evaluate the retrofit of MTR’s membrane-based post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture technology to the CEMEX Balcones cement plant (Balcones) Kiln 2. The CO 2 capture plant is designed to treat the entire flue gas flow from Kiln 2; it is estimated that this system will capture 2,039 tonnes/day per day (TPD) of CO 2 , approximately 75% of current CO 2 emissions from the kiln. The captured CO 2 is compressed to 2,213 psia (152.58 bara) before flowing to the capture plant boundary tie-point. It was assumed for this study that the CO 2 would be pumped off-site and transferred by pipeline to either a CO 2 storage complex for geological sequestration or elsewhere for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).

42 ENGINEERING↗