Carbon Chemist

Tag: Carbon Capture

  • Dusting farms with waste concrete could boost yields and lock up CO2

    Dusting farms with waste concrete could boost yields and lock up CO2

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    A tractor spreading powdered concrete at Silicate’s trial site in Ireland

    Silicate Carbon

    Grinding up the vast amounts of waste concrete around the world and spreading it on fields could remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and potentially boost crop yields, with no harmful effects, according to a field trial in Ireland.

    Doing so could partially compensate for the huge emissions from cement production. “It’s sort of recapturing the CO2 that was lost in the first place,” says Ruadhan Magee at University College Dublin in Ireland, who presented his team’s initial findings…

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  • Our plans to tackle climate change with carbon storage don't add up

    Our plans to tackle climate change with carbon storage don't add up

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    Modelling that shows how the world can remain below 1.5°C of warming assumes we can store vast amounts of carbon dioxide underground, but a new analysis reveals that achieving this is extremely unlikely

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  • A New Innovative Approach To Improve the Energy Efficiency of Carbon Conversion

    A New Innovative Approach To Improve the Energy Efficiency of Carbon Conversion

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    Carbon Dioxide Smokestack Capture

    Researchers at McGill University have developed a method to enhance the energy efficiency of carbon conversion, leveraging waste from pulp and paper production, and utilizing the Canadian Light Source. This technique not only cuts the energy needed for carbon conversion but also diminishes waste, marking a significant step in combining biomass recycling with CO2 capture to combat climate change and make CO2 conversion more efficient and economically viable.

    Scientists at McGill University have developed a novel method to enhance the energy efficiency of carbon conversion, utilizing waste material from pulp and paper production. The technique they’ve pioneered using the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan not only reduces the energy required to convert carbon into useful products, but also reduces overall waste in the environment.

    “We are one of the first groups to combine biomass recycling or utilization with CO2 capture,” said Ali Seifitokaldani, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Electrocatalysis for Renewable Energy Production and Conversion. The research team, from McGill’s Electrocatalysis Lab, published their findings in the journal RSC Sustainability.

    Capturing carbon emissions is one of the most exciting emerging tools to fight climate change. The biggest challenge is figuring out what to do with the carbon once the emissions have been removed, especially since capturing CO2 can be expensive. The next hurdle is that transforming CO2 into useful products takes energy. Researchers want to make the conversion process as efficient and profitable as possible.

    Reference: “Efficient integration of carbon dioxide reduction and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation at high current density” by Roger Lin, Haoyan Yang, Hanyu Zheng, Mahdi Salehi, Amirhossein Farzi, Poojan Patel, Xiao Wang, Jiaxun Guo, Kefang Liu, Zhengyuan Gao, Xiaojia Li and Ali Seifitokaldani, 13 December 2023, RSC Sustainability.
    DOI: 10.1039/D3SU00379E



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  • Dumping green sand in shallow seas could let them absorb more CO2

    Dumping green sand in shallow seas could let them absorb more CO2

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    Olivine sands can be found on some beaches in Hawaii

    Sara Komo/Shutterstock

    Dumping alkaline green sand into shallow seas could increase ocean absorption of carbon dioxide by 8 per cent this century, according to a modelling study.

    Oceans take up almost a third of the CO2 we emit into the atmosphere and researchers are exploring ways to boost that amount. Dissolving 1 gigatonne a year of ground-up olivine, a common, greenish mineral made mainly of magnesium, iron, silicon and oxygen, in shallow seas could reduce atmospheric CO2 levels by 10…

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  • Can the cost of direct air carbon capture be reduced?

    Can the cost of direct air carbon capture be reduced?

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    Research by ETH Zurich has indicated that targets for slashing carbon emissions will be hard to achieve unless ways can be found to reduce the cost of direct air capture (DAC) technologies.

    ETH spin-​off Climeworks operates a plant in Iceland that uses direct air carbon capture to capture 4,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, at a cost per tonne of between $1,000-1,300. But how quickly can these costs come down as deployment increases?

    ETH researchers have developed a new method that provides a more accurate estimate of the future cost of various DAC technologies.

    As the technologies are scaled up, direct air capture will become significantly cheaper – though not as cheap as some stakeholders currently anticipate. Rather than the assumed figure of $100-300, the researchers suggest the costs are more likely to be between $230-540.

    Bjarne Steffen, ETH Professor of Climate Finance and Policy, explained: “Just because DAC technologies are available, it certainly doesn’t mean we can relax our efforts to cut carbon emissions.

    “That said, it’s still important to press ahead with the expansion of direct air carbon capture plants because we will need these technologies for emissions that are difficult or impossible to avoid.”

    Three different DAC technologies and their costs

    The researchers applied their method to three direct air carbon capture technologies. The goal was to compare how the cost of each technology is likely to evolve over time.

    Their findings suggest that the process developed by Swiss company Climeworks, in which a solid filter with a large surface area traps CO2 particles, could cost between $280 and 580 per tonne by 2050.

    The estimated costs of the other two DAC technologies fall within a similar range. The researchers calculated a price of between $230 and 540 per tonne for the capture of CO2 from the atmosphere using an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide, a process that has been widely commercialised.

    The cost of carbon capture using calcium oxide derived from limestone was estimated at between $230-835.

    Focusing on individual components to address issues

    Estimating how the cost of new technologies will change over time is particularly difficult in situations where very little empirical information is available.

    This lack of real-world data represents a challenge for direct air carbon capture technologies because they haven’t been in use long enough to allow projections to be made as to how their cost might evolve in the future.

    To address this dilemma, the ETH researchers focused on the individual components of the different DAC systems and estimated their costs one by one.

    They then asked 30 industry experts to assess the design complexity of each technological component and determine how easy it would be to standardise.

    The researchers based their work on certain assumptions: namely, that the cost of less complex components that can be mass-produced will fall more sharply, while the cost of complex parts that must be tailored to each individual system will fall only slowly.

    Direct air carbon capture systems also include mature components such as compressors, which cannot feasibly be made much cheaper.

    Once the researchers had estimated the cost of each individual part, they then added the cost of integrating all the components and the costs of energy and operation.

    Katrin Sievert, lead author of the study, concluded: “At present, it is not possible to predict which of the available technologies will prevail. It is therefore crucial that we continue to pursue all the options.”

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  • Pioneering supersonic cryogenic gas processing solutions

    Pioneering supersonic cryogenic gas processing solutions

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    TwistR Energy, a pioneer in supersonic cryogenic gas processing, teams up with TriGen Energy to decarbonise the industry.

    Since 1999, TwistR Energy has been at the forefront of gas processing technologies. Their latest projects are now applied to help fight climate change. They do this with decarbonisation technology, namely, supersonic cryogenic gas processing.

    These technologies offer a method of gas processing that can reduce or even eliminate emissions while providing sustainable and profitable gas production for energy purposes, significantly cleaning the industry.

    TwistR Energy: Making cryogenic gas processing easy and sustainable

    TwistR Energy is at the forefront of innovative gas processing technologies, offering solutions that blend supersonic cooling with high-G swirl technology. This proprietary approach allows for efficient deep dew-pointing and dehydration of gases, utilising compact units that are reliable and devoid of moving parts and chemicals.

    The technology was proven over thousands of operational hours in both onshore and offshore settings, yielding significant advantages over traditional gas processing methods involving Joule-Thompson valves, Turbo Expanders, or chemicals.

    Key benefits of the technology:

    • Elimination of chemicals, sidestepping the need for regeneration equipment, storage, and logistical expenses;
    • Our system’s low weight, small footprint, and modular design make it especially suitable for offshore installations and for enhancing and upgrading existing plants;
    • Exceptionally low maintenance and operational costs, along with straightforward integration into facilities geared for unmanned operations; and
    • Enhanced reliability and availability, leading to superior asset economics.

    CO2 bulk separation: Advancing the greenhouse gas reduction agenda

    Utilising the deep cooling and high G-forces generated within a TwistR tube, our technology enables the collection of hydrate/CO2 crystals at low temperatures. These are then converted into liquid form in a special crystalliser unit, marking a significant step forward in CO2 separation efficiency.

    Our CO2 bulk separation unit has been successfully tested by a leading international oil company, achieving an 80% reduction of incoming CO2 volumes in a natural gas stream. This process not only conserves energy but also streamlines system design by enabling CO2 to be pumped rather than compressed. TwistR is actively expanding its cryogenic and supersonic processing capabilities for enhanced CO2 management in terminals and transport systems.

    Fig. 2: 7 mln m3/d Sour Gas Dehydration Unit

    Integrating with TriGen Energy for comprehensive decarbonisation solutions

    TwistR Energy’s recent integration into the TriGen Energy portfolio underscores our commitment to holistic decarbonisation efforts. TriGen Energy is active in developing decarbonisation solutions through oxy-fuel combustion. TwistR’s suite of gas/CO2 processing technologies enhances the efficiency of decarbonisation solutions by pre- or post-treating the CO2-containing gases from TriGen and other chemical and CCUS plants.

    This integrated approach not only increases the efficiency of the plant but also substantially reduces the overall cost of decarbonisation solutions.

    Supporting our clients through innovation

    We offer a comprehensive suite of services, including system design, optimisation, construction, commissioning, and operational support. Our proactive engagement in the early stages of project development ensures that our solutions are tailored to meet each client’s specific requirements throughout the project’s lifecycle.

    Fig. 3: TwistR Tube: cryogenic swirl without moving parts

    We are keen to seek collaborative arrangements with our clients, aiming to co-develop and refine solutions that offer unique and competitive advantages. Together, we can lead the way in developing efficient, cost-effective cryogenic gas processing technologies that address the critical challenge of decarbonisation.

    Please note, this article will also appear in the seventeenth edition of our quarterly publication.

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  • Carbon capture solutions for the oil industry

    Carbon capture solutions for the oil industry

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    Pieter Kapteijn and Gabriël de Scheemaker, CEO and CFO of TriGen Energy BV, discuss the company’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture utilisation (CCUS) technology, and how they contribute to a net zero fossil fuel industry.

    TriGen Energy BV, a company comprised of many experienced experts, is seeking to be the first carbon neutral oil and gas producer. To achieve this, they are utilising their own carbon capture and storage, and carbon capture utilisation solutions, designed to clean the process of energy production.

    With COP28 reaffirming the need to step away from fossil fuels and decarbonise energy production to keep global warming under 2°C, and indeed, start to reduce that number, TriGen is offering solutions to decarbonise energy production.

    They also offer alternative uses for the produced emissions, which can be used in everything from further energy production to agriculture. We spoke to the CEO and CFO of the company, Pieter Kapteijn and Gabriël de Scheemaker, to find out more about these technologies.

    How do TriGen’s carbon capture and storage and carbon capture utilisation technologies work?

    The TriGen plant burns hydrocarbons with pure oxygen (oxy-fuel burner). You can think of an oxy-fuel burner as a static rocket engine, running continuously. The beauty of the combustor is that it efficiently converts all the C and H molecules in the fuel to CO2 and H2O, which is pure water. The CO2 is easily separated from the water and is immediately suitable for injection and storage in a reservoir.

    This means combustion and CO2 capture are done in one simple step. The heat and pressure generated in this process are converted directly, using an expansion turbine, or indirectly, using a steam cycle, into mechanical energy and then into electrical power. Because the CO2 from the combustion is sequestered, the power is produced with zero emissions.

    For oxy-fuel combustion, you need oxygen, which has to be produced using Air Separation Units, which take energy. This means that if the plant has a 45% efficiency, you are left with some 35-37% efficiency after subtracting the energy consumed by the ASU. But other capture technologies also consume a lot of energy.

    If you are not interested in the capture and storage of CO2, conventional power plant cycles are best. Still, if you look at total system efficiencies, including carbon capture and storage, oxy-fuel makes a lot of sense in many oil & gas applications. On top of that, oxy-fuel is the only power cycle that produces rather than consumes water. For many customers in water-starved regions, this is a significant advantage.

    How do they compare to other CCS and CCU technologies?

    When TriGen Energy started, we did a comprehensive technical review of all CCS/CCUS technologies available, also considering future development potential. That comparison showed us that oxy-fuel was uniquely suited to oil and gas applications. Gas produced from oil and gas fields worldwide has large variations in quality and composition, often containing CO2, nitrogen, H2S, and other impurities. The compositions may also vary over the life of the field. Some poor-quality gas fields are effectively stranded for that reason.

    Oxy-fuel has excellent tolerance for what we call ‘bad gas,’ which is poor-quality gas that conventional carbon capture technologies cannot handle. The combustors have been tested with as much as 70-80% CO2 in the feed and still work efficiently. Our analysis clearly showed that of the three main flavours of carbon capture technology (pre-combustion, post-combustion and oxy-fuel), oxy-fuel came out on top.

    Having an ASU often brings additional value: the nitrogen from the ASU may be used for pressure maintenance of oil/gas fields. In some applications, we can sell the Argon, too. The key is not to focus on the CC technologies in isolation but to look at the whole value chain of which the plant is part and then do the economics.

    Although TriGen is technology agnostic when we look at a project’s technical design, we have decided that oxy-fuel is the right starter technology to help the oil industry decarbonise.

    How much of an impact will the Oxyfuel technology have?

    Very significant. After COP28, the energy landscape will be undergoing a seismic shift. The oil industry must pivot towards the diminished use of fossil fuels. I read recently that CCUS capacity must be scaled up by two orders of magnitude, from 60 to 6000 projects globally, to hit the five Gt/yr of CO2 stored in 2050.

    The oil industry’s contribution is critical to us having any chance to keep global warming below 2°C, let alone 1.5°C. Another estimate I saw was that CCUS projects will require a yearly investment of $500bn a year by 2050. Clearly, there is a market for our solutions!

    We see increasing interest in the solutions we offer coming from companies that realise they must make the transition and make it profitable if they want to survive and thrive. What better way to transition your existing asset base to producing clean power than by capturing the CO2 at source?

    We are not even talking about the other business models that the TriGen solution enables and the options it opens to convert clean power into other energy vectors like hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia.

    How does TriGen justify the higher cost of its Oxyfuel process, and what compensating values does it bring?

    Let’s look at the ‘higher cost’ assumption first. Firstly, TriGen are confident that the cost of TriGen plants will decrease significantly over the next decade. This is through simple scaling and efficiency improvement. We estimate that within ten years, a TriGen power plant could cost less than $3500/kW installed. It is marginally more expensive than a CCGT with carbon capture, but remember, the CCGT plant produces only power from relatively clean fuel gas.

    Secondly, the exceptionally high oxy-combustion temperatures of up to 2000°C allow for more efficient thermo-dynamic cycles, and ultimately, the plant efficiencies will top 50%. That includes the ASU power consumption.

    Lastly, our studies have shown that the TriGen plant produces additional value in many oilfield applications, which comes from, for example, water, nitrogen, argon, and heat-integration with oilfield processes. While it is somewhat higher in cost, it yields much higher business value and generally better project economics.

    We carried out 18 studies on oil and gas assets worldwide, and the trend was evident: with very few exceptions, the economics of a TriGen oxy-fuel-based CCUS solution at the integrated system level was superior to solutions based on other CCUS technologies.

    How does this process help oil companies reduce CO2 emissions through carbon capture and storage?

    The challenge for oil companies is to reduce their scope-1, -2, and -3 emissions to zero or maybe even become negative by importing other industries’ CO2 emissions. Scope-3 emissions reduction is the most difficult to achieve as it also requires complex reconciliation and verification across the energy value chain, presenting a considerable challenge.

    If you produce oil or gas, you generally create the space in producing reservoirs to take injected CO2 volumes. Theoretically, if you burn all the oil and gas from a reservoir, the CO2 produced could be stored in those same reservoirs. Therefore, the ideal solution would be to convert all the produced hydrocarbons into power at the assets, inject and store the produced CO2, and only export and sell clean power. As a bonus, you would also create 10-15% extra space in the reservoir to store other people’s CO2. This scenario could well lead to a new kind of oil industry. One that monetises its reserves through the sale of clean power. TriGen’s vision for the oil industry, “clean power from fossil fuels,” reflects our conviction that this will be how the industry ultimately goes.

    Ultimately, every industry should strive to minimise its environmental footprint, but the oil industry faces an additional challenge. It currently produces something like 85% of all the energy humanity needs, and it is expected to continue to produce that energy reliably and affordably through the energy transition. By 2050, even in the most extreme scenarios, the oil industry will have to meet at least 30% of the global energy needs. TriGen offers an attractive solution to the industry that allows the transition to net zero to be profitable and responsible. Our solution builds on the assets and capabilities the industry has today.

    With our solution the oil industry can become part of the solution rather than remain part of the problem.

    Please note, this article will also appear in the seventeenth edition of our quarterly publication.

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  • Making wastewater less acidic could help the ocean capture more carbon

    Making wastewater less acidic could help the ocean capture more carbon

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    Altering wastewater released into the ocean could help store carbon

    stockphoto-graf / Alamy

    Reducing the acidity of the huge volumes of wastewater discharged into the oceans could be a relatively straightforward way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and slow climate change. But early tests have spurred controversy over potential environmental consequences.

    Ming Li at the University of Maryland says about 100 trillion litres of wastewater are discharged into the oceans each year. Chemicals are often added to make it less acidic in order to meet environmental standards before it is discharged…

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  • A container ship just tested a system to capture its own CO2 emissions

    A container ship just tested a system to capture its own CO2 emissions

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    About 3 per cent of all carbon emissions are due to the shipping industry

    GreenOak/Shutterstock

    A 240-metre-long container ship called the Sounion Trader recently completed a test of an onboard carbon capture system as it cruised around the Persian Gulf. It is one of a small but growing number of ships trying to reduce their climate footprint by capturing and storing their carbon dioxide emissions onboard – but finding space for tonnes of CO2 is a challenge.

    “You’re miniaturising a system that was designed for huge power plants,” says Roujia Wen at Seabound, the UK-based start-up behind the Sounion Trader’s test run.

    Shipping is responsible for around 3 per cent of global CO2 emissions. To reduce that, shippers are using cleaner fuels, lubricating hulls with bubbles to improve fuel efficiency and even turning back to sails. But near-term options to reach the industry’s pledge of net-zero emissions by 2050 are limited .

    Another possibility is capturing ships’ emissions and storing them onboard, but it faces major obstacles. One is supplying the energy to recharge the chemical sorbents used to absorb CO2. Tristan Smith at University College London says some existing systems increase fuel use by a third just to catch half of CO2 emissions.

    The systems, and the carbon they capture, also take up room on board that would normally be used for valuable cargo. “Space is an issue,” says Jasper Ros at TNO, a research organisation in the Netherlands. “Especially when you’re talking about long voyages.” Each tonne of combusted fuel forms around 3 tonnes of CO2, says George Mallouppas at the Cyprus Marine & Maritime Institute. When it is captured and stored, the added mass can affect a ship’s stability and reduce its fuel efficiency.

    Wen says Seabound’s small-scale tests captured around a tonne of CO2 per day. That is a small fraction of the ship’s overall emissions, but she says the full-scale system will be able to capture as much as 95 per cent of a ship’s CO2.

    To save energy, Seabound moves part of its process onshore. On the ship, exhaust is looped through a calcium oxide sorbent, which reacts with CO2 to form solid calcium carbonate pebbles. The company then waits to recharge the sorbents until the pebbles are offloaded at port for permanent storage. The trade-off is space. Seabound’s approach means a ship must carry tanks of sorbent along with every tonne of captured CO2. Still, Wen says the company aims to retrofit 1000 ships for carbon capture by 2030.

    A Dutch company called Value Maritime is taking a similar approach, using a liquid amine sorbent to capture CO2 and then recharging it offshore. Yvette van der Sommen at Value Maritime says 26 ships are now using its system alongside existing sulphur pollution-scrubbers to capture up to 40 per cent of CO2 in exhaust, although the process hasn’t yet been certified by a third party. She says the company has sold some captured CO2 to greenhouses to fertilise plants, but much of it remains stored in tanks at ports.

    Such systems could appear attractive to cut emissions now, says Smith. But the rapid scale-up of cleaner shipping fuels may soon make them obsolete – unless they can achieve very high rates of capture at a low enough cost. “Shipping faces a very short time to decarbonise, because it has started so late,” he says.

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  • AI revolutionises metal-organic frameworks for carbon capture

    AI revolutionises metal-organic frameworks for carbon capture

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    Argonne National Laboratory scientists are employing cutting-edge AI techniques to develop novel metal-organic framework (MOF) materials for carbon capture technologies.

    In the quest for environmentally friendly metal-organic frameworks, researchers are turning to innovations such as generative AI, Machine Learning, and high-throughput simulations.

    These AI technologies offer new avenues to identify materials crucial for carbon capture, a vital technology in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes.

    Unlocking the potential of metal-organic frameworks for carbon capture

    Carbon capture remains a critical challenge in combating climate change, with the search for cost-effective materials ongoing.

    Among the promising candidates are metal-organic frameworks, porous materials known for their ability to absorb carbon dioxide selectively. MOFs comprise inorganic nodes, organic nodes, and organic linkers, offering a vast design space for researchers to explore.

    Accelerating materials discovery through AI

    To expedite the discovery process, researchers from the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, along with collaborators from various institutions, are employing multiple pathways.

    These include generative AI to propose novel building block candidates, Machine Learning algorithms, high-throughput screening, and theory-based simulations like molecular dynamics.

    Utilising generative AI, the team rapidly generated over 120,000 new MOF candidates within 30 minutes, a process previously constrained by laborious experimental and computational methods.

    These calculations were conducted on the Polaris supercomputer at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), enabling unprecedented speed and efficiency in MOF design exploration.

    To evaluate the most promising candidates, researchers leveraged the Delta supercomputer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) for time-intensive molecular dynamics simulations.

    These simulations aimed to assess stability, chemical properties, and carbon capture capacity, paving the way for the synthesis of optimal MOF materials.

    The forthcoming Aurora exascale supercomputer at ALCF holds the promise of expanding the scope of MOF exploration, potentially surveying billions of candidates simultaneously. This advanced computing power opens new frontiers for material discovery and innovation.

    Bridging AI and chemistry

    Innovatively, the team drew inspiration from diverse fields such as biophysics, physiology, and physical chemistry to enhance MOF design through AI algorithms.

    By incorporating insights from past experimental datasets, they sought to create metal-organic frameworks with improved carbon capture capabilities.

    Integrating generative AI, high-throughput screening, and molecular dynamics into a unified workflow offers a transformative approach to MOF material discovery.

    By incorporating online learning and refining predictions, researchers aim to continually improve the precision and efficiency of AI-driven MOF design.

    As the global community intensifies efforts to combat climate change, the convergence of AI, Machine Learning, and simulations offers unprecedented opportunities for innovation.

    With the prospect of transformative metal-organic frameworks on the horizon, researchers are poised to make significant strides in addressing the pressing challenges of carbon capture and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

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