Wan Nor Roslam Wan Isahak

Department of Chemical and Process

Engineering, UKM

CO2 CAPTURE, STORAGE

& UTILIZATION-
A Potential Fuel Candidate
STRATEGY TO MITIGATE CO2
• CAPTURE
• STORE
• UTILIZE
 Overview

• Motivation for the development of CCS

technology
– Climate change
– Energy profile and outlook
• Public perception of CCS
• CCS technological overview
• CCS challenges and solutions
 Capture

Not just relevant for fossil fuel systems;

hydrogen production and other renewable
technologies can also produce carbon.

Direct Air Removal vs On-Site Capture

 Direct Air Capture

 Difficult because of the dilute

concentration of carbon dioxide in the air,
especially versus production sites.

 Necessary because filtering out emissions

only slows carbon release, while we have
an overall goal of removing CO2 from the
atmosphere.
 Artificial “Trees”
 Klaus Lackner, Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at the Earth Institute,
Columbia University
 Designed a resin to act as an artificial “leaf”, in
that it will absorb CO2 directly in the presence of
air.
 “Moisture swing absorption”: When dry, CO2 is
absorbed onto the surface, and when moisture is
added it is released.
 Able to absorb 1000 times more CO2 than tree of
equal size, and also would require 100 times less
water.
 Even using energy from the national grid, “trees”
would absorb 5 times as much CO2 as released.
 Global Thermostat

 CO2 sorbent that only requires low-grade

heat
 Can be coupled with power plants to use
waste heat rather than consuming
electricity, and thereby having no effect on
plant efficiency.
 Demonstration plant in Menlo Park,
California, absorbs 700 tons of CO2 per
year.
 On-Site Capture

• Carbon absorbers can be placed into

smokestacks of hydrocarbon burning
plants to filter out the carbon emissions.
• Carbon Dioxide released during natural
gas harvesting can be collected and
pumped into storage as it is released.
 Storage

Reusing CO2 will not reduce its

concentration, need to remove it from the
atmosphere completely by storing it.
 Geological Formations
• Pump CO2 underground into saline
aquifers, porous rock formations, or empty
hydrocarbon deposits.
• Large-scale extraction of geological stores
of hydrocarbons has left plenty of storage
space.
• Can be coupled with hydrocarbon mining
to store CO2 while enhancing yield.
(nearly depleted oil fields, un-minable coal
deposits)
 Ocean
• According to some estimates, the ocean has already
naturally absorbed 40% of our carbon emissions.

• CO2 gas can be directly injected into the ocean at 1-3 km

deep, where it will dissolve into the water as it rises.

• If it is deposited even further, the pressure will liquefy it and,

being denser than water, the CO2 will remain submerged at
the ocean floor.

• Can also be chemically stored in an aqueous solution of

calcium bicarbonate.

• Increased CO2 concentration in ocean would likely lead to

increased release of CO2.
 Chemical Compounds
• CO2 is reacted with metal oxides to form
carbonates
• Is a naturally occurring process that forms
stable compounds without risk of re-
release of CO2
• To be effective, the reactions need to be
sped up with heat/pressure at the cost of
energy.
• Pilot project in Newcastle, Australia
Muir Glacier, August, 1941
Muir Glacier, August, 2004
 Why we need CCS
US Energy Profile

Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions

from Electricity in 2007
Total = 10,539Mt Fuel Other
oil 1% H2
NG 9%
Global CO2 PS Emissions 2007
14%
Total = 13,375Mt
Steel Petro.
Cement 5% Chem.
Refinerie 7% 3% Coal
s 76% (60% of total)
6%

NG Sweet
Power
79%
 Why we need CCS
Energy Outlook

210
Oil
180
150
Quad. BTU

Coal NG
120
90
Nuclear
60
30 Renewables
0
1990 2000 2010 2020 2030
Year
Source: EIA, International Energy Outlook, 2006
 Why we need CCS
Emissions Mitigation Potential

Source: IPCC Special Report on Carbon Capture and Sequestration

 CCS Overview

 Capture
 Power plants
 NG treatment
800GW Coal /
 Oil refineries
 Transportation
1600GW NG 1Gt
 Pipelines
 Ships
CO2 / 1BSCFD
 Sequestration
 Geological formations (underground)
 Ocean
 What is the scale of this project?
 Carbon Capture Options
Technologies Overview

 Systems
 Post-combustion
 Pre-combustion
 Oxy-fuel
 Industrial processes (e.g. NG sweetening)

 Separation technologies
 Solvents – aqueous amines and salts
 Membranes – polymeric
 Solid sorbents – Lime, zeolite, activated carbon
 Cryogenic processes – Liquefaction/distillation
 Carbon Capture Options
Post-Combustion

Clean gas CO2

Flue gas

ABS H STRP
X

Recirculating
(amine) solvent

Source: http://www.co2crc.com.au/
 Absorption / Stripping
Technical Diagram

Clean gas CO2

Flue gas

ABS STRP
40°C HX 120°C

ENERGY

Recirculating
(amine) solvent
 Absorption / Stripping
Process Details

• CO2 + OH-C2H4-NH2 + B 
OH-C2H4-NH-CO2 + BH + Heat
• Absorption of CO2 by MEA at 40°C
• MEA recovery by desorption at 120°C
• Reboiler provides heat to desorber in the
form of steam from the boiler, reducing
plant output and efficiency
• Optimize loading, operating temperature,
minimize solvent losses
 Absorption / Stripping
Technical Challenges and Solutions

• Formation of heat stable salts 

precipitation to produce fertilizer
• Corrosion of equipment by amine solvent
 addition of Cu2+ or Va4+ to solution
• Degradation of solvent  addition of EDTA
or other inhibitor to solution
• Energy use  solvent storage / cycling;
use of salts, high pressure processes, new
solvents
 Carbon Capture Options
Oxy-Fuel Process

Source: http://www.co2crc.com.au/
 Carbon Capture Options
Pre-Combustion

Source: http://www.co2crc.com.au/
 Carbon Transport

• 2500km of pipeline / 50Mtyr-1 in western

US TODAY
• Use of existing infrastructure – require dry,
sweet gas to prevent corrosion
• Challenges are manageable, similar to
transport of hydrocarbons
 Carbon Sequestration

• Big picture – Storage in oil reservoirs

(depleted and EOR), natural formations,
ocean storage
• Will it leak? Not likely – models suggest
99% containment
• Existing reservoir data can be used to
estimate storage potential and address
(water) concerns
• No groundwater contamination (salt?)
 Reuse

If we have such an excess of carbon

dioxide, it is efficient to make use of it.
 USES OF CARBON DIOXIDE

ESTIMATED EMISSIONS
REDUCTION
Gt CO2/y 1

2°, 3° Generation
0.4*
biofuel
1.6*
Building Material
*
Chemical Feedstocks
0.3
and Intermediates
EOR 1.4
3,7
TOTAL
***

http://extsearch1.netl.doe.gov

1. DNV position paper 7-2011, * 5% liquid fuel replacement 50% CO2 saving, ** 10 % global building material demand,
*** 10 % total annual current emission
 CCU And RESOURCES REQUIREMENT

DNV position paper 7-2011

PROS: Revenues from captured CO2

CONS: Rather new compared to CCS, CO2 scarcely reactive, energy requirements to be
determined
 DIRECT USE OF SOLAR RADIATION

DIFFUSE CO2 SOURCES E

N
Traffic, Residential, SME
E
R
TERRESTRIAL, G
PHOTOSYNTHESYS AQUATIC PLANT Y
and MACROALGAE
Cellulose, Hemicellulose, Lignin &

TRANSPORTATION C
MICROALGAE
DISTRIBUTION H
Lipids, Carbohydrates, Protein
E
M
CO2
I
CAPTURE C
A
L
S
LARGE CO2 STATIONARY
SOURCES
PG, Oil and Heavy Industry
 Conversion to Fuels

 Combine with Hydrogen to form

Hydrocarbon fuels
 Use renewable sources to supply the
energy for the processes
 Doesn't reduce CO2, but slows rate of
increase by reusing before release into
atmosphere
World Largest CO2 to MeOH
Plant

• Start early 2012

• 5.5 thousand tones of CO2
yearly from geothermal plant
• 5 Million L of MeOH yearly
 Sandia Nat'l Lab “Sunshine to Petrol”

• Project to convert CO2 back into useful

fuel.
• Uses concentrated solar energy to turn
CO2 into oxygen and carbon monoxide,
which can then be mixed
with hydrogen to produce
syngas.
2CO2  2CO  O2
2 H 2O  2 H 2  O2
CO2 in Compressed Air Energy Storage

• Earth Sciences Division, Berkeley Lab

• Use CO2 as a cushion gas for CAES systems.

• Normal air remains the working gas, but the large

increase in density of CO2 at supercritical
pressures makes it a useful cushion gas.

• Both uses and sequesters CO2

 Plant Growth

 CO2 can supplement nearby

greenhouses, increasing growth by as
much as 30%.
 Provides a needed resource for algae
growth.
 Government Regulation
• Energy companies in most of the world currently
have no motivation to introduce clean
technologies other than ethics.
• Businesses cannot be trusted to sacrifice profits
because of moral obligations, for the most part
they will only respond to economic motivation.
• Since they will not feel the environmental cost,
they must be made to feel an economic cost for
the carbon emissions they release into the
atmosphere.
• Rather than the government being the only one finding
solutions to carbon pollution, adding carbon taxes would
motivate energy companies to invest in innovations in clean
technology.
• Renewable technologies will gain favorability, and carbon
pollution will finally be regarded as unacceptable.
• Utilities need to be regulated to ensure pricing remains fair.
• Otherwise companies will be able to defer the cost to their
customers, making it so low-income groups are affected the
most.
• Revenue collected must also be purposed for clean energy to
ensure that progress is made.
• Pollution is a global problem, and so it cannot be left
to one region to bear the responsibility. There must
be International cooperation in regulating the release
of carbon and providing motivation for clean energy.

• International consensus will prevent companies from

being able to relocate to avoid restriction, causing
those areas which do regulate emissions to lose
business.
 Conclusion
• Introduction of carbon recycling and
sequestration systems is not meant to shift
focus from renewable energy technologies.
• The current need for hydrocarbon fuels is a
fact, so we need to make them viable rather
than only focus on replacing them.
• Hydrocarbon energy plants that release large
amounts of CO2 need to be labeled as
unacceptable; the only way to guarantee this
is with economic incentives.
 Sources
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storage

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/08/110811-turning-carbon-
emissions-into-fuel/

• http://energy.sandia.gov/

• http://earthsciences.typepad.com/blog/2011/01/co2-as-cushion-gas-for-
compressed-air-energy-storage-caes.html

• https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mragheb/www/NPRE%20498ES%20Energy%20Storage%2
0Systems/Carbon%20Capture%20and%20Storage.pdf

• http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11638-climate-myths-human-co2-emissions-
are-too-tiny-to-matter.html