Center for Molecular Modeling - J. Huck

Cutting the cost of carbon capture: a case for carbon capture and utilization

lennart — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 12:50:51 +0000

L. Joos, J. Huck, V. Van Speybroeck, B. Smit

Faraday Discussions

192, 391-414

2016

Abstract

A significant part of the cost for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is related to the compression of the captured CO2 to its supercritical state, at 150 bar and typically 99% purity. These stringent conditions may however not always be necessary for specific cases of Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU). In this manuscript, we investigate how much the parasitic energy of an adsorbent-based carbon capture process may be lowered by utilizing CO2 at 1 bar and adapting the final purity requirement for CO2 from 99% to 70% or 50%. We compare different CO2 sources: the flue gases of coal-fired or natural gas-fired power plants and ambient air. We evaluate the carbon capture performance of over 60 nanoporous materials and determine the influence of the initial and final purity on the parasitic energy of the carbon capture process. Moreover, we demonstrate the underlying principles of the parasitic energy minimization in more detail using the commercially available NaX zeolite. Finally, the calculated utilization cost of CO2 is compared with reported prices for CO2 and published costs for CCS.

Open Access version available at UGent repository

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C6FD00031B

Private attachment

c6fd00031b.pdf

Carbon Capture Turned Upside Down: High-Temperature Adsorption & Low-Temperature Desorption (HALD)

lennart — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 13:25:55 +0000

L. Joos, K. Lejaeghere, J. Huck, V. Van Speybroeck, B. Smit

Energy & Environmental Science

8, 2480-2491

2015

Abstract

Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS) could reduce CO2 emissions from large fossil-fuel power plants in the short term, but the high energy penalty of the process hinders its industrial deployment. Moreover, the utility of nanoporous materials, known to be selective for the CO2/N2 separation, is drastically reduced due to the competitive adsorption with H2O. Taking advantage of the power plant's waste heat to perform CCS while at the same time surmounting the negative effect of H2O is therefore an attractive idea. We propose an upside-down approach for CCS in nanoporous materials, High-temperature Adsorption & Low-temperature Desorption (HALD), that exploits the temperature-dependent competitive adsorption of CO2 and H2O. First, we provide a theoretical background for this entropy-driven behavior and demonstrate under what conditions competitive adsorption can be in favor of CO2 at high temperature and in favor of H2O at low temperature. Then, molecular simulations in all-silica MFI provide a proof of concept. The International Zeolite Association database is subsequently screened for potential candidates and finally, the most promising materials are selected using a post-Pareto search algorithm. The proposed post-Pareto approach is able to select the material that shows an optimal combination of multiple criteria, such as CO2/H2O selectivity, CO2/N2 selectivity, CO2 uptake and H2O uptake. As a conclusion, this work provides new perspectives to reduce the energy requirement for CCS and to overcome the competitive adsorption of H2O.

Open Access version available at UGent repository

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5EE01690H

Private attachment

C5EE01690H.pdf

Carbon Capture Turned Upside Down: High-Temperature Adsorption & Low-Temperature Desorption (HALD)

lennart — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 06:19:54 +0000

L. Joos, K. Lejaeghere, J. Huck, V. Van Speybroeck, B. Smit

ISBN/ISSN:

Invited talk

Conference / event / venue

Visit group of Prof. Geoffroy Hautier

Louvain-la-Neuve

Tuesday, 23 June, 2015

Carbon Capture Turned Upside Down with HALD: High-temperature Adsorption & Low-temperature Desorption

lennart — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 08:11:53 +0000

L. Joos, K. Lejaeghere, J. Huck, V. Van Speybroeck, B. Smit

ISBN/ISSN:

Poster

Conference / event / venue

Gordon Research Conference

Easton, MA, USA

Sunday, 31 May, 2015 to Friday, 5 June, 2015

Conference reference

Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage (GRC)