"ACS Meeting Symposium Focuses on Conversion and Utilization of CO2 for Fuels and Chemicals
16 August 2009
Researchers at the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) led off a day-long symposium on advances in CO2 conversion and utilization being held at the 238th American Chemical Society (ACS) national meeting, which began today in Washington, DC. The NRL researchers presented their progress in hydrogenating CO2 to jet fuel via a two-stage, high-yield and highly selective synthesis process."
("Hydrogenating CO2 to ... fuel". Remember, Sabatier won the Nobel Prize for demonstrating the feasibility of this technology almost one hundred years ago. And, we're still trying to tax our coal industries out of existence for generating this valuable raw material as a by-product.)
"Robert Dorner and his colleagues are looking at converting CO2 and hydrogen (both won from sea-water) over catalysts, using the CO2 as a building block to form synthetic fuel. This reaction is energetically not favored and thus a catalyst is needed, which will lower the energy barrier of the reaction and increase the rate at which it occurs. The energy utilized to convert CO2 and hydrogen is also harvested from the ocean, by taking advantage of the temperature gradient of the water with increasing depth, making the fuel CO2-neutral.
'CO2 conversion to hydrocarbons over catalysts has been known for several decades but has been shown very little research and development attention, as other technologies have been much cheaper and efficient in yielding cheap oil. However, with the increasing awareness of the impact CO2 has on the environment more and more attention is being directed at how to mitigate the effects CO2 has as a greenhouse gas. Most research to date however is focusing on the sequestration of CO2 in underground reservoirs.
Our research proposes the utilization of CO2 into fuel, recycling the gas and using it as a raw material rather than a waste product. In light of dwindling oil resources and the looming presence of peak oil, alternative fuels that are environmentally friendly and enhance energy security are of mounting importance. Our research is aiming at increasing productivity and selectivity of the desired products formed; thus reducing unwanted side-products and lowering costs, making this technology more economically feasible.'
—Robert Dorner"
("Our research proposes the utilization of CO2 into fuel, recycling the gas and using it as a raw material rather than a waste product." - We know it can be done. NASA is doing it now - using Sabatier's century-old technology.)
"The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. The NRL work was followed by a presentation of work being done at the University of Liverpool (UK) on the electrochemical reduction of CO2, focused on surface structures of copper electrodes and the role of solution-based copper species for their catalytic effect on the reaction.
'The scientific community has known for several decades the ability of certain metals, particularly copper, to convert carbon dioxide into small organic molecules by using electricity as an energy source. This conversion of carbon dioxide occurs only at the interface between the metal surface and carbon dioxide gas. Studying such interfaces is challenging and presents novel research opportunities because the region where the chemistry occurs is of only nanometer dimensions, and therefore identifying specific reactions is like searching for a needle in a very large haystack.
Our work is unique in that we are creating highly controlled reaction environments and using advanced spectroscopic techniques that could, in the needle-in-haystack analogy, provide us an extremely powerful metal detector. This provides an excellent opportunity to study exactly how carbon dioxide transforms into useful, carbon-based, products.'
—Scott Shaw
The University of Liverpool work received support from the European Union ELCAT (Electrocatalytic gas-phase conversion of CO2 in confined catalysts) project.
Other papers presented in the symposium included:
Methane-carbon dioxide reforming over Ni/CaO-ZrO2 catalyst.2 Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are investigating the carbon dioxide reforming of methane over an Ni/CaO-ZrO catalyst derived from co-precipitation method. The catalyst shows both high catalytic activity and stability at the methane and carbon dioxide ratio of 1:1. The characterization confirms that the nano-porous framework of as-prepared support together with the Ni-support interaction enhances the dispersion of Ni, and then promotes the resistance to sintering under reaction condition. As a result, carbon deposition is prevented, which is important for the catalyst stability. (We'll suppose them to be "reforming" methane, with CO2, to produce methanol and other higher hydrocarbons, as we've documented to be feasible.)
Ni-based nanocomposite catalysts for energy-saving syngas and hydrogen production from CH4/CO2 and CH4/CO2/H2O.2, MgO and Al2O3) catalysts as nanocomposites consisting of comparably sized metallic Ni nanocrystals and nanoparticles of “support” oxides. Compared with the conventional oxide-supported Ni catalysts, the nanocomposite catalysts are found extremely stable in catalyzing the methane reforming reactions using stoichiometric CO2 and methane as well as steam (H2O) and methane. (Keep in mind that "Syngas", as above, can also be generated from coal. And, the use of CO2 to both make methane (CH4), and then to "reform" it, into the syngas precursor of liquid fuels, has also been previously documented.) Researchers from Tsinghua University (China) are investigating energy-saving catalysts for natural gas conversion. They developed nanostructured Ni-oxide (oxide = ZrO
Photoreduction of CO2 to CO in the presence of H2 over various basic metal oxide photocatalysts. Researchers at Kyoto University (Japan) are exploring the chemical fixation of CO2 in the presence of a heterogeneous photocatalyst as a method for converting it into other carbon sources such as carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO), formic acid (HCOOH), methanol (CH3OH), and methane (CH4). (The Japanese researchers, and others, are, as we've documented, developing an artificial and industrial-scale photosynthetic process.)
Synthesis and characterization of ferrite materials for thermochemical CO2 splitting using concentrated solar energy. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are investigating the use of concentrated solar power to convert carbon dioxide and water to precursors for liquid hydrocarbon fuels (Sunshine to Petrol) using concentrated solar power. (We have previously documented for you this work at Sandia.)
Conversion of CO2 into methanol in a novel two-stage catalyst bed concept. Researchers from Shiraz University (Iran) are investigating a two-stage catalyst bed concept for conversion of CO2 to methanol. (Well, we really want an OPEC power to be getting the jump on us with this, don't we? Remember, once we have methanol, we can convert it to gasoline, as per Exxon-Mobil and their "MTG"(r) process, et. al.)
A number of other papers presented during the symposium focused on novel methods for carbon dioxide capture or adsorption of CO2 on a catalyst as a key step of the catalytic conversion of CO2 to liquid fuels."
The final phrase sums up the entire focus: "the catalytic conversion of CO2 to liquid fuels". And, the title of the conference should provide a catch phrase for all of us: Convert and utilize CO2.
Don't tax the producers of CO2 out of existence through Cap & Trade shell games; and, don't waste CO2 by pumping it all down geologic sequestration rat holes. Carbon Dioxide is a valuable by-product of our coal use, whether we employ our coal to generate electricity or, as we should, convert our coal into the liquid fuels and chemical manufacturing raw materials we desperately need.