United States Patent: 4197421
We have previously reported on the carbon conversion work of Meyer Steinberg, at the USDOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, in upstate New York.
Herein, we see that, thirty years ago, our United States Government assigned itself the rights to a US Patent it awarded to Steinberg, for technology that enables the conversion of Carbon Dioxide, as reclaimed from the atmosphere, into Methane, Methanol and Gasoline.
Comment follows excerpts from:
"United States Patent 4,197,421 - Synthetic Carbonaceous Fuels and Feedstocks
Date: April, 1980
Inventor: Meyer Steinberg, NY
Assignee: The United States of America
Abstract: This invention relates to the use of a three compartment electrolytic cell in the production of synthetic carbonaceous fuels and chemical feedstocks such as gasoline, methane and methanol by electrolyzing an aqueous sodium carbonate/bicarbonate solution, obtained from scrubbing atmospheric carbon dioxide with an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution, whereby the hydrogen generated at the cathode and the carbon dioxide liberated in the center compartment are combined thermocatalytically into methanol and gasoline blends. The oxygen generated at the anode is preferably vented into the atmosphere, and the regenerated sodium hydroxide produced at the cathode is reused for scrubbing the CO2 from the atmosphere.
Claims: In the process of producing synthetic fuels and chemical feedstocks such as gasoline, methane and methanol by converting a gaseous mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide to methanol and then gasoline by thermocatalytic means; the improvement which comprises extracting atmospheric carbon dioxide with an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution to form a carbonate solution, electrolyzing said aqueous sodium carbonate/bicarbonate solution in a three compartment electrolytic cell to generate pure hydrogen at the cathode and pure carbon dioxide in the center compartment, and combining said pure hydrogen gas with said pure carbon dioxide gas thermocatalytically to form methanol and gasoline blends. ... wherein oxygen generated at the anode is vented into the atmosphere.
Description: This invention relates to a process for producing synthetic fuels and chemical feedstocks such as gasoline, methane and methanol from gaseous CO2 and H2 by extracting CO2 from the air with a NaOH solution; subjecting the resulting sodium carbonate solution to electrolysis in a three compartment electrolytic cell where hydrogen is formed at the cathode, oxygen at the anode and CO2 is released in the center compartment; and combining the hydrogen and the CO2 thermocatalytically to form gasoline.
Raw synthesis gas containing hydrogen and carbon oxide and/or carbon dioxide useful in the synthesis of methanol, methane, and gasoline are normally obtained from the conversion of coal and other hydrocarbons by a variety of known methods. The resultant synthesis gas contains impurities such as sulfur compounds, nitrogen compounds, particulate matter, etc., which require purification prior to its utilization in gasoline synthesis.
It has now been found that instant invention utilizes the atmosphere as a source of the oxides of carbon (CO and CO2), from which pure CO2 is recovered in a three compartment electrolytic cell together with electrolytic H2 to produce synthetic fuels.
The use of air and water as the starting materials eliminates impurities, and the use of a carbonate electrolytic cell in lieu of the prior art bisulfate cell or sodium chloride cell eliminates corrosion problems and contaminants which would poison the copper catalyst component used in the methanol synthesis. Since the removal and recovery of CO2 in a carbonate electrolytic cell is an isothermal process, no heating is necessary and there is no pressure drop nor a large loss in heat exchange. This system is also adaptable to the production of methane by merely adding one additional mole of hydrogen to the catalytic convertor. The recycling of the sodium hydroxide and the water for reuse in this process eliminates waste and renders this process particularly desirable for economic and efficiency reasons."
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So, even though "synthesis gas containing hydrogen and carbon oxide and/or carbon dioxide useful in the synthesis of methanol, methane, and gasoline are normally obtained from the conversion of coal" on some planet other than the one we're publicly familiar with, recovering Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it into Methane, Methanol and Gasoline is "particularly desirable for economic and efficiency reasons".
Relative, we are led to suppose, to, all at their expense, forcing our Coal-use industries to capture all the Carbon Dioxide from their smokestacks and pipe it to the West Texas oil fields for "Sequestration"; and, relative as well to taxing our productive and vital Coal-use industries out of existence through revenue schemes like Cap&Trade.