United States Patent Application: 0100098599
As is typical, this United States Patent Application, which, despite it's rather anonymous title, concerns the use of solar energy to recycle Carbon Dioxide, doesn't identify the affiliations of the inventors.
However, web-based sources clearly disclose John Mankins to be the "Manager of Advanced Concepts Studies" at the NASA Headquarters Office of Space Flight; while, Robert Wegeng is a scientist at the USDOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
And, it represents a variance on, we think an advancement of, the NASA CO2-recycling technology which has already been established; as documented in a number of our earlier reports, the most recent one being: NASA Rocket Fuel from CO2 | Research & Development | News; wherein, from an official NASA news release, we find the statement:
"Although Mars is not rich in methane, methane can be manufactured there via the Sabatier process: Mix some carbon dioxide (CO2) with hydrogen (H), then heat the mixture to produce CH4 and H20 -- methane and water. The Martian atmosphere is an abundant source of carbon dioxide, and the relatively small amount of hydrogen required for the process may be ... gathered from Martian ice."
We note that in the CO2-to-Rocket Fuel technology being developed for use on Mars, NASA plans to utilize a small nuclear reactor to provide the needed energy.
We say nuts to nukes, and, herein, NASA seems to say the same thing, by presenting, in partnership with the USDOE, as noted in our opening explanation, a technology wherein Solar energy, in places, like Earth, where it's available in sufficient quantity, can be harnessed to drive the processes of collecting Carbon Dioxide from the environment and converting it into hydrocarbon fuels.
Comment follows excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"US Patent Application 20100098599 - Radiant Energy Thermochemical Processing System
Date: April 22, 2010
Inventors: John Mankins, VA, and Robert Wegeng, WA
The inventions described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the United States Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.
Abstract: Thermochemical processing systems for the production of chemicals using solar or other radiant energy as the heat source for chemical reactions and separations. Radiant energy receivers operating in conjunction with concentrator systems, heat exchangers, chemical reactors and chemical separators. Systems and applications include the concentration of radiant energy in support of ... endothermic chemical reaction followed by downstream reactions and separations so that a chemical fuel is produced. Efforts are made to match concentrator types with need; for example, parabolic trough concentrators may be used to produce steam at low- to moderate-temperatures and parabolic dish concentrators may be used to drive moderate- to high-temperature chemical reactions such as methane reforming, and hybrid concentrators may be used to concentrate radiant energy from multiple energy sources.
Claims: A thermochemical processing system comprising a radiant energy concentrator for providing ... heat to a chemical reactant; a recuperative heat exchanger for preheating of said chemical reactant, and a radiant energy concentrator and receiver for providing moderate-to-high-temperature heat for an endothermic chemical reaction whereby a product of said endothermic chemical reaction is additionally cooled by said recuperative heat exchanger.
The thermochemical processing system ... wherein said radiant energy concentrator and receiver for providing heat for an endothermic chemical reaction further comprisea. a segment that effectively intensifies radiant energy at visible light wavelengths and, a porous segment that effectively intensifies radiant energy at microwave wavelengths.
The thermochemical processing system ... wherein said chemical reactant is selected from the group consisting of: methane, ... water and carbon dioxide.
The thermochemical processing system ... wherein said exothermic chemical reactor is selected from the group consisting of: a water-gas-shift reactor, a Fischer-Tropsch reactor, an alcohol synthesis reactor and an ammonia synthesis reactor.
(We trust that our readers recognize and acknowledge mention of the venerable "Fischer-Tropsch" technology, originally developed early in the last century to convert Coal into liquid hydrocarbons.)
(And) wherein said exothermic chemical reactor provides heat to an endothermic unit operation.
A thermochemical processing system comprising a radiant energy receiver (and) further comprising a catalyst, and, a recuperative heat exchanger where an endothermic chemical reaction is performed in said microchannel reactor and the reaction products are cooled in said recuperative heat exchanger, giving up their heat to the reactants.
(The immediately above confirms many of our earlier reports concerning Coal conversion and Carbon Dioxide recycling technologies, wherein some exothermic chemical reactions in the processing sequence can provide heat energy to help drive other, needed, endothermic reactions.)
The thermochemical processing system ... further comprising a radiant energy concentrator (and) wherein said radiant energy concentrator is selected from the group consisting of: a parabolic dish mirror concentrator, a parabolic segmented-dish concentrator, a point-focus Fresnel lens, a central receiver, and a central receiver with beam-down optics.
These inventions relate to the concentration and conversion of solar and other forms of radiant energy into chemical energy and the production of chemical products using radiant energy.
Background: There is a need for ... systems that can convert radiant energy to chemical energy with high efficiencies. ... However, the production of chemical products typically requires an energy input. Since solar energy is available in (certain places), but in a relatively unconcentrated form, there is a need for the integration of endothermic chemical processors with solar and other radiant energy concentrators to obtain high operating temperatures and high energy efficiencies.
Over the past several hundred years, fossil fuel materials have been the chemical feedstock of choice for many energy conversion systems as well as for the production of useful chemicals. As examples, coal, oil and natural gas are routinely combusted in thermal power plants for the production of electricity; oil is refined for the production of gasoline and other transportation fuels; natural gas is used as a chemical feedstock for the production of hydrogen and other chemicals; and synthesis gas, which can be made from fossil fuels (or non-fossil feedstocks), is a commonly used precursor material for many useful chemical products, including hydrogen, alcohols and other hydrocarbons, and ammonia.
Solar energy, plentiful on Earth ... is a potential alternative energy source for the production of chemicals. However, it is somewhat diffuse and is intermittent. Accordingly, there is a need for energy conversion systems that can compensate for these apparent shortcomings and effectively make use of solar energy for the production of high-energy density chemical fuels and other chemicals.
Plans for the exploration of Mars include the production of propellants and other chemicals using feedstock materials from the Martian atmosphere. For example (there has been described) a propellant production plant that produces .. methane and oxygen to be used as propellant for the return of humans to Earth. The feedstocks for this are carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2).
Methane is ... produced through the use of the exothermic Sabatier Process Reaction.
(The 1912 Nobel-winning Sabatier Process first converts Carbon Dioxide to Methane. Higher hydrocarbons are then produced by "reforming" that Methane, by reacting it with Water, and ... more CO2.)
Thermochemical processing is also relevant for capturing and compressing CO2 from the ... atmosphere. For example, absorption and adsorption methods have been examined. In each case, heat is generated during the sorption process and must ultimately be (disposed of). Also, heat must be added to desorb CO2 from the sorption media. Since the temperatures required for the desorption steps are at most moderate, the efficiency of this system operation is highest if the sorption process is thermally integrated with other thermal process units, such as through the use of heat from a moderate temperature exothermic reaction (e.g., the Sabatier Process Reaction) to provide heat for desorption.
It is ... possible to use radiant energy thermochemical processing to produce hydrocarbons using water and atmospheric carbon dioxide as feedstocks.
For example, hydrogen could be produced using a thermochemical water-splitting process and carbon dioxide can be extracted from the atmosphere using an endothermic sorption process.
A high-temperature, reverse-water-gas shift reaction, receiving solar energy as its heat source, would produce carbon monoxide from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. If an excess of hydrogen is used, higher conversions are obtained and the resulting product (synthesis gas) can then be converted to methanol, Fischer-Tropsch long-chain hydrocarbons, or other useful products."
-------------------
The bulk of the full Disclosure is devoted to highly-technical descriptions of the equipment involved, which are far beyond our scope.
The essence of the thing, though, as thoroughly explained by two respected agencies of the United States Government, is this:
Instead of attempting to victimize and enslave our vital Coal-use industries, through venal exploitations like Cap & Trade taxation and the mandated Big Oil subsidy of Geologic Sequestration for secondary petroleum recovery in leaky old oil wells, we can, instead, use Solar energy to "produce hydrocarbons using water and atmospheric carbon dioxide as feedstocks".