http://www.inl.gov/technicalpublications/Documents/3881532.pdf
In a few earlier reports, including:
USDOE Idaho Lab Recycles More CO2 | Research & Development | News; wherein is discussed:
"Model of High Temperature H2O/CO2 Co-electrolysis; 2007; Idaho National Laboratory"; and:
USDOE Carbon-Neutral Syngas from CO2 and H2O | Research & Development | News; which discloses:
"Title: Carbon Neutral Production of Syngas Via ... Electrolytic Reduction of Steam and CO2; Idaho National Laboratory";
we've documented the work being done by a seemingly-dedicated group of USDOE scientists, at our Idaho National Laboratory, which is focused on the productive and profitable recycling of Carbon Dioxide, regardless of it's source, through a process sometimes referred to as "Syntrolysis"(r), or "Co-Electrolysis", which refers to the simultaneous electrolysis of a mixture of Carbon Dioxide and Water, or Water vapor, together, into the Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide components of hydrocarbon fuel synthesis gas.
Herein, we see that those same Idaho Lab scientists have begun to collect and organize the results of their Carbon Dioxide-recycling research and development efforts; and, based on their findings, they propose how we could, and should, begin collecting our CO2, and converting it into liquid hydrocarbon fuels - in a big way.
Comment follows excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"Parametric Study of Large-Scale Production of Syngas Via High Temperature Co-Electrolysis
Date: November, 2007
Authors: J.E. O'Brien, et. al.
Abstract: A process model has been developed to evaluate the potential performance of a large scale
high-temperature co-electrolysis plant for the production of syngas from steam and carbon dioxide.
The co-electrolysis process allows for direct electrochemical reduction of the steam – carbon dioxide gas mixture, yielding hydrogen and carbon monoxide, or syngas.
The coelectrolysis process ... provides a means of recycling carbon dioxide back into a useful liquid fuel.
High-temperature electrolysis is based on solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology and materials. The zirconia electrolytes used for SOFCs conduct oxygen ions, so they can be used to electrolyze steam (H2O) to hydrogen (H2), and/or carbon dioxide (CO2) to carbon monoxide (CO).
When both steam and carbon dioxide are present simultaneously in the feed stream, the total amounts of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that are produced depend on the electrolysis current. The relative amount of hydrogen produced versus carbon monoxide is determined by the relative amounts of steam ... and carbon dioxide included in the feed stream ... .
Conclusion: An engineering process model has been developed for performance evaluation of a large scale
syngas production plant based on high-temperature co-electrolysis of carbon dioxide and steam.
Based on the results presented in this paper, the process appears to represent a promising technology for efficient production of syngas ... ."
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First, some caveats: This work, unsurprisingly, given the reasons why the Idaho National Lab was built in the first place, insists on the use of nuclear power to provide the needed heat and electrical energy.
Nuts to nukes. We don't need 'em.
Presuming you to have followed our posts thus far, we remind you of other, very similar technologies, proposed and developed by the USDOE's Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, i.e., "Green Freedom"(r); and, by others, including, as seen, for example, in:
More Iceland CO2 + H2O = Diesel Fuel, Methanol & Gasoline | Research & Development | News; and,
Penn State Solar CO2 + H2O = Methane | Research & Development | News;
where all types of environmental energies, including Geothermal and Solar, can be harnessed to provide the needed heat and electrical power to enable the collection of Carbon Dioxide, even from the atmosphere itself, and it's subsequent conversion, along with Water, as per the USDOE's technology herein, in a "large scale ... plant", into a hydrocarbon synthesis gas of variable composition, wherein the "relative amount of hydrogen produced versus carbon monoxide is determined by the relative amounts of steam ... and carbon dioxide included in the feed stream".