Energy Citations Database (ECD) - - Document #920198
Although, when it comes to the very real potentials for the profitable recycling of Carbon Dioxide, we here are partial to more direct, chemical engineering technologies, such as, for basic examples, the Sabatier process, as described, for one instance, in:
NASA Rocket Fuel from CO2 | Research & Development; wherein we're informed, that: "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";
and, "reforming" processes, wherein Carbon Dioxide is reacted with Methane, as formed above by the Sabatier process from Carbon Dioxide itself, as explained, again for just one instance out of many, in:
WV DuPont Patents CO2 + CH4 = Methanol | Research & Development; which makes report of: "United States Patent 3,763,205 - Methanol Process with Recycle; October 2, 1973; Inventor: Ralph Green, Charleston, WV; Assignee: E.I. DuPont; Abstract: Methanol is made by a process that involves feeding natural gas (i,e., Methane), steam ... and ... carbon dioxide to a single bed type reactor";
and, direct CO2 chemical recombination reactions, driven usually by electrical energy, as seen in:
USDOE 1976 Atmospheric CO2 to Methanol | Research & Development; wherein is disclosed: "United States Patent 3,959,094 - Electrolytic Synthesis of Methanol from CO2; 1976; Assignee: The USA; Abstract: A method and system for synthesizing methanol from the CO2 in air using electric power".
We have as well documented that other intriguing CO2-recycling options also exist, as in our reports of:
Kentucky: CO2 to Algae to Fuel | Research & Development; concerning the: "'First Ohio River Valley Algae Symposium'; University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research and Ohio University; Abstract: One approach to controlling CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion involves using algae to capture and utilize CO2 by conversion to biomass. Algae are the fastest growing photosynthesizing organisms on the planet, while also possessing higher oil content per mass than other sources of biomass. Some species contain over 50% oil by weight. This coupling of fast growth rate and high oil content makes algae a potentially ideal source of bio-derived oil"; and:
USDOE Finances Ohio CO2 Recycling | Research & Development; which discloses: "United States Patent Application 20020072109 - Enhanced Practical Photosynthetic CO2 Mitigation; 2002; Inventors: David Bayless, et. al.; (Ohio University). Abstract: An on-site biological sequestration system directly decreases the concentration of carbon-containing compounds in the emissions of fossil generation units. In this process, photosynthetic microbes are attached to a growth surface arranged in a containment chamber that is lit by solar photons. A harvesting system ensures maximum organism growth and rate of CO2 uptake.
Government Interests: The U.S. Government has a paid up license in this invention and the right in limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others on reasonable terms as provided for by the terms of Program Solicitation Number DE-PS26-99FT40613 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy".
As our above report concerning "US Patent Application 20020072109" goes on to demonstrate, as do others similar we've made, the primary intent of growing algae, fed with CO2-laden industrial exhaust gas fumes, is to produce "bio-lipids", or oils, which can be "bio-engineered" to be very similar to, in the first place, Diesel fuel; and, which can efficiently be refined into Gasoline.
Those are the achieved goals of the additional USDOE research we report herein, as documented in our excerpts, with comment appended, from the initial and following links in this dispatch to:
View Document or Access Individual Pages; DOI: 10.2172/920198
"Title: Liquid Fuels from Microalgae
Date: August, 1987
OSTI ID: 920198; Report Number: NREL/TP-231-3202; USDOE Contract Number: AC36-99-GO10337
Authors: Donna Johnson and Sarah Sprague
Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO; USDOE
Abstract: The goal of the DOE/SERI Aquatic Species Program is to develop the technology to produce gasoline and diesel fuels from microalgae.
Microalgae can accumulate large quantities of lipids and can thrive in high-salinity water, which currently has no other use. The best site for success was determined to be the U.S. desert Southwest with applications to other warm areas.
(Note: The determining criteria for the "desert" location appears to have been temperature, since Algae would need to be kept relatively warm to function properly. And, as seen in:
Green Fuels; wherein it's stated, that: Algae growth, because of the excess heat, is "a common problem at power plants and staff use chemicals to control and eliminate algae growth in steam turbines and water systems"; and, in:
New Jersey 1948 CO2 Recycling | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent 2,448,279 - Synthesis of Organic Compounds; 1948; The M. W. Kellogg Company; Abstract: This invention relates to an improved method for hydrogenating carbon oxides to produce hydrocarbons and ... the reaction of hydrogen and carbon oxide is highly exothermic and ... it is necessary to remove the heat of reaction from the reaction zone as it is developed";
both the generation of electricity from Coal and the synthesis of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, from either Coal or Carbon Dioxide, can entail "highly exothermic" reactions and processes which generate excess of heat energy, which heat energy can be recovered and used for other purposes, such as to support the growth of CO2-recycling Algae. The potential certainly exists, in the vicinity of Coal-fired power plants and of Coal conversion plants where hydrocarbon liquids are formed, as in the above process of "USP 2,448,279", by the catalytic condensation of a "hydrogen and carbon oxide" synthesis gas, to recover waste heat and to supply that heat to a facility where such CO2-recycling Algae are cultivated).
A technical and economic analysis, "Fuels from Microalgae," demonstrates that liquid fuels can be produced from mass-cultured microalgae at prices that will be competitive with those of conventional fuels by the
year 2010.
(We will attempt recovery of that report, and, if successful, will bring it to you at a later date. We suspect that, by now, in 2011, with all that has happened in recent years, the "prices" would be more than "competitive with those of conventional fuels", especially if the absolutely wasteful and unnecessary costs of specious exploitations such as Cap & Trade taxation and mandated Geologic Sequestration in leaky old oil wells are factored into the calculations.)
Aggressive research is needed, but the improvements are attainable. Algae are selected for three criteria; tolerance to environmental fluctuations, high growth rates, and high lipid production, From 1982 to 1986, the program collected strains that are twice as tolerant to temperature and salinity fluctuation.. Productivity has been increased ... and lipid content has also been increased from 100% to 200%.
The microalgae can be harvested using polymers at a cost of O..5¢ - 1.5¢ kg- dry weight. New program
activities include the design and construction of an outdoor test facility in New Mexico and research on converting microalgae lipids into liquid fuels.
The worldwide energy shortage and Arab oil embargo of the early 1970s encouraged many nations to look for new sources of oil, electricity, and gas. Resources such as biomass were often viewed as attractive solutions to the energy problem because of their nondepletable, renewable nature. While the first biomass sources considered were readily available, such as wood or corn, it was apparent that new biomass sources should also be developed, including aquatic species.
The emphasis of the DOE-SERI Aquatic Species Program is to develop the technology base for large-scale production of lipid-yielding microalgae and conversion of the lipids into liquid fuels.
This technology has the potential of producing between 150-400 barrels (of) oil (per) acre (per year).
The algae can be grown in large outdoor ponds, using the resources of sunlight, saline water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon dioxide.
The algae can convert these raw materials into proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids.
After a rapid growth phase, the algae are transferred to induction ponds where nutrient limitation is allowed to occur. Under these conditions, many algae stop growth and division and use all their energy to make lipids as storage products to survive. Once the cells have accumulated lipids, they are harvested and the water is recycled back into the growth ponds. The harvested cells then are subjected to an extraction process to remove the lipids.
Analysis of fuel conversion options for microalgae biomass has demonstrated that the promise of microalgae for fuel production is best realized through using conversion processes based on cellular lipids. The two most promising fuel conversion options are transesterification to produce fuels similar to diesel fuels and catalytic conversion to produce gasoline.
Although microalgae lipids represent the premium energy product, the energy trapped in the other biomass constituents can also be used; e.g., the cell residue after lipid extraction can be anaerobically digested for the production of methane and carbon dioxide."
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Which "methane and carbon dioxide", generated from cellular waste, "after lipid extraction" for the production of "diesel fuels" and "gasoline", can then be reacted together, in a process such as that seen in:
Standard Oil 1950 CO2 + CH4 + H2O = Syngas | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 2,522, 468 - Production of Synthesis Gas; 1950; Assignee: Standard Oil Development Company;
Abstract: My invention relates to the production of a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen suitably proportioned for use as a feed-gas in the synthesis of hydrocarbons ... in the gasoline and gas oil range, by reacting a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (produced by) charging a mixture of methane, steam and carbon dioxide to a reforming zone ... and recovering from said zone, a product gas containing ... carbon monoxide and hydrogen";
and be made to form thereby "a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen suitably proportioned for ... the synthesis of ... gasoline".
Or, such cellular waste, which, after extraction of the CO2-derived "premium energy product" of "microalgae lipids", would consist primarily of cellulose, could simply, as suggested, for one example, by our report of:
Mobil Co-Liquefies Coal & CO2-Recycling Wastes | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,089,773 - Liquefaction of Solid Carbonaceous Materials; 1978; Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation;
Abstract: This invention provides an improved process for solubilizing coal (and/or) cellulosic waste ... into a denitrified and desulfurized synthetic crude oil";
be combined with some of our abundant Coal and be co-converted with that Coal, via a process of direct liquefaction, into "synthetic crude oil".
Or, as otherwise suggested, for again just one example, in:
Exxon Co-Gasifies Coal and Carbon-Recycling Biomass | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20100083575 - Co-gasification (of) Hydrocarbon Solids and Biomass; 2010; Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company; Abstract: A process for the co-gasification of carbonaceous solids (coal) and biomass (and) wherein the biomass comprises biological matter selected from wood, plant matter, municipal waste, green waste, byproducts of farming or food processing waste, sewage sludge, black liquor from wood pulp, and algae";
such remains of the CO2-recycling Algae, after the "lipids" had been extracted "to produce fuels similar to diesel fuels and (for) catalytic conversion to produce gasoline", could be converted into a synthesis gas, consisting of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen, and suitable for the Fischer-Tropsch, or related, catalytic condensation into even more liquid hydrocarbon fuels, along with, and in a facility designed to process primarily, some of our abundant Coal.