United States Patent: 8246731
In a fairly recent dispatch, as accessible via:
West Virginia Coal Association | US Navy and Columbia University Recycle Atmospheric CO2 | Research & Development;
we made report of both:
"United States Patent 7,420,004 - Process and System for Producing Synthetic Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels; 2008; Assignee: The USA as Represented by the Secretary of the Navy; Abstract: A process for producing synthetic hydrocarbons that reacts carbon dioxide, obtained from seawater or air, and hydrogen obtained from water, with a catalyst in a chemical process such as reverse water gas shift combined with Fischer Tropsch synthesis. The hydrogen is produced by ... ocean thermal energy conversion, or any other source that is fossil fuel-free, such as wind or wave energy. The system ... wherein the hydrocarbons (produced) are liquid hydrocarbons";
and:
"United States Patent 7,833,328 - Scrubber for Capturing Carbon Dioxide from Air; 2010; Inventors: Klaus Lackner, NY, and Dennis Wright, AZ; Assignee: Columbia University, NYC; Abstract: The present invention is directed to methods for carbon dioxide from air, which comprises exposing solvent covered surfaces to air streams where the airflow is kept laminar, or close to the laminar regime. The invention also provides for an apparatus, which is a laminar scrubber, comprising solvent covered surfaces situated such that they can be exposed to air streams such that the airflow is kept laminar. The present invention is directed to methods for removing carbon dioxide from air".
Since, as demonstrated by our United States Navy in their Disclosure of "United States Patent 7,420,004", Carbon Dioxide is a valuable raw material resource from which we can, using environmental sources of energy to drive the processes, synthesize "Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels", we wanted herein to reaffirm the reality and practicality of the technology that has been, and is being, developed at Columbia University, as in their "US Patent 7,833,328 - Scrubber for Capturing Carbon Dioxide from Air", for harvesting freely-available CO2 from the environment around us on a practical basis, and thus making it available for use and consumption in processes like that disclosed by the US Navy's "United States Patent 7,420,004 - Process and System for Producing Synthetic Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels".
First, quite recently, Columbia University scientists were awarded yet another United States Patent on such Carbon Dioxide-reaping technology, as seen in excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"United States Patent 8,246,731 - Systems and Methods for Extraction of Carbon Dioxide from Air
Systems and methods for extraction of carbon dioxide from air - The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Date: August 21, 2012
Inventors: Klaus Lackner and Frank Zeman, NY
(Note that, in addition to Klaus Lackner, we have also previously cited Columbia's Frank Zeman in the context of Carbon Dioxide capture, for one example in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | CO2 Capture from Ambien Air - Columbia University | Research & Development; "Energy and Material Balance of CO2 Capture from Ambient Air; 2007; Frank Zeman; Columbia University, Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, New York, New York. Current Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies focus on large, stationary sources that produce approximately 50% of global CO2 emissions. We propose an industrial technology that captures CO2 directly from ambient air to target the remaining emissions".)
Assignee: The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Abstract: The present invention describes methods and systems for extracting, capturing, reducing, storing, sequestering, or disposing of carbon dioxide (CO2), particularly from the air. The CO2 extraction methods and systems involve the use of chemical processes. Methods are also described for extracting and/or capturing CO2 via exposing air containing carbon dioxide to - - a basic solution which absorbs carbon dioxide and produces a carbonate solution. The solution is causticized and the temperature is increased to release carbon dioxide, followed by hydration of solid components to regenerate the base.
Claims: A system for extracting or capturing carbon dioxide from atmospheric air, comprising: adjacent towers each including a front portion, side portions joined with said front portion and extending to end edges, and an open back portion defined between said end edges, said tower portions including front surfaces and back surfaces, said towers positioned so as to define a narrowed passage therebetween; a wet scrubbing mechanism positioned within each open back portion between said end edges, said wet scrubbing mechanism introducing a basic solution to absorb at least a portion of an amount of carbon dioxide contained in atmospheric air flowing through each open back portion thereby forming a carbonate solution; a filter positioned on said back surfaces; adjustable openings defined in side portions of said towers that are adjacent to said narrowed passage, said openings providing a conduit between said front and back surfaces via said filter; a treatment module including a supply of reagent in communication with said carbonate solution for causticizing said carbonate solution; and a regeneration module for hydrating solid components remaining after said treatment module to regenerate a base material included in said basic solution.
The system ... wherein said narrowed passage is configured to cause atmospheric flowing therein to reduce in pressure thereby drawing atmospheric air located in said open back portion and having a higher pressure through said filter and into said narrowed passage (and) wherein said adjustable openings are defined by shutters or baffles.
The system ... further comprising a supply of basic solution in fluid connection with said wet scrubbing mechanism (and) wherein the base material included in said basic solution is selected from sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide.
The system ... wherein the base material is sodium hydroxide (and) wherein the carbonate solution is a sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) solution.
The system ... wherein said treatment module further comprises a heat source for heating or calcining said carbonate solution.
Summary: It is a general aspect of the present invention to provide new methods or processes for extracting, reducing, capturing, disposing of, sequestering, or storing CO2 or removing excess CO2 from the air, as well as new methods and processes for reducing, alleviating, or eliminating CO2 in the air, and/or the emissions of CO2 to the air. Another aspect of the invention relates to apparatuses, such as wind or air capture systems, to remove or extract CO2 from air. As used herein, the term "air" refers to ambient air, rather than emitted gas, such as gas that is emitted from a smoke stack or an exhaust pipe. While the latter may contain air, it is not typically considered ambient air. In accordance with the present invention, extraction of CO2 from air involves source gas, which is at atmospheric temperature, pressure and ambient concentration of CO2.
One approach of managing atmospheric emissions is through a chemical process known as air extraction, by which CO2 is removed directly from the atmosphere. This can be accomplished using wet scrubbing techniques to extract CO2 from air then return the CO2 to a gaseous form after several chemical transformations. The wet scrubbing is accomplished by contacting a sodium hydroxide solution with the atmosphere. The chemical absorption of CO2 produces a solution of sodium carbonate, which is then causticized using calcium hydroxide. The causticization process transfers the carbonate ion from the sodium to the calcium cation and from the liquid to solid state. The product of this reaction is an emulsion of precipitated calcite (calcium carbonate) in a regenerated sodium hydroxide solution. In order to perform the thermal decomposition of calcite (calcination), it is necessary to filter and dry the calcite. It is not necessary to dewater the calcite completely as some steam is required for the subsequent regeneration of calcium hydroxide. The product of calcination is gaseous CO2 and calcium oxide (solid lime). Hydrating the calcium oxide to regenerate the calcium hydroxide completes the cycle.
The present invention is generally directed to methods and components that can be utilized to design a plant comprising a self-contained system for extraction of CO2 directly from air using wet scrubbing techniques.
In (one) embodiment, the present invention relates to methods of transitioning from today's energy system comprising unsequestered CO2 resulting from the use of fossil fuels to the capture and disposal of CO2, and ultimately, to renewable energy with recycling of CO2.
In this embodiment, CO2 can be removed from the air, but rather than disposing of the removed CO2, it is used as a feedstock for making new fuel.
The energy for the fuel derives from a renewable energy source or any other suitable source of energy that does not involve fossil fuels, such as hydroelectricity, nuclear energy. For example ... carbon can be recycled as an energy carrier. Hydrocarbon, i.e., reduced carbon, contains energy that is removed by the consumer by oxidizing the carbon and the hydrogen, resulting in CO2 and water. The capture of CO2 from air allows the CO2 to be recovered; thereafter, renewable energy can be used to convert the CO2 (and water) back into a new hydrocarbon. The production of hydrocarbon can include a number of processes. Illustratively, Fischer Tropsch reactions are conventionally used to convert carbon monoxide and hydrogen to liquid fuels, such as diesel and gasoline ... . Similar methods using CO2 and hydrogen are also established. Hydrocarbon can be produced from CO2 and hydrogen. Hydrocarbon production typically involves the use of energy, e.g., electric energy, to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen, or CO2 into CO and oxygen. Thereafter, fuels such as methanol, diesel, gasoline, dimethyl-ether (DME), etc. can be made."
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Don't be too distracted by the terminology. For instance, "causticization" just means they're reacting the soluble "sodium carbonate" - - obtained by scrubbing atmospheric air with "sodium hydroxide", NaOH, plain old lye, solution, in which process the lye reacts with CO2 to form the Sodium Carbonate, a one-time common household chemical known as "washing soda" - - with Calcium Hydroxide, which is formed by reacting Water with Calcium Oxide, CaO, which is a basic component of Portland Cement; and, which, in a cement kiln, is made by calcining limestone, essentially Calcium Carbonate, which is what is formed when the Sodium Carbonate, made by reacting Sodium Hydroxide with atmospheric CO2, is reacted with Calcium Hydroxide, which is made by reacting the Calcium Oxide with Water.
It is a cyclic process that really, in essence, needs only heat energy to drive it; and, in fact, description of it discloses more fully the chemical process that can be employed in the apparatus disclosed by Lackner and Wright in the above-cited "United States Patent 7,833,328 - Scrubber for Capturing Carbon Dioxide from Air".
And, again, the ultimate goal of it all, as they specify, is to collect atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and then "to convert the CO2 (and water) back into a new hydrocarbon".
The "water", again, is just the specified source of Hydrogen; as might efficiently be extracted from the H2O via a process like that seen, for only one example, in:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Efficient Hydrogen from Water | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,180,555 - Producing Hydrogen from Water Using Cobalt and Barium Compounds; December 25, 1979; Assignee: The United States of America; Abstract: A thermochemical process for producing hydrogen comprises the step of reacting CoO with BaO or Ba(OH)2 in the presence of steam to produce H2 and novel double oxides of Ba and Co having the empirical formulas BaCoO2.33 and Ba2CoO3.33. The double oxide can be reacted with H2O to form Co3O4 and Ba(OH)2 which can be recycled to the original reaction. The Co3O4 is converted to CoO by either of two procedures. In one embodiment Co3O4 is heated, preferably in steam, to form CoO".
We chose that example since it, like the process of our initial subject, "US Patent 8,246,731 - Systems and Methods for Extraction of Carbon Dioxide from Air", aside from a little wind to bring in the CO2, and a little electricity to drive some of the moving parts, relies primarily on a supply of heat, from one source or another, to make it all happen.
In any case, the recent "United States Patent 8,246,731 - Systems and Methods for Extraction of Carbon Dioxide from Air" was actually preceded by two complementary technologies developed by Lackner and friends, in addition to the above-cited "United States Patent 7,833,328 - Scrubber for Capturing Carbon Dioxide from Air". One, as disclosed in:
"United States Patent: 7947239 - Carbon Dioxide Capture and Mitigation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Carbon dioxide capture and mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions - The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Date: May, 2011
Inventors: Klaus Lackner, et. al., NY
Assignee: The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Abstract: The present invention describes methods and systems for extracting, capturing, reducing, storing, sequestering, or disposing of carbon dioxide (CO2), particularly from the air. The CO2 extraction methods and systems involve the use of chemical processes, mineral sequestration, and solid and liquid sorbents. Methods are also described for extracting and/or capturing CO2 via condensation on solid surfaces at low temperature.
Summary: It is a general aspect of the present invention to provide new methods or processes for extracting, reducing, capturing, disposing of, sequestering, or storing CO2 or removing excess CO2 from the air, as well as new methods and processes for reducing, alleviating, or eliminating CO2 in the air, and/or the emissions of CO2 to the air. Another aspect of the invention relates to apparatuses, such as wind or air capture systems, to remove or extract CO2 from air. As used herein, the term "air" refers to ambient air, rather than emitted gas, such as gas that is emitted from a smoke stack or an exhaust pipe. While the latter may contain air, it is not typically considered ambient air. In accordance with the present invention, extraction of CO2 from air involves source gas, which is at atmospheric temperature, pressure and ambient concentration of CO2";
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employs a slightly different chemical approach, but it still enables, and is focused on, the extraction of Carbon Dioxide from "ambient air", as opposed to the "gas that is emitted from a smoke stack"; and, it thus promotes siting a facility operating the process of CO2 capture wherever a locally abundant source of environmental energy might be available to power it.
And, those themes were actually established in a US Patent issued in the same year as Lackner's and Wright's "United States Patent 7,833,328 - Scrubber for Capturing Carbon Dioxide from Air", about which we reported in the context of one of the US Navy's technologies for converting CO2 into liquid hydrocarbon fuels:
"United States Patent: 7699909 - Systems and Methods for Extraction of Carbon Dioxide from Air
Systems and methods for extraction of carbon dioxide from air - The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Date: April, 2010
Inventors: Klaus Lackner and Frank Zeman, NY
Assignee: The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Abstract: The present invention describes methods and systems for extracting, capturing, reducing, storing, sequestering, or disposing of carbon dioxide (CO2), particularly from the air. The CO2 extraction methods and systems involve the use of chemical processes. Methods are also described for extracting and/or capturing CO2 via exposing air containing carbon dioxide to a solution comprising a base--resulting in a basic solution which absorbs carbon dioxide and produces a carbonate solution. The solution is causticized and the temperature is increased to release carbon dioxide, followed by hydration of solid components to regenerate the base.
Claims: A method for extracting or capturing carbon dioxide from air, comprising:
(a) exposing air containing carbon dioxide to a solution comprising a base; resulting in a basic solution which absorbs carbon dioxide and produces a carbonate solution;
(b) causticizing the carbonate solution with a titanate containing reagent;
(c) increasing the temperature of the solution generated in step (b) to release carbon dioxide; and:
(d) hydrating solid components remaining from step (c) to regenerate the base comprising step (a).
The method ... wherein the base is sodium hydroxide.
Summary: It is a general aspect of the present invention to provide new methods or processes for extracting, reducing, capturing, disposing of, sequestering, or storing CO2 or removing excess CO2 from the air, as well as new methods and processes for reducing, alleviating, or eliminating CO2 in the air, and/or the emissions of CO2 to the air. Another aspect of the invention relates to apparatuses, such as wind or air capture systems, to remove or extract CO2 from air."
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It seems pretty clear that an effective suite of technologies has been established by Klaus Lackner and his colleagues, primarily at Columbia University, which, taken in total, would enable the efficient extraction of Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere itself, wherever a confluence of factors would provide both a steady flow of wind bearing the CO2 and a source of environmental energy to, as in another US Navy technology seen in:
US Navy Awarded September, 2011, CO2 Recycling Patent | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 8,017,658 - Synthesis of Hydrocarbons via Catalytic Reduction of CO2; 2011; Assignee: The USA as represented by the Secretary of the Navy; Abstract: A method of: introducing hydrogen and a feed gas containing at least 50 % carbon dioxide into a reactor containing a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst; and heating the hydrogen and carbon dioxide to a temperature of at least about 190C. to produce hydrocarbons";
synthesize even more hydrocarbon fuels. Or, the reclaimed Carbon Dioxide could be directed into a process like that seen in our report of:
Shell Oil Coal + CO2 + H2O = Hydrocarbon Syngas | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,829,601 - Partial Oxidation Process of a Solid Carbonaceous Feed; 2010; Assignee: Shell Oil Company, Texas; Abstract: The invention is directed to a process for preparing a mixture comprising CO and H2 by operating a partial oxidation process of a solid carbonaceous feed, which process comprises the steps of: (Supplying) the solid carbonaceous feed and an oxygen-containing stream to a burner, wherein a CO2 containing transport gas is used to transport the solid carbonaceous feed to the burner; (And) partially oxidizing the carbonaceous feed in the burner wherein a gaseous stream comprising CO and H2 is being discharged from said burner into a reaction zone, wherein (monitoring) is performed by a computerized system, which system compares the steam flow rate as measured with an optimal steam production valid for the actual synthesis gas production (so that adjustments in feed ratios can be made to effect) the optimal production of CO and H2 (which) is further purified and subjected to a methanol synthesis reaction to obtain methanol; to a dimethyl ether synthesis reaction to obtain dimethyl ether; or to a Fischer-Tropsch reaction to obtain various hydrocarbons";
in which Shell Oil does, in the full Disclosure, specify the "solid carbonaceous feed" to be Coal, and therein be converted, with the Coal, via an initial generation of "a gaseous stream comprising CO and H2", into "methanol", the substitute Diesel fuel "dimethyl ether", and/or "various hydrocarbons".
In sum: Carbon Dioxide, as it arises in only a very small way, relative to natural sources of emission, such as volcanoes, from our economically essential use of Coal in the generation of truly affordable and abundant electrical power, is a valuable raw material resource.
We can, according to Columbia University herein, reclaim CO2 efficiently from the atmosphere itself; and, then, through various means and technologies established both by representatives of the petroleum industry and by components of the United States Government itself, convert that reclaimed Carbon Dioxide into, as Columbia University specifies in their Disclosure of "United States Patent 8,246,731", "fuels such as methanol, diesel, gasoline, (and) dimethyl-ether (DME)".
