United States Patent Application: 0130001072
Hope y'all can bear with us for awhile. The flu has had us low here for a few weeks and we know our reports have been few and far between, and our compositions awkward, at best. We hope that everything will soon improve; we'll do our best, but we'll have to keep things simple.
First, we remind you of an earlier report, as accessible via:
West Virginia Coal Association | Washington, DC, Recycles CO2 | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20100200418 - Electrosynthesis of Energetic Molecules; 2010; Inventor: Stuart Licht, Virginia; Assignee: The George Washington University, Washington, DC; A process for the production of energetically rich compounds comprising:using externally supplied thermal energy to heat an electrolyzable compound to a temperature greater than the ambient temperature; generating electricity from a solar electrical photovoltaic component; (and) subjecting the heated electrolyzable compound to electrolysis with the solar generated electricity to generate an energetically rich electrolytic product. (And) wherein the electrolyzable compound comprises carbon dioxide. (And) wherein the externally supplied thermal energy comprises solar energy. (And/or) wherein the externally supplied thermal energy comprises thermal energy from exhaust gasses. (And) wherein the energetically rich electrolytic product includes carbon compounds with energy greater than carbon dioxide. (And) wherein the energetically rich electrolytic product comprises carbon monoxide, and the process further comprises combining the carbon monoxide with hydrogen to form alcohols ...";
wherein George Washington University scientist Stuart Licht discloses a process whereby Solar energy can first be used to heat Carbon Dioxide, which reduces the electrical energy then needed to electrolyze CO2 into Carbon Monoxide, CO, as the primary product; although combination of the CO with electrolytic Hydrogen is suggested for the further synthesis of alcohols and hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals.
We thought we had touched on the issue in one or two previous reports; but, can't now track them down to demonstrate the fact; but: The technology represented by the above-cited "United States Patent Application 20100200418" is one component of a process for the productive recycling of Carbon Dioxide, known by the acronym "STEP", which is being developed by a team of universities that includes George Washington.
More about it can be learned via:
Solar-powered process could decrease carbon dioxide to pre-industrial levels in 10 years; concerning: "'Solar-powered Process Could Decrease Carbon Dioxide to Pre-industrial Levels in 10 Years'; July, 2010; By Lisa Zyga; In the Solar Thermal Electrochemical Photo (STEP) carbon capture process, the sun’s visible light and heat are used to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it to solid carbon for storage or carbon monoxide for fuel generation. Image copyright: Stuart Licht, et al. (C) 2010 American Chemical Society. By using the sun's visible light and heat to power an electrolysis cell that captures and converts carbon dioxide from the air, a new technique could impressively clean the atmosphere and produce fuel feedstock at the same time. The key advantage of the new solar carbon capture process is that it simultaneously uses the solar visible and solar thermal components, whereas the latter is usually regarded as detrimental due to the degradation that heat causes to photovoltaic materials. However, the new method uses the sun’s heat to convert more solar energy into carbon than either photovoltaic or solar thermal processes alone. The new process, called Solar Thermal Electrochemical Photo (STEP) carbon capture, was recently suggested theoretically by a team of scientists from George Washington University and Howard University, both in Washington, DC. Now, in a paper just published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, the scientists have experimentally demonstrated the STEP process for the first time. “The significance of the study is twofold,” Stuart Licht, a chemistry professor at George Washington University, told PhysOrg.com. “Carbon dioxide, a non-reactive and normally difficult-to-remove compound, can be easily captured with solar energy using our new low-energy, lithium carbonate electrolysis STEP process, and with scale-up, sufficient resources exist for STEP to decrease carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to pre-industrial levels within 10 years.”
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And, Licht just recently published the technical details of another of his contributions to the "STEP" Carbon Dioixde recycling technology; as seen in excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"United States Patent Application 20130001072 - Process for Electrosynthesis of Energetic Molecules
PROCESS FOR ELECTROSYNTHESIS OF ENERGETIC MOLECULES - The George Washington University
Date: January 3, 2013
Inventor: Stuart Licht, Virginia
Assignee: The George Washington University, Washington, DC
(Licht | Chemistry Department - The George Washington University; "The Licht research group has taken on the challenge of developing a comprehensive solution to climate change. A new solar process has been introduced, the STEP process, which efficiently removes carbon from the atmosphere and generates the staples needed by society, ranging from fuels, to metals, bleach and construction materials, at high solar efficiency and without carbon dioxide generation. In the field of battery and fuel cell research new multiple electron (per molecule) storage processes are introduced and studied, leading to batteries with greater storage capacity than gasoline. On route to new pathways to utilize renewable energy, we explore fundamental chemical processes ranging from quantum mechanics to thermodynamics of water, new analytical and environmental methodologies, and hydrogen, halide, chalcogenide and transition metal chemistry.")
Abstract: A process for the production of energetically rich compounds comprising: using externally supplied thermal energy to heat an electrolyzable compound to a temperature greater than the ambient temperature; generating electricity from a solar electrical photovoltaic component; subjecting the heated electrolyzable compound to electrolysis with the solar generated electricity to generate an energetically rich electrolytic product.
(He beats around the bush a good bit, but, as a full read of the Disclosure will make clear, Carbon Dioxide is the key, though not the only, "electrolyzable compound" this invention concerns itself with.)
Claims: An apparatus for lowering the electrochemical potential for electrolysis of one or more electrolyzable compounds in an electrolysis system, comprising: a. heat exchanger for capturing heat from a solar electrical photovoltaic component of a solar electrolysis system; and b. an electrolysis chamber for combining a solar thermal heating component with the captured heat from the solar electrical photovoltaic component to lower the electrochemical potential for electrolysis of one or more electrolyzable compounds.
The apparatus ... wherein the heat exchanger comprises a pre-heater for pre-heating the electrolyzable compounds (and) wherein the heat exchanger ... also captures heat from the electrolysis reaction and said captured electrolysis heat is combined with heat captured from the solar electrical photovoltaic component in the pre-heater.
An apparatus for generation of electrolysis products other than H2 using recovered heat as a secondary heat source, comprising: a. a beam splitter for splitting captured solar spectrum energy into a solar thermal heating component and a solar electrical photovoltaic component; b. a photovoltaic cell for generating electricity from the solar electrical photovoltaic component; c. a heat exchanger for capturing heat from the solar electrical photovoltaic component; and d. an electrolysis chamber for combining the solar thermal heating component with the captured heat from the solar electrical photovoltaic component and heating one or more electrolyzable compounds to provide a temperature of the electrolyzable compounds at a range above that of the ambient surrounding; and a collection chamber for collecting the electrolysis products from the electrolysis of the heated electrolyzable compounds.
(Licht touches on the potential for using this thermally-enhanced electrolysis process on other compounds, for other purposes, as well. But, we're sticking with the CO2 side of things.)
The apparatus ... wherein the electrolysis of one or more electrolyzable compounds produces an energetically rich electrolytic product (and) wherein the energetically rich electrolytic product comprises CO.
The apparatus ... further comprising a collection chamber for collecting the energetically rich electrolytic product (and) further comprising c. beam splitter for splitting captured solar spectrum energy into a solar thermal heating component and the solar electrical photovoltaic component; and d. a photovoltaic cell for generating electricity from the solar electrical photovoltaic component.
The apparatus ... wherein the heat exchanger heats the one or more electrolyzable compounds to a temperature of 200 to 650C or to a temperature of 650 to 1500C.
Description and Background: This technology relates to a method and system of using solar energy to drive the thermally activated electrosynthesis of energetic molecules.
One third of the global industrial sector's annual emission of .... of the greenhouse gas, CO2, is released in the production of metals and chlorine. This, together with the additional CO2 emissions for electrical generation, heating and transportation, comprise the majority of anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
Photoelectrochemical solar cells (PECs) can convert solar energy to electricity and with inclusion of an electrochemical storage couple, have the capability for internal energy storage, to provide a level output despite variations in sunlight. Solar energy can also be stored externally in chemical form, when it is used to drive the formation of energetically rich chemicals. As an example in 2001, external multiple bandgap PVs (photovoltaics) were used to generate H2 by splitting water at 18% solar energy conversion efficiency. In 2002, a hybrid photo-thermal electrochemical theory was introduced, and verified by experiment in 2003, for H2 generation at over 30% solar energy conversion efficiency.
Light driven water splitting was originally demonstrated with TiO2 (a semiconductor). However, only a small fraction of sunlight has sufficient energy to drive TiO2 photoexcitation, and studies had sought to tune (lower) the semiconductor bandgap to provide a better match to the electrolysis potential. An alternative approach is to tune (lower) the electrolysis potential ... . With increasing temperature, the quantitative decrease in the electrochemical potential to split water to hydrogen and oxygen had been well known by the 1950's, and as early as 1980 it was noted that solar thermal energy could decrease the necessary energy for the generation of H2 by electrolysis. However, the process combines elements of solid state physics, insolation and electrochemical theory, complicating rigorous theoretical support of the process. The first hybrid photo-thermal electrochemical theory for the solar generation of H2 was developed in 2002.
Disclosed herein is a process for the solar generation of energetically rich chemicals, other than hydrogen. This process captures sunlight more efficiently than photovoltaics alone. The process comprises using externally supplied thermal energy to heat an electrolyzable compound to a temperature greater than the ambient temperature, generating electricity from a solar electrical photovoltaic component, subjecting the heated electrolyzable compound to electrolysis with the solar generated electricity to generate an electrolytic product. This process is frequently referred to herein as the STEP (Solar Thermal Electrochemical Photo) process or STEP driven process.
For example, the STEP driven energy conversion process (i.e., the generation of energetic molecule formation process) can convert anthropogenic CO2 generated in burning fossil fuels, and eliminate CO2 emissions ... .
The externally supplied thermal energy source may be derived from a variety of sources. The carbon dioxide can be converted to carbon as well as carbon monoxide. For example, the externally supplied thermal energy can be derived from solar energy (including magnified solar energy), exhaust gasses, heat from combustion or industrial processes ... and geothermal energy.
(The waste heat from a Coal-fired power plant whose Carbon Dioxide we were recycling via the process disclosed herein could be a candidate, as well.)
The externally supplied energy can generate high temperatures (above 200C) which lowers the amount of energy needed (decreases reaction energy) to perform electrolytic generation of energy rich products. Once formed, energy rich products can be used in many ways. For example, the high temperature can also be used to "split" CO2 since the reaction energy is lowered at high temperatures. Potential products of CO2 splitting include carbon and carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a significant industrial gas with a myriad of uses, including the bulk manufacturing of acetic acid and aldehydes (and detergent precursors), and for use in industrial nickel purification. To alleviate challenges of fossil-fuel resource depletion CO is an important syngas component and a reactant to form a wide variety of fuels, which can be formed through the reaction of carbon monoxide with H2. Furthermore, the ability to remove CO2 from exhaust stacks or atmospheric sources provides a constructive response to linked environmental impacts, including global warming due to anthropogenic CO2 emission.Disclosed herein is an apparatus for lowering the electrochemical potential for electrolysis of one or more electrolyzable compounds in an electrolysis system, comprising: a heat exchanger for capturing heat from a solar electrical photovoltaic component of a solar electrolysis system; and an electrolysis chamber for combining a solar thermal heating component with the captured heat from the solar electrical photovoltaic component to lower the electrochemical potential for electrolysis of one or more electrolyzable compounds.
The apparatus having the heat exchanger may further comprise a pre-heater for pre-heating the electrolyzable compounds. The heat exchanger may capture heat from the electrolysis reaction and said captured electrolysis heat is combined with heat captured from the solar electrical photovoltaic component.
The process may be a cyclic electrolysis process, and comprise the additional step of capturing heat from the electrolysis process to pre-heat electrolyzable compounds in the cyclic process.
Also disclosed herein is a process for generation of electrolysis products using recovered heat as a secondary heat source, comprising: splitting captured solar spectrum energy into a solar thermal heating component and a solar electrical photovoltaic component; generating electricity from the solar electrical photovoltaic component; capturing heat from the solar electrical photovoltaic component; combining the solar thermal heating component with the captured heat from the solar electrical photovoltaic component; heating one or more electrolyzable compounds to a temperature above ambient temperature, or to a temperature of 200 to 650 Celsius, or to a temperature of 650 to 1500 Celsius; subjecting said heated electrolyzable compounds to electrolysis; and obtaining electrolysis products other than H2.
CO with H2 can be important reactants in implementing reactions to form a wide variety of organic compounds, such as alcohols, or the Fischer Tropsch generation of fuels.
The STEP process has been derived for the efficient solar removal/recycling of CO2."
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We'll leave it at that for now; but, note that the "STEP" Solar preheating of Water, H2O, to improve the subsequent electrolytic evolution of Hydrogen for combination with the CO2-derived Carbon Monoxide is also admitted to be a part of the process.
Thus, with both CO and H2 produced, we can have it proposed that the final component of a "STEP" system be, as Licht stipulates, the formation of "alcohols, or the Fischer Tropsch generation of fuels".
And, we can look at "STEP", we think, as yet another variation of the "Syntrolysis" concept, about which we've many times reported, as, for two examples, in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Penn State Recycles CO2 via "Syntrolysis" | Research & Development: concerning the: "'Electrochemical Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Hydrocarbon Fuels'; J. Beck, R. Johnson, and T. Naya; 2010; The Pennsylvania State University"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | Utah 2011 CO2 + H2O = Hydrocarbon Syngas | Research & Development; "United States Patent 8,075,746 - Electrochemical Cell for Production of Synthesis Gas Using Atmospheric Air and Water; 2011; Inventors: Joseph Hartvigsen, et. al., Utah; Assignee: Ceramatec, Inc., Salt Lake City; Abstract: A method is provided for synthesizing synthesis gas from carbon dioxide obtained from atmospheric air or other available carbon dioxide source and water using a sodium-conducting electrochemical cell";
a variation whereby any available thermal energy can be advantageously used to facilitate, and lessen the electrical energy requirements of, the co-electrolysis of Carbon Dioxide and Water to form Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen - which can then be catalytically reacted via any number of known and established processes, like Fischer-Tropsch, and made to form a full range of alcohols and hydrocarbons.
In any case, it is again herein demonstrated that Carbon Dioxide, as it arises in only a small way relative to natural sources of emission, such as volcanoes, from our essential use of Coal in the generation of truly economical and affordable electric power, is a valuable raw material resource.
We can collect CO2 from whatever handy source of it we have available to us and, then, through the processes disclosed by our subject herein, "United States Patent Application 20130001072 - Process for Electrosynthesis of Energetic Molecules", we can efficiently convert that CO2, perhaps along with a little Water, into Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen, which, as stipulated herein, "can be important reactants in implementing reactions to form a wide variety of organic compounds, such as alcohols, or the Fischer Tropsch generation of fuels".