In our fairly recent report:
we included information concerning, among other things:
"United States Patent Application 0130116474 - Electrochemical Co-Production of a Glycol and an Alkene Employing Recycled Halide; Date: May 9, 2013; Inventors: Kyle Teamey, et. al.; Assignee: Liquid Light, Inc.; Abstract: The present disclosure is a method and system for electrochemically co-producing a first product and a second product. The system may include a first electrochemical cell, a first reactor, a second electrochemical cell, at least one second reactor, and at least one third reactor. The method and system for co-producing a first product and a second product may include co-producing a glycol and an alkene employing a recycled halide".
And, if you have followed our reports at all, you will know that the above-named New Jersey CO2-recycling company, "Liquid Light, Inc.":
LIQUID LIGHT; "Sustainable chemicals from carbon dioxide";
seems to have arisen from research accomplished in the Princeton University laboratory of Professor Andrew Bocarsly, as suggested, for one example, in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | Princeton University November 20, 2012 CO2 to Ethanol | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 8,313,634 - Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Organic Products; 2012; Inventors: Andrew Bocarsly and Emily Barton Cole; Assignee: Princeton University, NJ;Abstract: The invention relates to various embodiments of an environmentally beneficial method for reducing carbon dioxide. The methods in accordance with the invention include electrochemically or photoelectrochemically reducing the carbon dioxide in a divided electrochemical cell ... to produce therein a reduced organic product. Government Interests: This invention was made with United States government support from National Science Foundation Grant No. CHE-0616475. The United States Government has certain rights in this invention. A method of converting carbon dioxide to provide at least one product selected from the group consisting of glyoxal, isopropanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, acetone, acetaldehyde and mixtures thereof".
In any case, "United States Patent Application 0130116474 - Electrochemical Co-Production of a Glycol and an Alkene Employing Recycled Halide; Date: May 9, 2013", as documented in our earlier report cited above, must have been a later, final iteration of that application, since it appears to have quickly evolved into, as excerpted from the initial link in this dispatch:
"United States Patent 8,444,844 - Electrochemical Co-production of a Glycol and an Alkene Employing Recycled Halide
Date: May 21, 2013
Inventors: Kyle Teamey, DC, Jerry Kaczur, FL, and Emily Barton Cole, TXAssignee: Liquid Light, Inc., NJ
Abstract: The present disclosure is a method and system for electrochemically co-producing a first product and a second product. The system may include a first electrochemical cell, a first reactor, a second electrochemical cell, at least one second reactor, and at least one third reactor. The method and system for for co-producing a first product and a second product may include co-producing a glycol and an alkene employing a recycled halide,
Claims: A method for co-producing a first product and a second product, the method comprising the steps of:
contacting a first region of a first electrochemical cell having an cathode with a catholyte comprising carbon dioxide; contacting a second region of a first electrochemical cell having an anode with an anolyte comprising a MX where M is at least one cation and X is selected from a group consisting of Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine, and mixtures thereof;(Note the above subsection of Claim 1; and, keep in mind that we are starting, "in the first region of a first electrochemical cell" with "carbon dioxide". CO2 isn't really mentioned or specified much throughout the rest of the full Claims section; and, it's not until the process is summarized is the fact that this is a technology for the chemical reduction and utilization of Carbon Dioxide again emphasized.)
applying an electrical potential between the anode and the cathode sufficient to produce M-carboxylate recoverable from the first region of the first electrochemical cell and a halogen recoverable from the second region of the first electrochemical cell;
reacting the M-carboxylate with HX via a secondary reactor to produce a carboxylic acid and MX, the MX being recycled to an input of the second region of the first electrochemical cell;
contacting a first region of a second electrochemical cell having a cathode with a catholyte comprising the carboxylic acid; contacting a second region of a second electrochemical cell having an anode with an anolyte comprising HX;
applying an electrical potential between the anode of the second electrochemical cell and the cathode of the second electrochemical cell sufficient to produce at least one of another carboxylic acid, an aldehyde, a ketone, a glycol or an alcohol recoverable from the first region of the second electrochemical cell and a halogen recoverable from the second region of the second electrochemical cell;
reacting the halogen from the second region of the first electrochemical cell and from the second region of the second electrochemical cell with an alkane, aromatic compound, or other carbon compound to produce a halogenated compound and HX, the HX being recycled back to the second region of the second electrochemical cell and to the input of the secondary reactor;
and reacting the halogenated compound via at least one reactor to produce at least one of an alkene, alkyne, alcohol, phenol, aldehyde, ketone, unsaturated carbon compound, or longer-chain alkane, and HX, the HX being recycled back to the second region of the second electrochemical cell and to the input of the secondary reactor.
(They do, in the full documentation, explain what such things as "M" and "HX" are; that is, what the symbols represent. They are neither rare nor expensive, and are made in any case for the most part within the reaction sequence of the overall process. The "anolyte" and the "catholyte" are just the liquid solutions or gaseous mixtures surrounding, respectively, the anode and the cathode of an electrochemical cell.)
The method wherein the halogen includes at least one of Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, or Iodine.
The method ... wherein the halogen is reacted with at least one of methane, ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, benzene, toluene, or xylene.
(Without cluttering this up too much, keep in mind that most, if not all, the above hydrocarbons seemingly required for reaction with the CO2-recycling "halogen" can, as seen for example in:
West Virginia Coal Association | New York City CO2 to Methane via Artificial Photosynthesis | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent Application 20120208903 - Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Methane Using Visible Light;2012; Assignee: Research Foundation of City University of New York; Abstract: The invention relates to a method for converting carbon dioxide to methane"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | Shell Oil Coal to Gasoline with By-Product Isobutane | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 4,218,388 - Preparing Hydrocarbons from Gasification of Coal; 1980; Assignee: Shell Oil Company; Abstract: Synthesis gas is converted into gasoline by contacting the gas with a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite catalyst, the process being characterized by conversion of by-product isobutane into gasoline by alkylation. Claims: A process for preparing liquid hydrocarbons from coal, comprising: converting coal into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen by gasification (and) converting the mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen into an aromatic hydrocarbon mixture in the presence of a catalyst which contains a crystalline aluminosilicate zeolite (as specified); separating from the aromatic hydrocarbon mixture an isobutane-containing gaseous fraction and an aromatic liquid fraction boiling in the gasoline range;be themselves made either from Carbon Dioxide, or, from Coal. And, those halogen-hydrocarbon compounds represent, for the most part, the "HX" and "MX" agents noted earlier.)
The method ... wherein at least one of glyoxylic acid, glyoxal, glycolic acid, glycolaldehyde, acetic acid, acetaldehyde, ethanol, ethane, ethylene, or ethylene glycol is recoverable from the first region of the second electrochemical cell.
The method ... wherein the cathode and the anode of the first electrochemical cell and the cathode and the anode of the second electrochemical cell, are separated by an ion permeable barrier that operates at a temperature less than 600 C (and) wherein the ion permeable barrier includes one of a polymeric or inorganic ceramic-based ion permeable barrier.
(We've documented for you previously the existence and commercial availability of such, as above, "polymeric or inorganic ceramic-based ion permeable barrier"s; as in, for one example, the full text of our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | CoalTL: USDOE Hires California to Convert CO2 into Hydrocarbon Fuels | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20120328505 - Nanostructured Transition Metal Oxides Useful for Water Oxidation Catalysis; 2012; Assignee: The Regents of the University of California".)
Background and Field: The present disclosure generally relates to the field of electrochemical reactions, and more particularly to methods and/or systems for electrochemical co-production of a glycol and an alkene employing a recycled reactant.
The combustion of fossil fuels in activities such as electricity generation, transportation, and manufacturing produces billions of tons of carbon dioxide annually. Research since the 1970s indicates increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may be responsible for altering the Earth's climate, changing the pH of the ocean and other potentially damaging effects. Countries around the world, including the United States, are seeking ways to mitigate emissions of carbon dioxide.
A mechanism for mitigating emissions is to convert carbon dioxide into economically valuable materials such as fuels and industrial chemicals. If the carbon dioxide is converted using energy from renewable sources, both mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions and conversion of renewable energy into a chemical form that can be stored for later use will be possible.
Summary: The present disclosure includes a system and method for electrochemically co-producing a first product and a second product. The system may include a first electrochemical cell, a first reactor, a second electrochemical cell, at least one second reactor, and at least one third reactor. The method and system for co-producing a first product and a second product may include co-producing a glycol and an alkene employing a recycled halide."
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The final sentence of the "Summary" should, we think, just for emphasis, read: "co-producing a glycol and an alkene employing a recycled halide from Carbon Dioxide", since that is, in fact, what this is all about.
Note that "ethylene glycol" is the "glycol" specified herein by Liquid Light as being recoverable from the Carbon Dioxide-recycling process of our subject herein, "United States Patent 8,444,844 - Electrochemical Co-production of a Glycol and an Alkene Employing Recycled Halide"; and, note further, that, as seen in:
Ethylene glycol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; "In the plastics industry, ethylene glycol is important precursor to polyester fibers and resins. Polyethylene terephthalate, used to make plastic bottles for soft drinks, is prepared from ethylene glycol";
such "ethylene glycol" is used and consumed in the making of some ubiquitous, very high-volume plastics, wherein the Carbon Dioxide consumed by the process of "United States Patent 8,444,844" in the initial synthesis of the "ethylene glycol" would be chemically, permanently and productively, "sequestered".
Further, "an alkene", as is produced herein from Carbon Dioxide, via the process of "United States Patent 8,444,844", as can be learned via:
alkene - definition of alkene by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.;
would include such hydrocarbons, which are very valuable in further hydrocarbon synthesis reactions, as "ethylene (and) propylene", and would, as well, represent end uses wherein the original, raw material CO2 consumed by the process of our subject, "United States Patent 8,444,844", would be profitably taken out of the global Carbon Cycle.
Note, though, too, that "ethanol" is another product which can be derived, by the process of our subject herein, from Carbon Dioxide, and, we remind you, that, as seen in our report of:West Virginia Coal Association | Mobil Oil 1977 Coal-Derived Alcohols to Gasoline | Research & Development; concerning, in part:"United States Patent 4,025,575 - Process for Manufacturing Olefins; 1977; Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation; Abstract: A lower alcohol and/or ether feed is selectively converted to a mixture of light olefins, including ethylene and propylene (and) wherein said feed comprises ethanol";
aside from its value as a motor fuel, such Ethanol, too, has value as a raw material in the further synthesis of more complex hydrocarbons.
Once again, our United States Government has provided official confirmation of the fact, that:
Carbon Dioxide, as it arises in a small way, relative to some natural sources of emission, from our essential use of Coal in the generation of abundant, and reliable and affordable, electric power, is a valuable raw material resource. CO2 can be reclaimed from whatever handy source, and, via the process of our subject herein, "United States Patent 8,444,844 - Electrochemical Co-production of a Glycol and an Alkene Employing Recycled Halide", be converted into both fuels, like Ethanol, and the intermediates, like Ethylene Glycol, for the manufacture of certain high-demand, high-volume plastics.