United States Patent Application: 0130281553
Our own United States Government, as embodied in the US Department of Energy, continues to insist, as do we here, that Carbon Dioxide, as arises in only a small way, relative to some all-natural and un-taxable sources of emission, such as the Earth's inexorable processes of planetary volcanism, from our economically essential use of Coal in the generation of truly abundant and truly affordable electric power, is a valuable, maybe even a precious, raw material resource.
Carbon Dioxide can be reclaimed from any convenient source, including, even, the atmosphere itself, and then be converted into any hydrocarbon fuel,or hydrocarbon raw material, we now fight Persian Gulf wars and indenture our grandchildren's economic future to the alien, and too often inimical, nations of OPEC to keep ourselves supplied with in the here and now.
Less than a month shy of three years ago, in time for Thanksgiving, 2010, we alerted you that our own United States Government's efforts in the development of their - - of our, we should say; our taxes paid for the development, so it belongs to all US citizens - - "Green Freedom"(TM) technology, as explained, for one example, in our earlier report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE "Green Freedom" CO2 Recycling | Research & Development; concerning: "Green Freedom (TM) - A Concept for Producing Carbon-Neutral Synthetic Fuels; 2007; Jeffrey Martin and William Kubic; Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM; Introduction: We have developed a low-risk, transformational concept, called Green Freedom (TM), for large scale production of carbon-neutral, sulfur-free fuels and chemicals from air and water. Green Freedom (TM) utilizes carbon-neutral power to recover carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; split water into hydrogen; and, convert hydrogen and carbon dioxide into synthetic fuels and organic chemicals. Green Freedom's (TM) synthesis-gas process is based on ... current technologies that are in wide use. (Those technologies include) a process to separate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce useful hydrogen as a byproduct; a process to generate supplemental hydrogen by splitting water; and, a carbon neutral power source. Many useful organic chemicals can be produced ... (and we) have developed Green Freedom (TM) concepts for evaluation specifically for production of methanol and gasoline",
had evolved to the point, where, as seen in our report of November 16, 2010: .
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Synthetic Fuels from Atmospheric CO2 | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20100205856A1 - Synthetic Fuels from Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide; August, 2010; Inventor: William Kubic and Jeffrey Martin, Los Alamos, NM; Assignee: Los Alamos National Security, LLC; This invention was made with government support under Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The present invention is directed to providing a method of producing synthetic fuels and organic chemicals from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide gas is extracted from the atmosphere, hydrogen gas is obtained by splitting water, a mixture of the carbon dioxide gas and the hydrogen gas (synthesis gas) is generated, and the synthesis gas is converted into synthetic fuels and/or organic products. Claims: A method for producing a chemical product comprising the steps of:extracting carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere; producing hydrogen gas; combining said carbon dioxide gas and said hydrogen gas to produce a synthesis gas; and converting said synthesis gas to said product (and) wherein said method is powered by a power source selected from the group consisting of nuclear power, hydroelectric power, geothermal power, wind power, photovoltaic solar power, thermal solar power, and combinations thereof. (And) wherein said product is selected from the group consisting of fuel, diesel fuel, jet fuel, gasoline, petrochemicals, plastics, butane, methanol, ethylene, propylene, aromatic compounds, petrochemical derivatives, derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof";scientists at our USDOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory, although we'll note that the Sandia National Lab seems, based on other references, to have participated as well in the technology's development, had refined the concept and the procedures for converting Carbon Dioxide, as "extracted from the atmosphere", into such seemingly-desirable products as "gasoline" and "plastics" that they felt confident in applying for a United States Patent on their process, and in coincidentally publishing the details for all the world to see.
As we reported somewhat inadvertently in another dispatch earlier this month:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Converts Atmospheric CO2 into Gasoline | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20100205856 - Method of Producing Synthetic Fuels and Organic Chemicals from Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide; Date: August, 2010; Inventors: William Kubic and Jeffrey Martin, Los Alamos, NM; Assignee: Los Alamos National Security LLC, NM;Abstract: The present invention is directed to providing a method of producing synthetic fuels and organic chemicals from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide gas is extracted from the atmosphere, hydrogen gas is obtained by splitting water, a mixture of the carbon dioxide gas and the hydrogen gas (synthesis gas) is generated, and the synthesis gas is converted into synthetic fuels and/or organic products;
that patent application, with some modification of it's title and number assignment, remained active and viable.
We note, in passing, that the "Green Freedom"(TM) CO2-recycling technology evolved out of earlier work at the USDOE's Sandia and other western US National Laboratories, as we documented, for one example, in:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE CO2 to Methanol via Solar Power | Research & Development; concerning, in part: "Solar photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to methanol; 1997; Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM; Abstract: This report summarizes the three-year LDRD program directed at developing catalysts based on metalloporphyrins to reduce carbon dioxide. Ultimately it was envisioned that such catalysts could be made part of a solar-driven photoredox cycle by coupling metalloporphyrins with semiconductor systems. Such a system would provide the energy required for CO2 reduction to methanol. Molecular modeling and design capabilities were used to engineer metalloporphyrin catalysts for converting CO2 to CO and higher carbon reduction products like formaldehyde, formate, and methanol".
However, the links we included to the official US Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO, electronic files of "United States Patent Application 20100205856 - Method of Producing Synthetic Fuels and Organic Chemicals from Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide" in our earlier reports no longer function. And, that seems to be because that technology, for converting CO2 into Gasoline, etc., has taken another step towards being fully-approved as an expression of viable and practical technology by expert examiners in the USPTO.
With some modifications and tweaking, it was reissued just yesterday, October 24, 2013, as:
"United States Patent Application 20130281553 - Method of Producing Synthetic Fuels and Organic Chemicals from Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
Date: October 24, 2013
Inventors: William Kubic and Jeffrey Martin, Los Alamos, NM
Assignee: Los Alamos National Security, LLC, NM
Abstract: The present invention is directed to providing a method of producing synthetic fuels and organic chemicals from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide gas is extracted from the atmosphere, hydrogen gas is obtained by splitting water, a mixture of the carbon dioxide gas and the hydrogen gas (synthesis gas) is generated, and the synthesis gas is converted into synthetic fuels and/or organic products. The present invention is also directed to utilizing a nuclear power reactor to provide power for the method of the present invention.
(Don't be put off by the mention of "a nuclear power reactor". We, here, as should all we believe, say "nuts" to more Three Mile Island's and Chernobyl's. As will be seen further on, other, far more palatable, energy options are identified and stipulated.
Further, in the event that the link to the USPTO record of this document soon fails to function, we have downloaded a copy and will forward it to the West Virginia Coal Association. Even further, this patent application, with supporting drawings and associated documentation, is accessible via the immensely complex link:
Ain't taking a chance on losing it this time.)
Statement Regarding Federal Rights: Government Interests: This invention was made with government support under Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention.
(Don't forget, folks, that "The government" which "has certain rights in" this CO2-to-Gasoline "invention", is us, that is, We the People. Maybe someone should remind our Coal Country journalists of that fact, should any of them be somehow surprisingly inspired enough to call Los Alamos, speak to the inventors, that is, to our employees, named herein, and inquire about the status of our CO2 recycling patent application.
Further: We have, in previous reports, documented the technical reality of all, each and every one, of the specific "steps", or individual processes, identified and specified in the following Claims by the USDOE herein. For the sake of concision, we won't include links to those of our prior reports concerning those issues. If that should be required in the future, we will do so. However, we will likely be re-documenting each of the steps in reports to follow, concerning related CO2 capture and use technologies developed by others, and will make reference when we do so to this document.)
Claims: A method for producing a chemical product comprising the steps of: extracting carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere; producing hydrogen gas; combining said carbon dioxide gas and said hydrogen gas to produce a synthesis gas; and converting said synthesis gas to said product.
(And) wherein said method is powered by ... hydroelectric power, geothermal power, wind power, photovoltaic solar power, thermal solar power, and combinations thereof.
(Concerning the above "hydroelectric power, geothermal power, wind power" options for powering the conversion of CO2 into "into synthetic fuels and/or organic products", see, by way of suggestion, for some "outside" reading:
West Virginia Department of Commerce Hydro Energy; concerning, in part, the fact, that: "The New Martinsville Hydroelectric Plant continues to be a good source of renewable clean energy. The 36-megawatt Wetzel County unit produces enough power for a city seven times the size of New Martinsville, which has a population of 7,000. The plant has used the Ohio River to generate its power since 1988. The power is sold to Allegheny Energy for distribution to the nation's electric grid. The plant design uses the natural flow of the Ohio River to generate electricity"; and:
WVGES Geothermal Information; "New research produced by Southern Methodist University’s Geothermal Laboratory, funded by a grant from Google.org, suggests that the temperature of the Earth beneath the state of West Virginia is significantly higher than previously estimated and capable of supporting commercial baseload geothermal energy production"; and:
Wind Energy: A West Virginia Business Opportunity; While coal is and will continue to be the principal energy resource for making electricity in West Virginia, wind energy is also becoming a player as well, West Virginia is home to four wind farms".)
The method ... wherein said product is selected from the group consisting of fuel, diesel fuel, jet fuel, gasoline, petrochemicals, plastics, butane, methanol, ethylene, propylene, aromatic compounds, petrochemical derivatives, derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof.
The method ... wherein said product further undergoes a process to convert said product to a fuel, wherein said process is selected from the group consisting of Synthesis Gas-to-Methanol, Methanol-to-Gasoline, Methanol-to-Olefins, Fischer Tropsch wax conversion, Fischer-Tropsch, and Fischer-Tropsch oil refining.
The method ... wherein said extracting step further comprises the steps of: absorbing said carbon dioxide gas using an absorbent solution; stripping said carbon dioxide gas from said absorbent solution, wherein said stripping step produces a mixture; and separating said carbon dioxide gas from said mixture.
The method ... wherein said absorbent solution is selected from the group consisting of lithium carbonate, potassium carbonate, cesium carbonate, rubidium carbonate, francium carbonate, ammonium carbonate, beryllium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, calcium carbonate, strontium carbonate, barium carbonate, potassium carbonate and potassium hydroxide mixture, sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide mixture, and mixtures thereof.
The method ... wherein said absorbing step uses a gas-contacting device to capture said carbon dioxide gas, wherein air is circulated in said gas-contacting device, and wherein said air comes in contact with said absorbent solution, and said carbon dioxide gas is absorbed by said absorbent solution to produce a solvent containing said absorbed carbon dioxide gas.
The method ... wherein said gas-contacting device is selected from the group consisting of nuclear cooling towers, natural draft cooling towers, assisted draft cooling towers, forced-draft cooling towers, absorption columns, absorption columns with trays, absorption columns with random packing, absorption columns with structure packing, hollow-fiber absorbers, cooling ponds, spray ponds, natural alkaline lakes, and combinations thereof.
The method ... wherein said stripping step uses an electrolytic cell to separate carbon dioxide gas from said absorbent solution, wherein separation produces said mixture, and wherein said mixture comprises carbon dioxide gas and oxygen gas (and) wherein said electrolytic cell is selected from the group consisting of a hydroxide cell, a bicarbonate cell, a three compartment cell, and a mercury cell.
A method for producing a chemical product comprising the steps of: extracting carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere, wherein said extracting step further includes the steps of: absorbing said carbon dioxide gas using an absorbent solution, stripping said carbon dioxide gas from said absorbent solution and producing a gas mixture, and separating said carbon dioxide gas from said gas mixture; producing hydrogen gas; combining said carbon dioxide gas and said hydrogen gas to produce a synthesis gas; and converting said synthesis gas to said product.
A method for producing synthetic gasoline comprising the steps of: absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using a nuclear cooling tower containing a packing soaked with an absorbent alkaline solution, wherein air is circulated through said nuclear cooling tower absorbing said carbon dioxide in said solution; collecting said solution from a pond below said cooling tower; stripping said carbon dioxide from said solution using an electrolytic cell, wherein said electrolytic cell produces a gas mixture containing carbon dioxide gas; separating said carbon dioxide from said gas mixture; producing hydrogen gas using a steam electrolysis process; combining said carbon dioxide gas with said hydrogen gas to produce a synthesis gas; converting said synthesis gas into methanol; and converting said methanol into synthetic gasoline.
A method ... wherein said methanol is converted into synthetic gasoline using a process selected from the group consisting of Synthesis Gas-to-Methanol, Methanol-to-Gasoline, Methanol-to-Olefins, Fischer Tropsch wax conversion, Fischer-Tropsch, and Fischer-Tropsch oil refining.
A method of producing urea from atmospheric carbon dioxide comprising the steps of: extracting carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere; producing hydrogen gas; producing nitrogen gas; converting nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas to ammonia; combining ammonia with said carbon dioxide to produce urea.
(An absorbent) device (as described) wherein said absorbent solution is selected from the group consisting of lithium carbonate, potassium carbonate, cesium carbonate, rubidium carbonate, francium carbonate, ammonium carbonate, beryllium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, calcium carbonate, strontium carbonate, barium carbonate, potassium carbonate and potassium hydroxide mixture, sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide mixture, and mixtures thereof (and) .wherein said electrolytic cell removes carbon dioxide from said solvent and produces a gas mixture comprising carbon dioxide, and wherein said electrolytic cell is selected from the group consisting of a hydroxide cell, a bicarbonate cell, a three compartment cell, and a mercury cell.
The device ... wherein said product is selected from the group consisting of fuel, diesel fuel, jet fuel, gasoline, petrochemicals, plastics, butane, methanol, urea, ethylene, propylene, aromatic compounds, petrochemical derivatives, derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof.
Background: U.S. economic security depends on a stable supply of transportation fuel and chemicals; however, around 78% of world petroleum reserves are found in politically unstable regions. Increasing world wide competition for dwindling petroleum resources in unstable regions could compromise U.S. energy security. Therefore, it is imperative that the U.S. develop a stable and dependable energy alternative to natural resources. It would therefore be beneficial to provide reliable sources of hydrocarbons for fuels and chemicals thereby eliminating potential supply problems.
The U.S. has less than 2% of the world's petroleum reserves and is drawing down its own reserves at a disproportionately high rate. That is, the U.S. obtains about 40% of its petroleum from domestic sources. It is likely that the peaking of oil production and increasing international demand will drive prices very high. The impact of high prices could have a profound effect on the energy sector and transportation sector. The production of plastics, petrochemicals, and other chemicals will likely also be affected. The transportation sector accounts for around 65% of the U.S. petroleum consumption and the largest components of the transportation sector are gasoline and jet fuel. The U.S. also depends on petroleum for petrochemicals, feedstocks, lubricants, solvents, and a variety of other uses. On average, about 20% of an oil barrel serves as the source of critical raw materials for the world's consumer goods. Shifting from a reliance on petroleum to electrical power cannot make up for the loss of fuel and raw materials that will result from declining petroleum availability. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a process that provides readily available sources of hydrocarbons needed to produce liquid fuels, petrochemicals, and related goods while overcoming the significant disadvantages of existing energy technology such as carbon dioxide emissions, large scale process waste, and significant environmental and health impacts.
U.S. economic security depends on a stable supply of transportation fuel and chemicals; however, around 78% of world petroleum reserves are found in politically unstable regions. Increasing world wide competition for dwindling petroleum resources in unstable regions could compromise U.S. energy security. Therefore, it is imperative that the U.S. develop a stable and dependable energy alternative to natural resources. It would therefore be beneficial to provide reliable sources of hydrocarbons for fuels and chemicals thereby eliminating potential supply problems.
Alternative fuel sources, such as hydrogen or other liquid fuels, cannot replace petroleum in all of its uses. Alternative approaches currently being considered generally have an inherently limited capacity and application, significant technical risk, or are prohibitively expense. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a product that will replace petroleum but can yield the same or similar products as petroleum, is abundant, and relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
The extraction and refining of fossil fuels also has a significant environmental impact. Mining coal is environmentally intrusive and exposes the environment to man-made hazards. Drilling for oil and its transportation exposes the environment to man-made hazards. (It)would be beneficial to provide a process for producing fuel that is a carbon-neutral source of energy and minimizes environmental impact.
One possible replacement for petroleum-based transportation fuels is hydrogen gas. However, there are technical obstacles that must be overcome in order to utilize hydrogen as a safe and economical alternative. Safe, long-distance transportation of hydrogen is expensive. Cost estimates for storing and transporting hydrogen vary between $0.90 and $6.50 per kilogram. Implementation of a hydrogen economy requires a massive investment in infrastructure which means massive expense. Also, hydrogen may be impractical for some applications such as large airliners, long-distance ground transportation vehicles, and large construction equipment. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide an inexpensive compact alternative fuel without requiring transformation of the transportation infrastructure and technology.
Varieties of methods have been developed and are being developed for alternative fuels, however, there is a need for a process that produces fuels and organic chemicals that have the same or similar yields as natural resources and that are reliable, relatively cost-efficient, and have a low-impact on the environment. One known process for producing synthetic fuel is the Fischer-Tropsch process and it is incorporated herein by reference. The Fischer-Tropsch process is a catalyzed chemical reaction in which carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide and hydrogen are converted into liquid hydrocarbons of various forms. The principal purpose of this process is to produce a synthetic petroleum as a substitute, typically from coal or natural gas, for use as synthetic lubrication oil or as synthetic fuel. This is a process that may be used once carbon dioxide gas and hydrogen gas have been obtained, but it does not provide a mechanism for obtaining the gases. Other known processes for producing synthetic gasoline are the synthesis gas-to-synthetic methanol process and, the Mobil.RTM. Methanol-to-Gasoline process which are incorporated herein by reference. The synthesis gas-to-synthetic methanol process is a widely known method for producing methanol. Methanol may be used as a useful product and may be converted by the Mobil.RTM. Methanol-to-Gasoline process. The Mobil.RTM. Methanol-to-Gasoline process is a method of producing liquid hydrocarbons for use as synthetic fuel and organic chemicals from methanol. Again these processes may be used once carbon dioxide gas and hydrogen gas are obtained but they do not provide a mechanism for obtaining the gases. Several other processes are known in the art for converting hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide gas into fuels and organic chemicals, but it would be beneficial to provide a method of supplying the carbon dioxide gas and the hydrogen gas that is practical, reliable, and has a low-impact on the environment.
Summary: In one of many illustrative, non-limiting aspects of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing synthetic fuels and organic chemicals including extracting carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere, producing hydrogen gas, combining the extracted carbon dioxide gas and the produced hydrogen gas to produce a synthesis gas, and converting the synthesis gas to synthetic fuels and organic chemicals.
The method hereof includes extracting carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere by absorbing the carbon dioxide gas using an absorbent solution, stripping the carbon dioxide gas from the absorbent solution using an electrolytic cell that produces a gas mixture, separating the carbon dioxide gas from the gas mixture, producing hydrogen gas using a process such as steam electrolysis, combining the carbon dioxide gas and the hydrogen gas to produce a synthesis gas, and converting the synthesis gas to a chemical product. The resultant chemical product includes synthetic fuels and organic chemicals and may be, but is not limited to, fuels, diesel fuel, gasoline, petrochemicals, plastics, butane, methanol, ethylene, propylene, aromatic compounds, petroleum derivatives, mixtures thereof, and derivatives thereof.
In yet another of many illustrative, non-limiting aspects of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing urea including extracting carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere, producing hydrogen gas, producing nitrogen gas, combining the hydrogen gas and the nitrogen gas to produce ammonia synthesis gas, converting the ammonia synthesis gas into ammonia, and combining the extracted carbon dioxide gas and the ammonia to produce urea."
-------------------------
As we noted in an inserted comment far above, we've previously documented and made separate report of all, or nearly all, of the individual claims and statements made herein by our own United States Government.
For the sake of expediency in this over-long dispatch, we haven't included separate references to those past reports, but will likely be covering the specific points again in the future. However, if you take the time to examine the full Disclosure of "United States Patent Application 20130281553 - Method of Producing Synthetic Fuels and Organic Chemicals from Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide", as accessible via the links, you'll find that our USDOE scientists have been careful to themselves document nearly all their assertions with third-party references of their own.
And, the sum of it all, as reported and recorded by our own US Government herein, is this:
Rather than impose Cap and Trade Carbon taxes on the consumers of economically essential Coal-based electric power, so that we can pay for more Persian Gulf wars to keep the OPEC spigots flowing, so that we can ship even more of our hard-earned money, and thereby saddle our grandchildren with even more insurmountable international debt, overseas, so that we can keep buying foreign gasoline and foreign diesel fuel and foreign plastics manufacturing raw materials, we can, instead, become miners of our own atmosphere, of the air around us, and, using the Carbon Dioxide we extract from the atmosphere as the basic raw material, we can manufacture, we can synthesize, anything, quite literally anything, we now make and extract from the natural petroleum we buy from OPEC.
And, we can use our own abundant resources of environmental energy, that is, wind, hydro, geothermal, and, for the lucky stiffs down south and out west, solar, to drive all of the necessary processes.
Folks, this revised United States Patent Application discloses a CO2-to-Gasoline technical process, a process that can be driven by freely-available environmental energy, devised by our own United States Government.
We can only pray that our own US Government will see to it that we're informed of this innovation; and, that our Government will empower us to put it, along with more of our fellow US citizens, to work.