United States Patent Application: 0130256147
We've been documenting for a few years now that we, all we citizens of the United States of America, can kick OPEC out the door as our primary suppliers of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, and stop bringing radium-tainted water extracted from the abyss to the Earth's surface, by turning to a perhaps unlikely-seeming pair of energy allies:
Sunshine and - - as is co-produced in only a small way, relative to some all-natural sources of it's emission such as the Earth's inexorable and un-taxable processes of planetary volcanism, from our economically essential use of Coal in the generation of truly-reliable and truly-affordable electric power - - Carbon Dioxide,As we've documented in a number of past reports, such as:
West Virginia Coal Association | California Sunshine Converts CO2 into Methane for USDOD | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20130118906 - Method and System for Enhancing Catalytic and Photocatalytic Processes; May 16, 2013; Assignee: University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Abstract: A system for solar energy conversion includes a photoelectric cell. The photoelectric cell includes a cathode and an anode comprising a nanostructure array. The nanostructure array includes a semiconductor photocatalyst; and a plasmon resonant metal nanostructure film arranged on the semiconductor photocatalyst. The system is used in a method to produce methane by placing a photocatalytic cell in an environment containing CO2; and exposing the photocatalytic cell to visible light thereby allowing the CO2 to be converted to methane. ... Government Interests: This invention was made with government support under Grant No. FA9550-08-1-0019, awarded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); under Grant No. N00014-08-1-0132, awarded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR); under Grant No. W911NF-09-1-0240, awarded by the Army Research Office (ARO); and under Grant No. CBET-0846725, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Government has certain rights in the invention"; and:West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Sunlight Converts CO2 into Methane | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20130079577 - Synthesis of Photocatalysts for Solar Fuel Generation; 2013; Assignee: UChicago Argonne, LLC, Chicago, (USDOE Argonne National Laboratory); Abstract: In one preferred embodiment, a photocatalyst for conversion of carbon dioxide and water to a hydrocarbon and oxygen ... . Government Interests: The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 between the United States Government and UChicago Argonne, LLC representing Argonne National Laboratory. A method of converting carbon dioxide and water into a hydrocarbon and oxygen comprising exposing a gaseous mixture of carbon dioxide and water to sun light in the presence of a photocatalyst ... . This invention relates to the energy efficient photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide gas and water vapor to methane and other hydrocarbon fuels, particularly promoted by sunlight"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE "Green Freedom" CO2 Recycling | Research & Development; concerningthe USDOE CO2-recycling program so advanced they gave it a trade name: "Green Freedom (TM) - A Concept for Producing Carbon-Neutral Synthetic Fuels; November, 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 and produce useful hydrogen as a include) a process to separate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere 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. Making gasoline from air and water sounds exotic, but now practical technology has been developed to implement known chemical pathways for producing fuel from these abundant raw materials";
our own United States government knows full well that Carbon Dioxide can be reclaimed from whatever convenient source, including "from the atmosphere", and then, in "photocatalytic processes" "promoted by sunlight", be converted, in conjunction with Hydrogen concurrently extracted from Water, H2O, into fuel alcohol "methanol", and subsequently "gasoline", and, a substitute for shale natural gas "methane".
And, herein, we see that our US Government has continued to finance the development of technologies for the Solar-driven conversion of Carbon Dioxide into both liquid fuels and substitute natural gas, into "Solar Fuels", by supporting the development of a Solar reactor in which to conduct the chemical reactions.
One caution: Unless you have patience, and take the time to read the full Disclosure, this invention will seem to be "only" a device which, when it is exposed to sunlight, breaks water contained in the device down into Oxygen and Hydrogen. As useful and valuable as that, in and of itself, could be, this is a "Solar Fuels Generator"; and, when you get to Paragraph 56 of the full Disclosure:
"(56) The supply stream and/or the second phase can also include or consist of a reactant (in addition to water). Although the ... discussion (thus far) discloses using the solar fuels generator to generate hydrogen gas for use as a fuel, the solar fuels generator can be employed to generate other fuels that include hydrocarbons such as methane. Hydrocarbon fuels include or consists of carbon and hydrogen and may include or consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. These fuels can be generated by delivering an additional reactant to the photocathodes. For instance, the supply stream and/or second phase can include one or more additional reactants. (In some embodiments) CO2 serves as the reactant that is delivered to the photocathodes. Examples of the fuels that can be produced using this reaction in combination with the disclosed solar fuels generator include ... methanol, methane, ethanol";you discover what this is really all about.
That said, comment follows excerpts from the recently-published:
"United States Patent Application 20130256147 - Solar Fuels Generator
Patent US20130256147 - Solar fuels generator - Google Patents
SOLAR FUELS GENERATOR - Lewis, Nathan S.
Date: October 3, 2013
Inventors: Nathan S. Lewis and Joshua Spurgeon, CA
(As is usual, information concerning eventual assignees of rights, that is, what organization was home to the research which led to the invention, is often not published in early versions of US patent applications. This was US government-sponsored work, so, as seen below, the US government, that is, you and we and all of us, own at least a share of the technology. But, as we will see in at least one report to follow, the development work for this patent application took place at one of the USDOE's Solar Fuels "hubs" at the California Institute of Technology.)
Abstract: The solar fuels generator includes an ionically conductive separator between a gaseous first phase and a second phase. A photoanode uses one or more components of the first phase to generate cations during operation of the solar fuels generator. A cation conduit is positioned provides a pathway along which the cations travel from the photoanode to the separator. The separator conducts the cations. A second solid cation conduit conducts the cations from the separator to a photocathode.
Government Interests: This invention was made with government support under DE-SC000493/T-105066 awarded by the Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention.Claims: A solar fuels generator, comprising: an ionically conductive separator between a first phase and a second phase; a photoanode that uses one or more components of the first phase to generate cations during operation of the solar fuels generator; and a cation conduit positioned so as to provide a pathway along which the cations travel from the photoanode to the separator.
(Explaining anodes and cathodes, and anions and cations, and the flow of electricity clearly is beyond our admittedly limited capacity, as it also seems to be for genuinely knowledgeable experts in electrical engineering, based on the definitions and explanations our web search turned up. Basically, a "photoanode" is an electrode that generates a flow of electrons, or electricity, when exposed to light. Think of a solar cell or photo cell. If interested, a decent explanation of electrical current and flow is accessible via:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/
The generator ... wherein the photoanode includes an oxidation catalyst (and) wherein the pathway extends from the oxidation catalyst to the separator (and) wherein: the photoanode extends outward from a first side of a separator; and a photocathode extends outward from a second side of the separator, the second side being opposite from the first side (and) wherein the cation conduit is in direct physical contact with the separator.
(By "oxidation catalyst", they are referring specifically to a "water oxidation catalyst", which supports and promotes the reactions explained via:
Heterogeneous water oxidation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; "Water oxidation is one half of the reactions for water splitting: 2H2O = O2 + 4H + 4e".)
The generator ... wherein the photoanode includes an oxidation catalyst between the cation conduit and a side of the photoanode (and) wherein the cation conduit is in direct physical contact with the separator and extends outward from the separator along a side of the photoanode (and) wherein the photoanode is one of a plurality of photoanodes that each uses one or more components of the first phase to generate cations during operation of the solar fuels generator.
The generator ... wherein the first phase is a gas that includes water vapor, the second phase is a gas, and the photoanode is configured to use the water vapor to generate the cations.
A solar fuels generator, comprising: an ionically conductive separator between a first phase and a second phase; a photocathode that uses cations generated from the first phase to generate the solar fuel in the second phase; and a cation conduit positioned so as to provide a pathway along which cations generated at the photoanode can travel from the separator to the photocathode.
A method of generating solar fuels, comprising: generating a cation at a photoanode in a gaseous first phase; and conducting the generated cation through a cation conduit to an ionically conducting separator located between the first phase and a second phase.
Background and Field: The invention relates to solar generators, and more particularly, to solar fuels generators.
Solar cells are used to generate electrical energy from sunlight. While these cells can generate electricity from sunlight, they do not efficiently store the generated energy. As a result, the energy must be used immediately or stored in devices such as batteries. Storing large amounts of energy in batteries is impractical and expensive. An alternative to storing solar energy in a device is to convert the solar energy into a fuel that can be used at a later time. A solar fuels generator is a device that converts the energy from the sun and water into a fuel such as hydrogen fuel. As a result, there is a need for a practical solar fuels generator.
Summary and Description: The solar fuels generator includes an ionically conductive separator between a first phase and a second phase. The generator also includes an photoanode that uses incident light and one or more components of the first phase to generate cations during operation of the solar fuels generator. The generator also includes a cation conduit that provides a pathway along which the cations travel from the photoanode to the separator
Another version of the solar fuels generator includes an ionically conductive separator between a first phase and a second phase. The generator also includes a photocathode that uses cations generated from the first phase to generate the solar fuel in the second phase. The generator also includes a cation conduit that provides a pathway along which cations generated at the photoanode can travel from the separator to the photocathode.
A method of generating solar fuels includes generating a cation at a photoanode located in a gaseous first phase. The method also includes conducting the generated cation through a cation conduit to a separator that is located between the first phase and a second phase.
Another method of generating solar fuels includes using cations to generate the solar fuel (with) a photocathode in a gaseous second phase (and, a) separator being between the first phase and the second phase.
The supply stream and/or the second phase can also include or consist of a reactant (in addition to water). Although the ... discussion (thus far) discloses using the solar fuels generator to generate hydrogen gas for use as a fuel, the solar fuels generator can be employed to generate other fuels that include hydrocarbons such as methane. Hydrocarbon fuels include or consists of carbon and hydrogen and may include or consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. These fuels can be generated by delivering an additional reactant to the photocathodes. For instance, the supply stream and/or second phase can include one or more additional reactants.(In some embodiments) CO2 serves as the reactant that is delivered to the photocathodes.
Examples of the fuels that can be produced using this reaction in combination with the disclosed solar fuels generator include ... methanol, methane, ethanol".
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So, in sum, according to accomplished scientists working under contract with the United States Department of Energy, we can use the energy of simple sunlight to convert Water and Carbon Dioxide into such seemingly-desirable compounds as "methanol" and "methane".
And, we remind you, that, according to a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, as seen, for one example, in:
West Virginia Coal Association | California 2013 CO2 + Methane = Methanol | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 8,440,729 - Conversion of CO2 to Methanol Using Bi-Reforming of Methane; 2013; Inventors: George Olah and G.K. Surya Prakash, CA; Assignee: University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Abstract: The invention provides for a method of forming methanol by combining a mixture of methane, water and carbon dioxide under specific reaction conditions sufficient to form a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide which are then reacted under conditions sufficient to form methanol";
we can react the Methane, as synthesized in the process of our subject, "United States Patent Application 20130256147 - Solar Fuels Generator", from Carbon Dioxide, with even more Carbon Dioxide, to make even more Methanol.
Even further, as seen for one example in our report of: .
West Virginia Coal Association | ExxonMobil Coal to Methanol to Gasoline | Research & Development; concerning both:
"United States Patent 4,348,486 - Production of Methanol via Catalytic Coal Gasification; 1982; Assignee: Exxon Research and Engineering Company; A process for the production of methanol from a carbonaceous feed material (by)gasifying said carbonaceous feed material with steam ... and added hydrcomprises coal"; and: "United States Patent 4,035,430 - Conversion ogen and carbon monoxide (and) wherein said carbonaceous feed materialof Methanol to Gasoline; 1977; Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation; The conversion of methanol to gasoline";
once we have the Methanol, made from one or the other of our abundant and precious natural resources, Coal or Carbon Dioxide, we can then convert that Methanol into some of the stuff we squander our national treasure and our grandchildren's inheritance, and fight foreign wars for the privilege, to buy here and now from the often unfriendly nations of OPEC.
Way past time we all woke up and smelled the coffee, ain't it?