We've documented for you quite a few times that the venerable General Electric Corporation, as seen for example in:
General Electric and China Forge Coal Conversion Partnership | Research & Development | News; concerning the news release: "'GE, Shenhua Form Coal Tech Venture'; May 11, 2012; China Daily; State-owned Shenhua Group, China's largest coal producer, will work with General Electric Co to advance the development of 'cleaner coal' technology and solutions through the 50-50 joint venture. Partners plan to make greater use of nation's huge reserves, reduce import reliance. As a coal-to-gas boom grows in China, the founding of a new joint venture to develop gasification technologies marks part of the country's multi-billion-yuan effort to lessen dependency on oil imports"; and:
General Electric Converts China Coal | Research & Development | News; concerning: "GE Energy Licenses its Gasification Technology for Coal-to-Methanol Plant in China";
has developed such an extensive body of Coal utilization and conversion knowledge and expertise that it has been welcomed into China's massive industrialization efforts centered on the fuller use of it's own vast Coal resources, with much of those efforts centered on the gasification of Coal, with the resultant "syngas" to be used either for power generation or the synthesis of valuable chemicals and fuels, such as "Methanol".
And, as seen for one example in our report of:
General Electric Reclaims Coal Syngas Sulfur, Recycles CO2 | Research & Development | News; concerning: "United States Patent 7,655,213 - Direct Oxidation of Sulfur with Carbon Dioxide Recycle; 2010; Assignee: General Electric Company, NY; Abstract: A method for removing hydrogen sulfide to produce elemental sulfur from a synthesis gas feed stream containing hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and water using direct oxidation of hydrogen sulfide by contacting a feed stream containing synthesis gas with oxygen in the presence of a catalyst comprised of metal oxides to convert a substantial fraction of the hydrogen sulfide present in the feed stream into sulfur and water, followed by cooling the reaction products to a temperature below the dew point temperature of the water and sulfur, separating the reaction products into two streams, with the first stream containing elemental sulfur and water in liquid form and the second stream containing unreacted components from the synthesis gas, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and water, and then recycling a portion of the unreacted components to the feed stream. ... The present method for treating synthesis gas and/or gas streams containing hydrocarbon fuel components and unwanted sulfur compounds uses direct oxidation of hydrogen sulfide, with an appropriate catalyst to form elemental sulfur. Air, substantially pure oxygen or sulfur dioxide may serve as the oxidant. The oxidation reaction is selective for sulfur compounds and results in elemental sulfur that is removed from the synthesis gas stream. After a significant portion of the sulfur compounds have been converted to sulfur and removed from the synthesis gas in the direct oxidation unit, the synthesis gas is fed to a conventional acid gas removal unit, in which all or part or the carbon dioxide is thereby removed.
Because the acid gas removal units (amine or physical solvent) are more selective for sulfur compounds than carbon dioxide, any residual sulfur compounds will be removed with the carbon dioxide.The carbon dioxide, together with the unconverted sulfur compounds from the direct oxidation process, is recycled to the gasifier.The carbon dioxide will participate in the gasification reactions, resulting in increased yield and/or changes in the distribution of the synthesis gas components";
General Electric has developed sophisticated technology related to the extraction and use of contaminants in the synthesis gas produced by Coal gasification processes. The above "US Patent 7,655,213 - Direct Oxidation of Sulfur with Carbon Dioxide Recycle" results in the production of Sulfur as a commercial byproduct, and directs that the recovered Carbon Dioxide be returned to the gasification process, where it would act, as seen in our report of:
Texaco 1951 Coal + CO2 + H2O + O2 = Syngas | Research & Development | News; concerning: "United States Patent 2,558,746 - Carbon Monoxide and Other Gases from Carbonaceous Materials; 1951; Assignee: The Texas Company, NYC; Abstract: This invention relates to a process and apparatus for the generation of gases comprising carbon monoxide from carbonaceous materials. In one of its more specific aspects it relates to a process and apparatus for the generation of a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, suitable as a feed for the synthesis of hydrocarbons, from powdered coal. The synthesis of hydrocarbons by the interaction of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is well known. The present invention is concerned with the generation of a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (and) is particularly suited to the production of a feed gas for the synthesis of hydrocarbons.... In the gasification of carbonaceous material with oxygen, particularly solid fuels, the reaction between oxygen and fuel results in the production of carbon dioxide ... . The oxidation reaction, being highly exothermic, releases large quantities of heat. The carbon dioxide, so produced, in contact with hot carbon, in turn, reacts with the carbon to produce carbon monoxide. Steam also reacts with heated carbon to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen";
as an additional agent of gasification for the Coal, with the reaction between hot Coal and Carbon Dioxide resulting in increased production of the desired Carbon Monoxide
General Electric has additional technology of their own for utilizing Carbon Dioxide, as might be recovered either from Coal-derived synthesis gas or Coal combustion exhaust streams, as seen in our report of:
General Electric Recycles Carbon Dioxide | Research & Development | News; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20070149392 - Reactor for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Conversion; 2007; Assignee: General Electric Company; Global Research, NY; Abstract: Disclosed herein is a multifunctional catalyst system comprising a substrate; and a catalyst pair disposed upon the substrate; wherein the catalyst pair comprises a first catalyst and a second catalyst; and wherein the first catalyst initiates or facilitates the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide while the second catalyst initiates or facilitates the conversion of carbon monoxide to an organic compound. A multifunctional catalyst system comprising: a substrate; and a catalyst pair disposed upon the substrate; wherein the catalyst pair comprises a first catalyst and a second catalyst; and wherein the first catalyst initiates or facilitates the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide while the second catalyst initiates or facilitates the conversion of carbon monoxide to an organic compound";
wherein, through multi-step reactions with Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide is converted, first, into Carbon Monoxide and, then, into "organic compound"s, which can include alcohols, like Methanol, or hydrocarbons via a reaction like the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
And, coincident with all of the above, General Electric has been at work improving the efficiency of processes for recovering such valuable Carbon Dioxide from both Coal-derived synthesis gas and Coal combustion exhaust gases, processes which, as we take it, can operate in concert with, as adjuncts to, the above-cited technology of "United States Patent 7,655,213 - Direct Oxidation of Sulfur with Carbon Dioxide Recycle", which primarily recovers elemental Sulfur from the same Coal utilization product gases.
As seen, with an additional link and excerpts appended, in excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"US Patent 8,709,367 - Carbon Dioxide Capture System and Methods of Capturing Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide capture system and methods of capturing carbon dioxide - General Electric Company
Date: April 29, 2014
Inventors: Pinard Westendorf, et. al., NY
Assignee: General Electric Company, NY
Abstract: In one embodiment, a system for recovering carbon dioxide can comprises: a reaction chamber having a first pressure and comprising a gas stream inlet; a phase-changing liquid sorbent, wherein the liquid sorbent is chemical reactive with carbon dioxide to form a solid material; a regeneration unit to decompose the solid material to released carbon dioxide gas and regenerated liquid sorbent; and a dry transport mechanism configured to transport the solid material from the reaction chamber at the first pressure to the regeneration unit at a second higher pressure. In one embodiment, a method of recovering carbon dioxide from a gas stream, comprises: chemically reacting carbon dioxide with a pure amine compound liquid sorbent to form a solid material; without adding a carrier fluid, dry pressurizing and transporting the solid material, to a regeneration unit; and heating the solid material in the regeneration unit to provide a substantially thermal reaction to decompose the solid material to carbon dioxide gas and regenerated liquid sorbent.
Claims: A method of recovering carbon dioxide from a gas stream, comprising: chemically reacting carbon dioxide with a pure amine compound liquid sorbent to form a solid material; without adding a carrier fluid, dry pressurizing and transporting the solid material, to a regeneration unit; and heating the solid material in the regeneration unit to provide a substantially thermal reaction to decompose the solid material to carbon dioxide gas and regenerated liquid sorbent.
The method ... further comprising directing the regenerated liquid sorbent back to a reaction chamber (and) further comprising atomizing the liquid sorbent before the chemically reacting with the carbon dioxide.
Summary: In one embodiment, a system for recovering carbon dioxide from a gas stream can comprise: a reaction chamber having a first pressure and comprising a gas stream inlet; a phase-changing liquid sorbent, wherein the liquid sorbent is chemically reactive with carbon dioxide to form a solid material; a regeneration unit at a second, higher pressure to decompose the solid material to release carbon dioxide gas and regenerate the liquid sorbent; and a dry transport mechanism configured to transport the solid material from the reaction chamber at the first pressure to the regeneration unit at a second higher pressure.
In one embodiment, a method of recovering carbon dioxide from a gas stream, comprises: chemically reacting carbon dioxide with a liquid sorbent to form a solid material; without adding a liquid carrier fluid, dry pressurizing and transporting the solid material to a regeneration unit; and heating the solid material in the regeneration unit to decompose the solid material to carbon dioxide gas and regenerated liquid sorbent."
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There are lot of additional details, of course; and, those interested in the technical and chemical minutiae should access the full document, and the documents it itself references, via the link and examine them. In brief, Carbon Dioxide in a stream of mixed gases reacts preferentially with the specified liquid absorbent to form an insoluble precipitate which settles out of the system and which precipitate is transported, as a solid, to a contiguous chamber or vessel for recovery, by moderate heating, of the liquid absorbent and gaseous Carbon Dioxide in a nearly pure form.
It is a process that can be operated in a continuous, cyclic fashion.
The technology and process is further defined and even improved upon in the related General Electric technology, the development of which was paid for by our United States Department of Energy, seen in the even more recent:
"United States Patent: 8747694 - Carbon Dioxide Absorbent and Method of Using Same
Carbon dioxide absorbent and method of using the same - General Electric Company
Date: June 10, 2014
Inventors: Robert Perry and Michael O'Brien, NY
Assignee: General Electric Company, NY
Abstract: In accordance with one aspect, the present invention provides a composition which contains the amino-siloxane structures I, or III, as described herein. The composition is useful for the capture of carbon dioxide from process streams. In addition, the present invention provides methods of preparing the amino-siloxane composition. Another aspect of the present invention provides methods for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in a process stream employing the amino-siloxane compositions of the invention, as species which react with carbon dioxide to form an adduct with carbon dioxide.
Government Interests: This invention was made with Government support under grant number DE-NT0005310 awarded by the Department of Energy-NETL. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
(We're not reproducing the technical details, which, by and large, are presented as chemical formulae with reference made to other, more explanatory, dissertations. In essence, it is disclosure of a chemical compound, or compounds, which can be utilized to absorb CO2 from virtually any gaseous stream, and then be regenerated and made to release the CO2 with less input of energy than related compounds used in prior art. Further, although the above disclosure of "US Patent 8,709,367 - Carbon Dioxide Capture System and Methods of Capturing Carbon Dioxide" specifies that the absorbent, upon absorbing Carbon Dioxide, becomes a solid which can be precipitated out of the mother solution and then processed for recovery of nearly-pure Carbon Dioxide as a solid.
The full Disclosure of "United States Patent 8,747,694 - Carbon Dioxide Absorbent and Method of Using Same", however, reveals an absorbent and a method whereby varying amounts of CO2 can be captured from a wide range of mixed gas streams, to render the absorbent as either a solid or a liquid, as desired, for preferred further processing and recovery of the absorbent and the Carbon Dioxide.
Thus, the extraction and capture of Carbon Dioxide is enabled from a broader array of gas streams in a broader array of processing conditions. Much of that is concisely described in the formal Summary, as in our concluding excerpts.),
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in a process stream comprising contacting the stream with a carbon dioxide absorbent comprising at least one amino-siloxane having structures (as defined and specified in the full Disclosure).
The carbon dioxide absorbents provided herein are expected to provide advantages when utilized to remove CO2 from process gases, as compared to those currently commercially available and/or utilized for this purpose. As such, a method of reducing the carbon dioxide in a process stream is provided, and comprises contacting the process stream with the carbon dioxide absorbents described herein.
The process stream so treated may be any wherein the level of CO2 therein is desirably reduced, and in many processes, CO2 is desirably reduced at least in the exhaust streams produced thereby.
The process stream (from which CO2 is to be extracted) is typically gaseous, but may contain solid or liquid particulates, and may be at a wide range of temperatures and pressures, depending on the application.
In one embodiment, the process stream may be a process stream from industries, such as chemical industries, cement industries, steel industries, flue gases from a power plant, and the like.
In one embodiment, the process stream may be a fuel stream (such as) a syngas stream.
In yet another embodiment, the process stream is selected from the group consisting of a combustion process (or) a gasification process".
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The above "syngas stream" arising from a Coal "gasification process" can, of course, be utilized in a Fischer-Tropsch, or related, process, and be thereby converted into liquid hydrocarbons, and other products, such as, as in our above-cited report concerning "GE Energy Licenses its Gasification Technology for Coal-to-Methanol Plant in China", fuel alcohol Methanol.
Perhaps of more interest herein, though, is what can be done with the Carbon Dioxide so efficiently captured,
in a nearly pure form, from either a Coal "combustion process" or a Coal "gasification process".
As seen in our recent report of:
USDOE 2009 CO2 to Gasoline | Research & Development | News; which contains links to and information concerning:
"United States Patent 7,879,749 - Methods of Using Structures Including Catalytic Materials Disposed Within Porous Zeolite Materials to Synthesize Hydrocarbons; Date: February 1, 2011; nventors: Harry Rollins, et. al., Idaho; Assignee: Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, Twin Falls, Idaho (USDOE Idaho National Laboratory); Abstract: Catalytic structures include a catalytic material disposed within a zeolite material. The catalytic material may be capable of catalyzing a formation of methanol from ... carbon dioxide, and the zeolite material may be capable of catalyzing a formation of hydrocarbon molecules from methanol. Government Interests: This invention was made with government support under Contract No. DE-AC07-05ID14517 awarded by the United States Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention. ... Carbon dioxide gas (CO2) may be converted into liquid fuels such as, for example, hydrocarbon molecules of between about 5 and about 12 carbon atoms per molecule (e.g., gasoline) through multi-step reactions"; and:
"United States Patent 8,226,909 - Systems Including Catalysts in Porous Zeolite Materials Within a Reactor for Use In Synthesizing Hydrocarbons; July 24, 2012; Inventors: Harry Rollins, et. al., Idaho; Assignee: Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, Idaho Falls; (USDOE Idaho National Laboratory); Catalytic structures include a catalytic material disposed within a zeolite material. The catalytic material may be capable of catalyzing a formation of methanol from ... carbon dioxide,and the zeolite material may be capable of catalyzing a formation of hydrocarbon molecules from methanol. Government Interests: This invention was made with government support under Contract No. DE-AC07-05ID14517 awarded by the United States Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention. Claims: A system for synthesizing hydrocarbon molecules having two or more carbon atoms from hydrogen and ... carbon dioxide ... . Carbon dioxide gas (CO2) may be converted into liquid fuels such as, for example, hydrocarbon molecules of between about 5 carbon atoms and about 12 carbon atoms per molecule (e.g., gasoline) through multi-step reactions"; and:
"United States Patent 7,592,291 - Method of Fabricating a Catalytic Structure; September 22, 2009; Inventors: Harry Rollins, et. al., Idaho; Assignee: Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, Idaho Falls, ID (USDOE Idaho National Laboratory); Abstract: A precursor to a catalytic structure (and a) method of hydrogenating a carbon oxide using the catalytic structure is also disclosed, as is a system that includes the catalytic structure. Government Interests: The United States Government has certain rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-AC07-05ID14517 between the United States Department of Energy and Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC. ... Carbon dioxide gas (CO2) may be converted into liquid fuels such as, for example, hydrocarbon molecules of between about 5 and about 12 carbon atoms per molecule (e.g., gasoline) through multi-step reactions";
our United States Department of Energy, our United States Government, We the People, own what would seem some powerful options for the use of that Carbon Dioxide.
It's time we were all informed of all of these powerful options related to the use of our abundant United States Coal, and the immensely-valuable byproduct of it's use, Carbon Dioxide, for both the ongoing generation of reliable and affordable electric power and the concurrent synthesis of "hydrocarbons" such as "gasoline", all of which options could maintain United States prosperity while leading us into freedom from our national economic enslavement to OPEC, and creating one heck of a lot more jobs for Americans living in United States Coal Country.
It is time we were all informed: fully, openly, and publicly informed.