What they have discovered is superior
method for removing CO2 from a humid air stream and then releasing that CO2
into a usable form for further application.
What comes to mind immediately
are smoke stacks. As I have posted in
the past the technology already exists that allows SOx and NOx to be stripped
out of the gas flow. It is then run
through a water quench that strips out the acids, particulates and salts
produced in a form that also allows easy recycling. The remaining gas just happens to be
CO2. This technology now allows for the
hypothetical operation of a closed system that consumes fuels and produces no
stack gas at all.
The cost will be an unattractive
addition, so it will not be sped into operation anytime soon. Yet it is good to know that it is now clearly
possible to consume combustion products totally. It will cost a fortune in engineering work to
pull it all together and to make it work.
New Materials Remove Carbon Dioxide from Smokestacks, Tailpipes and
Even the Air
ScienceDaily (Jan. 4, 2012) — Scientists are reporting discovery
of an improved way to remove carbon dioxide -- the major greenhouse gas that
contributes to global warming -- from smokestacks and other sources, including
the atmosphere. Their report on the process, which achieves some of the highest
carbon dioxide removal capacity ever reported for real-world conditions where
the air contains moisture, appears in the Journal of the American Chemical
Society.
Alain Goeppert, G. K. Surya Prakash, chemistry Nobel Laureate George A.
Olah and colleagues explain that controlling emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)
is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. They
point out that existing methods for removing carbon dioxide from smokestacks
and other sources, including the atmosphere, are energy intensive, don't work
well and have other drawbacks. In an effort to overcome such obstacles, the
group turned to solid materials based on polyethylenimine, a readily available
and inexpensive polymeric material.
Their tests showed that these inexpensive materials achieved some of
the highest carbon dioxide removal rates ever reported for humid air, under
conditions that stymie other related materials. After capturing carbon dioxide,
the materials give it up easily so that the CO2 can be used in making
other substances, or permanently isolated from the environment. The capture
material then can be recycled and reused many times over without losing
efficiency. The researchers suggest the materials may be useful on
submarines, in smokestacks or out in the open atmosphere, where they could
clean up carbon dioxide pollution that comes from small point sources like cars
or home heaters, representing about half of the total CO2 emissions
related to human activity.
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Journal Reference:
Alain Goeppert, Miklos Czaun, Robert B. May, G. K. Surya Prakash,
George A. Olah, S. R. Narayanan. Carbon Dioxide Capture from the Air Using
a Polyamine Based Regenerable Solid Adsorbent. Journal of the American
Chemical Society, 2011; 133 (50): 20164 DOI:10.1021/ja2100005
1 comment:
CO2 is not a pollutant. It is a beneficial trace gas that plant's consume. The higher the CO2 level, the batter off we are.
The ultimate irony of the AGW hoax, is that WARMING IS GOOD!. Extreme cooling is the only type of climate change that we should fear, because crops don't grow well when it's cold, which causes all life forms to suffer.
fs
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