The Need

46% of 2010 global greenhouse gas emissions came from electricity and heat production, or from fossil fuels burned for industrial use (EPA). A lot of effort has been put into research on CO₂ capture by adsorbents or absorbents, in order to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, effective CO­₂ remediation from air is necessary to maintain habitable environments in confined environments such as submarines and spacecraft. Progress has been made in CO₂ capture for these uses, however, current amine based solvents for absorption require high energy input to regenerate the solvent, and packed beds of zeolites and silica offer poor reliability and low CO₂ removal efficiency. Currently, there is a need for an improved sorbent for CO₂ capture that has a lower energy input for regeneration, while maintaining high efficiency of capture.

The Technology

The Ohio State University researchers, led by Professor Casey Wade, have developed an adsorbent capable of CO₂ capture. This adsorbent has a low energy requirement to regenerate the sorbent, while having a higher carbon dioxide capture efficiency than most other solid sorbents available today, and maintains a high adsorption capacity through many adsorption-desorption cycles.

Commercial Applications

• Coal power plants
• Natural gas power plants
• Fuel oil power plants
• Industrial energy production
• Submarine CO₂ remediation
• Spacecraft CO₂ remediation

Benefits/Advantages

• Lower energy input to regenerate sorbent compared to current amine based solvent absorption techniques
• Exhibits better reliability and CO₂ removal efficiency than packed beds of zeolites and silica
• Maintains high adsorbent capacity through many adsorption-desorption cycles