A method for permanent CO2 mineral carbonation
The Albany Research Center (ARC) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been conducting research to investigate the feasibility of mineral carbonation as a method for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration. The research is part of a Mineral Carbonation Study Program within the Office of Fossil Energy in DOE. Other participants in this Program include DOE?s Los Alamos National Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory, Arizona State University, and Science Applications International Corporation. The research has focused on ex-situ mineral carbonation in an aqueous system. The process developed at ARC reacts a slurry of magnesium silicate mineral with supercritical CO2 to produce a solid magnesium carbonate product. To date, olivine and serpentine have been used as the mineral reactant, but other magnesium silicates could be used as well. The process is designed to simulate the natural serpentinization reaction of ultramafic minerals, and consequently, these results may also be applicable to strategies for in-situ geological sequestration. Baseline tests were begun in distilled water on ground products of foundry-grade olivine. Tests conducted at 150 C and subcritical CO2 pressures (50 atm) resulted in very slow conversion to carbonate. Increasing the partial pressure of CO2 to supercritical (>73 atm) conditions, coupled with agitation of the slurry and gas dispersion within the water column, resulted in significant improvement in the extent of reaction in much shorter reaction times. A change from distilled water to a bicarbonate/salt solution further improved the rate and extent of reaction. When serpentine, a hydrated mineral, was used instead of olivine, extent of reaction was poor until heat treatment was included prior to the carbonation reaction. Removal of the chemically bound water resulted in conversion to carbonate similar to those obtained with olivine. Recent results have shown that conversions of nearly 80 pct are achievable after 30 minutes at test conditions of 155 C and 185 atm CO2 in a bicarbonate/salt solution. The results from the current studies suggest that reaction kinetics can be further improved. Future tests will examine additional pressure/temperature regimes, various pretreatment options,and solution modifications.
- Research Organization:
- Albany Research Center (ARC), Albany, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE - Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- OSTI ID:
- 896234
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ARC-2000-012; R&D Project: AMP-008; TRN: US200703%%640
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 17th Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 11-15, 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Carbon dioxide sequestration by direct mineral carbonation with carbonic acid
CO2 storage in solid form: a study of direct mineral carbonation
Related Subjects
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
58 GEOSCIENCES
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBONATES
COAL
HEAT TREATMENTS
MAGNESIUM CARBONATES
MAGNESIUM SILICATES
MODIFICATIONS
OLIVINE
PARTIAL PRESSURE
REACTION KINETICS
REMOVAL
SERPENTINE
WATER
carbon dioxide
sequestration
mineral carbonation