Harnessing Electrochemical Systems to Decarbonize Stubborn Industries
In the global race to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, scientists at MIT are targeting the most challenging industries to decarbonize. Steelmaking, cement production, and chemical manufacturing are notoriously difficult sectors to tackle, as they heavily rely on carbon and fossil fuels as integral ingredients in their processes. However, the MIT team aims to overcome these obstacles by developing advanced carbon capture technologies that can efficiently capture and convert carbon emissions from “hard-to-reduce” industrial sources.
The current methods of capturing and converting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions involve two separate processes, both of which require substantial amounts of energy to operate. This energy-intensive approach presents a significant barrier to widespread adoption. Therefore, the MIT team is working towards integrating these two processes into a more efficient system that can potentially be powered by renewable energy sources. By capturing and converting CO2 from concentrated industrial sources, this novel solution could significantly contribute to reducing overall emissions in these challenging sectors.
In a recent study published in SCA Catalysis, MIT researchers shed light on the inner workings of a single electrochemical process that can capture and convert carbon dioxide. While previous studies have demonstrated similar capabilities, the precise mechanisms driving the electrochemical reaction have remained elusive. Through extensive experiments, the MIT team identified the critical factor: the partial pressure of carbon dioxide. In essence, the purer the carbon dioxide that comes into contact with the electrode, the more effectively it can be captured and converted. This insight provides a crucial foundation for optimizing and fine-tuning electrochemical systems to achieve efficient carbon dioxide capture and conversion.
The research findings suggest that electrochemical systems are better suited for highly concentrated emissions generated by industrial processes rather than capturing and converting carbon emissions directly from the air. Industries such as steelmaking and cement production, which lack renewable energy alternatives, stand to benefit tremendously from this technology. While transitioning to renewable energy sources for electricity production is essential, deeply decarbonizing these industries presents significant challenges that require innovative solutions in the short term. The integrated electrochemical system developed by the MIT team could precisely fit this niche.
Betar Gallant, the lead author of the study and an associate professor at MIT, emphasizes the importance of finding solutions to tackle emissions from industries with limited immediate alternatives: “Even if we get rid of all our power plants, we need some solutions to deal with emissions from other industries in the short term, before we can fully decarbonize them. That’s where we see a sweet spot, where something like this system could fit.”
To understand the electrochemical process better, the MIT team conducted meticulous experiments using amine solutions that resemble industrial carbon capture solutions. By systematically altering various properties of each solution, such as pH, concentration, and amine type, the researchers identified the parameter that had the greatest influence on the amount of carbon monoxide produced during the reaction. Surprisingly, it was not the type of amine used, as previously suspected, but rather the concentration of single, free-floating carbon dioxide molecules in the solution, known as “co solo2.” This discovery indicates that efficient carbon capture and conversion can be achieved with high concentrations of carbon dioxide in industrial streams, opening new possibilities for the production of valuable chemicals and fuels.
It is important to note that electrochemical systems are not a silver bullet and cannot solve the climate crisis on their own. However, they offer considerable value by allowing for multiple cycles of carbon dioxide recycling while maintaining existing industrial processes with reduced emissions. Gallant envisions a future where electrochemical systems can facilitate the mineralization and permanent storage of CO2, truly removing it from the atmosphere. Although this long-term goal requires further research and development, the current findings serve as a crucial stepping stone towards designing and refining such processes.
The research conducted by the MIT team is supported by Sunway University in Malaysia. This collaboration signifies the global effort to address the pressing challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in industries around the world.
In conclusion, the integration of electrochemical systems into carbon capture technologies has the potential to revolutionize the decarbonization of stubborn industries. By identifying the driving mechanisms behind the electrochemical reaction, the MIT researchers have paved the way for optimizing the performance of these systems. While the transition to renewable energy sources remains a priority, finding effective, short-term solutions for industries with limited alternatives is crucial in the fight against climate change. The electrochemical system developed by the MIT team presents a promising avenue for capturing and converting carbon dioxide emissions from concentrated industrial sources, thus making significant strides in reducing emissions and achieving a more sustainable future.
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In the race to reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world, MIT scientists are seeking carbon capture technologies to decarbonize the most stubborn industrial emitters.
Steelmaking, cement, and chemicals are particularly difficult industries to decarbonise, as carbon and fossil fuels are inherent ingredients in their production. Technologies that can capture carbon emissions and convert them into forms that feed back into the production process could help reduce overall emissions from these “hard to reduce” sectors.
But so far, experimental technologies that capture and convert carbon dioxide do so as two separate processes, which in turn require enormous amounts of energy to function. The MIT team seeks to combine the two processes into an integrated, much more energy-efficient system that could potentially be powered by renewable energy to capture and convert carbon dioxide from concentrated industrial sources.
In a study appearing today in SCA catalysis, researchers reveal the hidden workings of how carbon dioxide can be captured and converted through a single electrochemical process. The process involves using an electrode to draw carbon dioxide released from a sorbent and convert it into a reduced, reusable form.
Similar demonstrations have been reported by others, but the mechanisms driving the electrochemical reaction remain unclear. The MIT team carried out extensive experiments to determine that factor and found that it was ultimately due to the partial pressure of carbon dioxide. In other words, the more pure carbon dioxide comes into contact with the electrode, the more efficiently it can capture and convert the molecule.
Knowledge of this main driver, or “active species,” can help scientists tune and optimize similar electrochemical systems to efficiently capture and convert carbon dioxide in an integrated process.
The study results imply that while these electrochemical systems would likely not work in highly dilute environments (for example, to capture and convert carbon emissions directly from the air), they would be well suited for highly concentrated emissions generated by industrial processes. particularly those without an obvious renewable alternative.
“We can and must switch to renewable energy for electricity production. But deeply decarbonizing industries like cement or steel production is challenging and will take longer,” says study author Betar Gallant, associate professor of professional development at the promotion from 1922 at MIT. “Even if we get rid of all our power plants, we need some solutions to deal with emissions from other industries in the short term, before we can fully decarbonise them. That’s where we see a sweet spot, where something like this system could fit.”
Co-authors of the MIT study are lead author and postdoc Graham Leverick and graduate student Elizabeth Bernhardt, along with Aisyah Illyani Ismail, Jun Hui Law, Arif Arifutzzaman and Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua from Sunway University in Malaysia.
breaking ties
Carbon capture technologies are designed to capture emissions, or “flue gases,” from the smokestacks of power plants and manufacturing facilities. This is done primarily through extensive adaptations to channel emissions into chambers filled with a “capture” solution: a mixture of amines or ammonia-based compounds, which chemically bind with carbon dioxide, producing a stable form that can be separated. of carbon dioxide. rest of the combustion gases.
High temperatures, usually in the form of steam generated from fossil fuels, are then applied to release the captured carbon dioxide from its amine bond. In its pure form, the gas can then be pumped into storage tanks or underground, mineralized, or converted into chemicals or fuels.
“Carbon capture is a mature technology, as its chemistry has been known for about 100 years, but it requires really large facilities and is quite expensive and energy-intensive to operate,” Gallant says. “What we want are technologies that are more modular and flexible and can adapt to more diverse sources of carbon dioxide. Electrochemical systems can help address that.”
His group at MIT is developing an electrochemical system that recovers captured carbon dioxide and converts it into a reduced, usable product. Such an integrated system, rather than a decoupled one, he says, could run entirely on renewable electricity instead of steam derived from fossil fuels.
Their concept centers on an electrode that would fit into existing chambers of carbon capture solutions. When a voltage is applied to the electrode, electrons flow into the reactive form of carbon dioxide and convert it to a product using protons supplied by the water. This makes the sorbent available to bind more carbon dioxide, rather than using steam to do the same.
Gallant previously showed that this electrochemical process could work to capture and convert carbon dioxide to a solid carbonate form.
“We have shown that this electrochemical process was feasible from very early concepts,” he says. “Since then, there have been other studies focused on using this process to try to produce useful chemicals and fuels. But there have been inconsistent explanations for how these reactions work, under the hood.”
CO solo2
In the new study, the MIT team used a magnifying glass under the hood to discover the specific reactions that drive the electrochemical process. In the lab, they generated amine solutions that resemble industrial capture solutions used to extract carbon dioxide from flue gases. They methodically altered various properties of each solution, such as pH, concentration, and amine type, then passed each solution through an electrode made of silver, a metal widely used in electrolysis studies and known for efficiently converting carbon dioxide to carbon dioxide. carbon monoxide. They then measured the concentration of carbon monoxide that was converted at the end of the reaction, and compared this number to all the other solutions they tested, to see which parameter had the greatest influence on how much carbon monoxide was produced.
In the end, they found that it wasn’t the type of amine used to initially capture the carbon dioxide that mattered most, as many suspected. Rather, it was the concentration of single, free-floating carbon dioxide molecules that prevented binding with the amines but were nonetheless present in solution. This “co solo2” determined the concentration of carbon monoxide that was ultimately produced.
“We found that it’s easier to react to this ‘solo’ CO2compared to CO2 that has been captured by the amine,” Leverick offers. “This tells future researchers that this process could be feasible for industrial streams, where high concentrations of carbon dioxide could be efficiently captured and converted into useful chemicals and fuels.” “.
“This is not a kill technology and it’s important to make that clear,” Gallant stresses. “The value it brings is that it allows us to recycle carbon dioxide multiple times while maintaining existing industrial processes, with fewer associated emissions. Ultimately, my dream is that electrochemical systems can be used to facilitate mineralization and permanent storage of CO2 — a true removal technology. That’s a longer-term view. And much of the science that we are beginning to understand is a first step toward designing those processes.”
This research is supported by Sunway University in Malaysia.
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