Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

1. Carbon Capture:  Beyond 2020 Paul Alivisatos Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Michelle Buchanan Oak Ridge National Laboratory Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee Meeting August 5, 2010

2. Stemming CO2 Emissions is a Daunting Challenge Global energy use accounts for over 85% of the 37 Gt of CO2 released to the atmosphere annually U.S. Energy Information Administration / International Energy Outlook 2010; OECD = Organization Economic Cooperation and Development member countries Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

3. Projected global electricity generation shows continued reliance on carbon-based fuels U.S. Energy Information Administration / International Energy Outlook 2010

4. Carbon Capture - a necessary part of the solution Efficiency Renewables Nuclear Coal Substitution CCS Cost of Carbon Capture today: ~$80/ton of CO2; ~8c/kWh Parasitic energy of 25-30% Source: IPCC

5. Today’s technologies I – multiple separation approaches

6. Today’s technology II – post combustion amine separations

7. Today’s technologies III – scope of the problem Typical 550 MW coal-fired electrical plant • 2 million ft3 of flue gas per minute • Contains CO2, H2O, N2, O2, NOx, SOx, and ash

8. Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020 March 4‐5, 2010 • Co- Chairs: • Paul Alivisatos (LBNL) • Michelle Buchanan(ORNL) • Breakout Session Panel and Leaders: • Liquids‐Based Absorption • Bill Schneider, Notre Dame University • Peter Cummings, Vanderbilt University • Membranes • Benny Freeman, U. Texas-Austin • Samuel Stupp, Northwestern University • Solid Sorbents • Omar Yaghi, U. California-Los Angeles • Chris Murray, U. Pennsylvania, • Crosscutting Theory, Modeling, & Simulation • Berend Smit, U. California-Berkeley • Paulette Clancy, Cornell University • Crosscutting Analysis and Characterization • Murray Gibson, Argonne National Lab • Martin Zanni, U. Wisconsin-Madison Goal - To identify the global challenges and fundamental science needed to provide transformative carbon capture technologies in the time frame beyond 2020. • Sponsored Jointly by BES (Lead) and FE

9. Technology Perspectives-A Factual Document for the Workshop Contents: Introduction Carbon Capture Technologies • Post Combustion CO2 Capture • Pre-Combustion CO2 Capture • Oxy-Combustion • Cyrogenic Separations • Status of CO2 Capture Technology Field Testing Materials for Carbon Capture • Liquid Absorbents • Solid Adsorbents • Membranes Alternative Gas Separation Pathways Summary and Technical Challenges Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

10. Summary of this report • Few energy technologies are so far off from the achievable limits! There is a real opportunity here. • The Carbon Capture problem provides inspiration for deep new basic science. • Nanoscience opens up new opportunities to tailor materials for carbon capture - Liquids, membranes, and solids. • A challenge to design complex new interactions utilizing architecture, shape, controlled binding, new triggers, and new approaches to cooperative binding. Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

11. Liquid Absorbents: Solubility and Pressure A + CO2 (g) ↔ A⋅CO2Keq(T) gas O2 PCO2 H2O CO2 WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL THESE ISOTHERMS CO2 N2 A A-CO2 A-CO2 cCO2 liquid

12. Fundamental Challenges in Liquid Absorbents • Can the non-ideal solution behavior in mixtures be predicted and exploited? • Can chemically / thermally stable materials be designed with high and reversible reactivity and specificity? Ionic Liquids… • How do we use both enthalpy AND entropy for separations? How do we vary these ‘independently’? ΔG = ΔH – T∆S • Gas-liquid interface controls kinetics – studies of structure and dynamics • Can complex fluids be employed?

13. Novel Solvents and Chemistries • Intermolecular interactions of gases dissolved in liquids • Understand chemical and physical changes, dynamics, effects of complex mixtures • New chemistries and systems • Understand and independently control thermodynamic, kinetic, and transport characteristics of absorbents to cause controlled, reversible reactions with CO2 • Non-ideal absorption • Predict and use differences in shape and size (entropy) as an alternative to differences in interaction energy (enthalpy) to achieve both high capacity and high selectivity Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

14. Interfacial processes and kinetics • Understand the concentration and chemical state of targeted gases at liquid interfaces • New analytical and computational tools to examine both static and dynamic processes • Tailor surface chemistry to enhance reactivity and improve reversibility/switchability • Design new tailored systems for faciitated transport mechanisms CO2 switches a solvent between non-ionic and ionic states Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

15. Membrane Separations: Solubility and Diffusivity • Separation based on selective permeation of targeted gas • Selectivity based on relative solubility and diffusivity in membrane • Selectivity is not 100% • Membranes often have multiple layers with different functions • Trade-off on selectivity and permeability—need to have both • Change in pressure needed to drive separation

16. High temperature transport membranes – a possible model for CO2?

17. New classes of “polymeric” membranes Polymer-peptide block co-polymers Electro-spun block copolymers Many other new configurations… Separate problems of interaction energy tuning from problems of thin membrane integrity

18. Bio-inspired approaches – especially new triggers

19. Fundamental Challenges in Membranes • Can new energy efficient driving forces be developed? • Can the structures and driving forces used by nature provide inspiration for new membranes? • What is the relationship between nano-scale structure and separation performance? • Can new materials be designed with nanoscale structures to enhance transport and selectivity? • How can chemical and physical properties be used to design new membrane materials for enhanced performance?

20. A rapidly expanding library of porous materials Continuous innovation in control of: Pore structure/ connectivity Dimensionality and symmetry Adsorbate site interactions

21. Solid Adsorbants: Tunable Structures • Solid adsorption can occur via two mechanisms on particles or in porous solids • Physisorption via weak interactions • Chemisorption via covalent bonds • Porous solid adsorbent material can be designed to be highly size- and shape-selective • Requires selective removal of targeted gas and efficient recycling of material • Requires high capacity for targeted gas Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

22. Hierarchical Environments for Carbon Capture • New synthetic approaches for 3D nanoscale membrane and solid sorbent materials, including self-assembly • Understanding of key structural, physical and chemical features that will allow fine-tuning of guest binding and release • Understanding structural dynamics, transport dynamics at broad length scales in 3D structures ZIF-69 has substantially greater uptake capacity for CO2 over CO (Yaghi) Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

23. Exploiting Cooperative Phenomena • New materials that respond to gas binding • Design new material that CO2 absorption/desorption would result in a structural or chemical change • Resulting process is more thermo-neutral, alleviating energetic penalty • Non-linear responses • Exploit local effects to absorb multiple gas molecules • Nanoscale confinement to act as mechanical sponges • Neutron studies at NIST revealed that structure of ZIF changes with sorption of CD4 Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

24. Fundamental Challenges in Solid Sorbents • Can materials with novel architectures permit highly selectivity uptake and efficient release of target gases? • How can huge energetic penalties associated with stripping be alleviated? • Can physical and chemical phenomena be understood and controlled at the nanoscale to design materials with tuned composition and particle size? • Can theory predict new materials based on structure/property relationships?

25. Cross-Cutting Science for Carbon Capture • New Capture and Release Triggers • Materials and methods to realize new mechanisms for binding and/or release of target gases • Advances in Characterization • New tools for in situ and multi-dimensional analysis of structure and dynamics over broad spatial and temporal scales • Theory, Modeling and Simulation • New computational tools to understand and predict structure, dynamics, and interactions of materials and target gases Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

26. Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020 Grand Challenges Discovery and Use-Inspired Basic Research Applied Research Technology Maturation & Deployment • Couple characterization and computational tools to guide the synthesis of revolutionary new materials • Discover new trigger mechanisms to provide efficient gas uptake and release • Understand CO2 and O2 chemistry and transport in solution, at interfaces, and in confined spaces • Understand and predict interactions in complex environments • Design and synthesis of hierarchical materials tailored on multiple length scales, from atomic to macroscopic • Predict and control properties of materials and chemical processes far from equilibrium • Conceive new materials and processes inspired by nature • Understand, predict, and control structure and dynamics of systems to obtain desired function • Discover “smart” materials that respond to stimuli for capture / release of target gases • Design durable materials optimized for both high permeability and high selectivity • Enable multi-dimensional analysis of capture and release processes in situ • Characterize structure and dynamics of materials (solid, liquid, gas) and interfaces in situ across broad temporal and spatial scales • Demonstrate efficiencies and kinetics of separation systems at bench scale • Assess systems with simulated gas streams • Evaluate and benchmark systems with respect to cost, recyclability, lifetimes • Develop advanced separation systems with modeling, testing and analysis • Demonstrate use of advanced systems at pilot scale • Optimize process design and integration with combustion systems • Validate performance in field demonstrations • Evaluate cost reduction and scale-up BESAC & BES Basic Research Needs Workshops DOE Technology Office/Industry Roadmaps BESAC Grand Challenges Report Basic Energy Sciences Goal: new knowledge / understanding Mandate: open-ended Focus: phenomena Metric: knowledge generation DOE Technology Offices: FE, EERE Goal: practical targets Mandate: restricted to target Focus: performance Metric: milestone achievement Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020 26 Carbon Capture: Beyond 2020

27. If you are looking for a new problem to work on… Carbon Capture seems like a really great one