Business Development and Carbon Capture: Future Technologies for Green Energy

2. Business Development and Carbon Capture: Future Technologies for Green Energy Christopher W. Jones Georgia Institute of Technology School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Atlanta, GA 30332, USA Forum on Green Entrepreneurship Athens, Greece Tuesday, July 8, 2008

3. Motivation: Possibility that CO2 emissions are impacting climate change motivates CO2 Capture and Sequestration (CCS). Mann et al, Nature (1998) 392, 779-787.

4. Motivation: Possibility that CO2 emissions are impacting climate change motivates CO2 Capture and Sequestration (CCS). Mann et al, Nature (1998) 392, 779-787.

5. What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration? • Combustion of fossil fuels produces CO2, water and smaller • amounts of pollutants (soot, SOx, NOx, etc.)

6. What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration? • Combustion of fossil fuels produces CO2, water and smaller • amounts of pollutants (soot, SOx, NOx, etc.) • Current technology “captures” trace pollutants.

7. What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration? • Combustion of fossil fuels produces CO2, water and smaller • amounts of pollutants (soot, SOx, NOx, etc.) • Current technology “captures” trace pollutants. • Carbon capture is the trapping of the CO2 produced – much • larger volumes are involved.

8. What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration? • Carbon sequestration is the storage of the captured CO2 in • a semi-permanent state.

9. What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration? • Carbon sequestration is the storage of the captured CO2 in • a semi-permanent state.

10. Business Opportunities in CCS: • Mature technology exists today that can allow CO2 capture – • “liquid amine absorption” – but it is expensive and inefficient.

11. Business Opportunities in CCS: • Mature technology exists today that can allow CO2 capture – • “liquid amine absorption”– but it is expensive and inefficient. • Implementation of standard technology with coal-fired power • plants for CCS in the USA would lead to ~50-100% increase • in the cost of electricity.

12. Business Opportunities in CCS: • Mature technology exists today that can allow CO2 capture – • “liquid amine absorption”– but it is expensive and inefficient. • Implementation of standard technology with coal-fired power • plants for CCS in the USA would lead to ~50-100% increase • in the cost of electricity. • Most of the cost is associated with capture, not sequestration.

13. Business Opportunities in CCS: • Mature technology exists today that can allow CO2 capture – • “liquid amine absorption” – but it is expensive and inefficient. • Implementation of standard technology with coal-fired power • plants for CCS in the USA would lead to ~50-100% increase • in the cost of electricity. • Most of the cost is associated with capture, not sequestration. • Thus, new technology is needed that allows for more • cost-effective CO2 capture.

14. Georgia Tech CO2 Capture Program: Vision: Develop paradigm-shifting technology that can drastically reduce the cost of CO2 capture from flue gas streams.

15. Georgia Tech CO2 Capture Program: Vision: Develop paradigm-shifting technology that can drastically reduce the cost of CO2 capture from flue gas streams. Approach: Combine cutting-edge new CO2-adsorbing materials with new efficient processing approaches.

16. Georgia Tech CO2 Capture Program: Vision: Develop paradigm-shifting technology that can drastically reduce the cost of CO2 capture from flue gas streams. Approach: Combine cutting-edge new CO2-adsorbing materials with new efficient processing approaches. Working with the USNational Energy Technology Laboratory, we have developed a promising new material – a hyperbranched aminosilica material – that is: (i) low in cost (ii) easy to make (iii) has a very high CO2 capacity.

17. Hyperbranched Aminosilica (HAS): • Start with a common, low cost, environmentally benign material – silica.

18. Hyperbranched Aminosilica (HAS): • Start with a common, low cost, environmentally benign material – silica. • In one step, we synthesize a hyperbranched amine- • containing polymer on the surface of the silica support. • Amine sites are bases that effectively soak up the acidic • CO2 gas.

19. Hyperbranched Aminosilica (HAS): • Start with a common, low cost, environmentally benign material – silica. • In one step, we synthesize a hyperbranched amine- • containing polymer on the surface of the silica support. • Amine sites are bases that effectively soak up the acidic • CO2 gas. • HAS adsorbent has a highly-branched structure, enhancing the amine • accessibility, allowing for capture of large amounts of CO2. HAS

20. Hyperbranched Aminosilica (HAS): • Start with a common, low cost, environmentally benign material – silica. • In one step, we synthesize a hyperbranched amine- • containing polymer on the surface of the silica support. • Amine sites are bases that effectively soak up the acidic • CO2 gas. • HAS adsorbent has a highly-branched structure, enhancing the amine • accessibility, allowing for capture of large amounts of CO2. CO2 HAS HAS

21. Hyperbranched Aminosilica (HAS): • Start with a common, low cost, environmentally benign material – silica. • In one step, we synthesize a hyperbranched amine- • containing polymer on the surface of the silica support. • Amine sites are bases that effectively soak up the acidic • CO2 gas. • HAS adsorbent has a highly-branched structure, enhancing the amine • accessibility, allowing for capture of large amounts of CO2. CO2 HAS is low cost, easy to make, and has a high CO2 capacity. HAS HAS C. W. Jones et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008,130, 2902.

22. Schematic of a CO2 Capture Process Key: HAS adsorbant Non-CO2 flue gas CO2 Exhaust from combustion.

23. Schematic of a CO2 Capture Process 75˚C Key: HAS adsorbant Non-CO2 flue gas CO2 Exhaust from combustion.

24. Schematic of a CO2 Capture Process Exhaust with 90% CO2 removed 75˚C Key: HAS adsorbant Non-CO2 flue gas CO2 Exhaust from combustion.

25. Schematic of a CO2 Capture Process Exhaust with 90% CO2 removed 75˚C Key: HAS adsorbant Non-CO2 flue gas CO2 Exhaust from combustion.

26. Schematic of a CO2 Capture Process Exhaust with 90% CO2 removed 125˚C 75˚C Key: HAS adsorbant Non-CO2 flue gas CO2 Exhaust from combustion.

27. Schematic of a CO2 Capture Process Exhaust with 90% CO2 removed 125˚C 75˚C Key: HAS adsorbant Non-CO2 flue gas CO2 CO2 for sequestration or conversion Exhaust from combustion.

28. Business Opportunities in CCS: Sequestration vs. Utilization -- very few large scale utilization strategies 1) Enhanced Oil Recovery – EOR: -- use pressurized CO2 to allow secondary recovery of hard to access crude oil -- some CO2 remains underground

29. Business Opportunities in CCS: Sequestration vs. Utilization 2) Algae-based Biofuels: -- algae use CO2 as a nutrient via photosynthesis -- algae are being engineered to produce hydrocarbons suitable for Diesel fuel use as well as ethanol. Photo from Popular Mechanics: http://www.popularmechanics.com/ science/earth/4213775.html

30. Conclusions: • There are numerous business opportunities in both CO2 capture and • sequestration/utilization. • New GT hyperbranchedaminosilica sorbent has: • Very high capacity • Multi-cycle stability • Simple, low cost, scalable design • promising for commercial application. • Current work seeks to develop a new process for • implementation of HAS materials in post-combustion CO2 • capture in collaboration with our research partners: US Department of Energy - National Energy Technology Laboratory

32. Adsorption Results: Multi-cycle stability. 75 ºC adsorption, 130 ºC desorption.