Company developing process to turn carbon dioxide into fuel
October 6, 2008
BY Ron Kotrba
Web exclusive posted Oct. 8, 2008 at 10:11 a.m. CST
Carbon Sciences Inc. is developing a breakthrough biocatalytic technology to convert carbon dioxide into "the basic fuel building blocks" for fuels -C1, C2 and C3. Carbon is abundantly found all around us, but mostly in compounds with other elements. According to Carbon Sciences, it plans to produce systems to utilize some of the more than 28 billion tons of carbon dioxide, a very stable compound, emitted globally every year for downstream fuel production.
"By innovating at the intersection of chemical engineering and bio-engineering, we have discovered a low energy and highly scalable process to transform large quantities of carbon dioxide into gaseous and liquid fuels," the company stated. "The key to our CO2-to-Fuel approach lies in a proprietary multi-step biocatalytic process. Instead of using expensive inorganic catalysts, such as zinc, gold or zeolite, with traditional catalytic chemical processes, the Carbon Sciences process uses inexpensive, renewable biomolecules to catalyze certain chemical reactions required to transform CO2 into basic hydrocarbon building blocks. Of greatest significance, our process occurs at low temperature and low pressure, thereby requiring far less energy than other approaches."
According to Carbon Sciences, its process involves a "complete plant level process" for positioning at a large carbon dioxide emissions source such as a coal-fired power plant. It consists of a carbon dioxide flue gas processor, where crude purification of the emissions stream removes heavy particulates; a biocatalyst unit that regenerates biocatalysts for the transformation process; the biocatalytic reactor matrix, which Carbon Sciences states is the "primary and largest part of the plant where mass quantities of biocatalysts work in a matrix of liquid reaction chambers, performing the multi-stage breakdown of CO2 and its transformation to basic gas and liquid hydrocarbons. These reactors are inexpensive, low temperature and low pressure vessels. Then the liquid solutions are filtered through membrane units to extract liquid fuels and gaseous fuels are extracted through condensers; the final step of conversion/polishing, the output from which contains "low hydrocarbon fuels - e.g., C1-C3. These hydrocarbons can easily be processed into higher fuels, such as gasoline and jet fuel, through commercially available catalytic converters," Carbon Sciences states.
MINNEAPOLIS CONVENTION CENTER | MINNEAPOLIS,MINNESOTA
Serving the Global Sustainable Aviation Fuel Industry
Taking place in September, the North American SAF Conference & Expo, produced by SAF Magazine, in collaboration with the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) will showcase the latest strategies for aviation fuel decarbonization, solutions for key industry challenges, and highlight the current opportunities for airlines, corporations and fuel producers.View More
GAYLORD OPRYLAND RESORT & CONVENTION CENTER | NASHVILLE,TN
Now in its 19th year, the International Biomass Conference & Expo is expected to bring together more than 900 attendees, 160 exhibitors and 65 speakers from more than 25 countries. It is the largest gathering of biomass professionals and academics in the world. The conference provides relevant content and unparalleled networking opportunities in a dynamic business-to-business environment. In addition to abundant networking opportunities, the largest biomass conference in the world is renowned for its outstanding programming—powered by Biomass Magazine–that maintains a strong focus on commercial-scale biomass production, new technology, and near-term research and development. Join us at the International Biomass Conference & Expo as we enter this new and exciting era in biomass energy.View More