ECO-CBET: GOALI: Environmental Convergence in Chemical Process Systems - Integrating CO2 Capture and In-Situ Conversion with Ethylene Manufacture

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The project applies convergent environmental research to the mitigation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with one of the world’s major commodity chemical processes – the steam cracking of ethane to produce ethylene (a building block molecule used widely in chemical manufacturing). Steam crackers are a major source of CO2 emissions (18.8 million metric tons/year in the U.S. in 2014), resulting in about 0.5% of all stationary-source CO2 emissions in the U.S. The project focuses on research that integrates capability for CO2 capture and conversion into existing steam cracker units, thereby dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of those units. Environmentally convergent research will be realized through an assembled team of academic and industry researchers bringing specialized expertise in four critical areas: 1) CO2 capture, 2) CO2 conversion to higher-value chemicals, 3) process systems engineering integration, and 4) environmental sustainability assessment. Beyond the technical aspects, the project will pave a direct path to technology implementation, as aided by the collaboration with industry partner BASF. Educational and outreach efforts, focused on enhancing convergent R&D practices in both industrial and academic settings, will promote a future workforce much better equipped to tackle the world’s most pressing scientific, engineering and sustainability challenges.The project integrates CO2 capture and conversion to methanol into an ethylene production unit, where the CO2 comes from the flue gas of the steam cracker furnace, and is reacted with H2 byproduct, utilizing waste heat from the cracker to run the CO2 capture and conversion process. Specially designed ionic liquids (ILs) will be employed for CO2 capture, with research emphasis on the fundamental chemistry needed to balance the capture, CO2 activation, and catalytic conversion steps in an economically viable low-temperature methanol synthesis process. To that end, fundamental developments at the molecular level will be converged with extensive process modeling, simulation, and design optimization. Rigorous life cycle assessment (LCA) will be conducted for representative ethylene and methanol co-production facilities, and compared to stand-alone process units, with and without integrated CO2 capture and conversion. Highlights of the educational and outreach activities include, 1) a seminar series revolving around research presentations on CO2 capture and conversion by the university team balanced by lectures on industrial opportunities for CO2 capture and conversion by BASF engineers, 2) graduate student internships, and 3) a CO2 capture and conversion module for high school students to be disseminated through the UTeachEngineering: “Engineer Your World” program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.