I-Corps: Megaton carbon capture technology for point-source emitters

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发大规模的碳捕获技术。目前商业化的大规模碳捕获技术（胺洗涤和钙循环）的运营成本很高，为50美元/吨或更高。新兴的碳捕获技术，如金属有机框架和复合吸附剂，通常不具备兆吨级部署所需的机械性能，如抗压碎性。拟议的技术旨在实现百万吨级的碳捕获，估计运营成本为30美元/吨。这是一项深入的技术创新，可与经过行业验证的订阅模式配合使用。当发电厂还没有碳捕集装置时，拟议的技术将减少排放，如果发电厂已经有现有的碳捕集装置，则降低成本。这个I-Corps项目是基于开发粒状金属碳酸盐（GMC）作为单成分固体吸附剂用于点源二氧化碳（CO2）捕集。研磨的GMC颗粒通过造粒回收。GMC的可回收性限制了吸附剂的浪费，同时保持了较低的热容，实现了每吨CO2捕获的最低成本。在潮湿和干燥的环境中，所提出的技术可以从含有5%-40%CO2的烟气中去除90%的CO2。这种方法利用烟气中的高CO2浓度（5%）和余热，以较小的占地面积（工厂表面积的10%）实现经济的碳捕集。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a large-scale carbon capture technology. Current commercial large-scale carbon capture technologies (amine scrubbing and calcium looping) have a high operational cost of $50/ton or higher. Emerging carbon capture technologies such as metal organic framework and composite sorbent generally do not possess the mechanical properties such as crush resistance required for megaton-scale deployment. The proposed technology is designed to achieve megaton-scale carbon capture with an estimated operational cost of $30/ton. This is a deep technology innovation that works with an industrially-proven subscription model. The proposed technology will reduce the emissions when the powerplant does not already have a carbon capture unit, and reduce the cost if the power plant already has an existing carbon capture unit.This I-Corps project is based on the development of development of granular metal carbonate (GMC) as a single-ingredient solid adsorbent for point-source carbon dioxide (CO2) capture. Abrased GMC particles are recycled through granulation. The recyclability of GMC limits the waste of sorbent while maintaining a low heat capacity, achieving the lowest cost per ton of CO2 captured. The proposed technology may remove 90% of the CO2 from flue gases containing 5%-40% CO2 in humid and dry environments. This approach leverages the high CO2 concentration in the flue gas (5%) and excess heat to achieve economical carbon capture with a small footprint (10% of the plant’s surface area).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.