Carbon Capture Porous Liquids in Blue Hydrogen Production - Reducing Energy and Cost

减少工业规模化学分离过程的能源需求和碳排放是减缓气候变化的关键目标。目前，仅在美国，这些过程就约占所有能源使用量的16%，并产生大量温室气体排放。国际政策正在向一个更加绿色的、以氢为基础的未来转变，在这个未来，能源的创造和消耗都是碳中和的。通过电解水生产的氢能是未来的发展方向，但预计在2060年之前无法满足全球对氢的需求。随着这项技术的发展，需要其他解决方案来增加氢的供应，其中一个被称为蓝色氢。蓝色氢依靠蒸汽与天然气中的甲烷反应生成氢气，副产品是二氧化碳（CO2）。二氧化碳通过化学反应被捕获并转移，用作化学原料或储存在地下水库中，提供蓝氢作为清洁产品。目前的碳捕获方法依赖于形成化学键，这需要大量的能源成本来打破，并导致高工艺成本和排放。多孔液体（PLs）是一种独特的化学材料，本质上是分子大小的笼子，被包裹在液体载体中。这些笼子足够大，可以让气体分子——比如二氧化碳——进入它们的毛孔，但又太小，不能让液体进入笼子，从而停止它们的功能。这些笼通过一种称为物理吸附的非键合化学过程与目标分子相互作用，这意味着再生PLs和释放二氧化碳所需的能量明显少于目前的技术。此外，与现有的碳捕获化学不同，PLs具有长期的化学稳定性，不会腐蚀基础设施。我们之前已经演示了PLs在沼气碳捕集到生物甲烷应用中的使用，并相信这项工作可以简化专注于在蓝氢系统中使用PLs的项目。这种替代不仅可以改善该过程的碳捕获特性，还可以减少再生碳捕获化学品的能源需求，从而改善系统并显著减少蓝氢的污染形式。多孔液体在工业规模的化学分离中有广泛的应用，并且适用于特定的化学目标。该项目将为扩大我们的碳捕获组合提供坚实的基础，为未来的资金提供所需的概念验证。

Reducing the energy requirement and carbon emissions of industrial-scale chemical separation processes is a key goal in slowing climate change. At present, these processes account for approximately 16% of all energy use in the US alone and produce significant greenhouse gas emissions.International policies are transitioning towards a greener, hydrogen-based future where energy is created and consumed carbon neutrally. Green Hydrogen energy, produced through the electrolysis of water, is the future but is not expected to fulfil global hydrogen demand before 2060. While this technology develops, alternative solutions are required to augment hydrogen supplies, one of which is known as Blue Hydrogen.Blue Hydrogen relies on reacting steam with methane from natural gas to form hydrogen with carbon dioxide (CO2) produced as a by-product. CO2 is captured through a chemical reaction and transferred, for use as a chemical feedstock or for storage in an underground reservoir, providing the Blue Hydrogen as a clean product. Current carbon capture methods rely on forming a chemical bond, which requires a significant energy cost to break, and results in high process costs and emissions.Porous liquids (PLs) are unique chemical materials that are essentially molecular-sized cages entrained in a liquid carrier. These cages are large enough to allow gas molecules - CO2, for example - to enter their pores but too small to allow the liquid to pass into the cages and stop their function. These cages interact with their target molecule through a non-bonding chemical process called physisorption, meaning the energy required to regenerate the PLs and release CO2 is significantly less than current technologies. Additionally, unlike existing carbon capture chemistry, PLs have long-term chemical stability and do not corrode infrastructure.We have previously demonstrated the use of PLs in carbon capture for biogas to biomethane applications and believe this work can streamline a project focused on using PLs on Blue Hydrogen systems. This substitution will not only improve the carbon capture properties of the process but will also reduce the energy requirements in regenerating the carbon capture chemical, leading to system improvements and a significantly less polluting form of Blue Hydrogen.Porous liquids have applications across a broad cross-section of industrial-scale chemical separations and are adaptable to specific chemical targets. This project will provide a firm foundation for expanding our carbon capture portfolio, providing the proof-of-concept validation needed for future funding.