Mechanochemical processing of silicate rocks for direct carbon capture (MACO2)

用于直接碳捕获的硅酸盐岩石的机械化学处理（MACO2）

• 批准号: EP/Y021592/1
• 负责人: Rebecca Lunn
• 金额: $ 136.92万
• 依托单位: University of Strathclyde
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY021592%2F1
• 关键词: Mechanochemical; processing; silicate; rocks; direct

This project aims to develop a new technology for capturing carbon into waste rock powders that are naturally formed during mining and aggregate production operations. We aim to use mechanochemical reactions, which occur during rock crushing, to permanently trap CO2 from industrial exhaust gases as a means of carbon capture. During crushing, energy is instantaneously released (as charged particles and photons) when the chemical bonds in the rock are broken. We use this mechanochemical energy to trap CO2. Our recent research, published in Nature Sustainability, showed that if you crush silica-rich rocks, such as granite and basalt, in CO2 gas instead of air, the CO2 can become permanently trapped, via a process of chemical sorption, within the crystal lattice of the crushed particles. This project will build on our early research. We will explore the effects of temperature, crushed particle size and initial rock water content on the amount of CO2 trapped per unit mass of crushed rock. We will also investigate gas stream composition. Our previous research used pure CO2: here we will crush rocks within realistic CO2-rich effluent gases from industries such as cement production, biomass power production, gas and hydrogen production from natural gas. We will evaluate the carbon savings from our technology using life cycle analysis. Finally, we will explore the potential for (1) the final rock powders to be used as a partial cement replacement product, and (2) co-production of valuable metals from the CO2-rich rock powders. This research project could have a major impact on our ability to meet net zero carbon targets by 2050. Worldwide, at least 40 billion tonnes of silicate-rich rocks are crushed every year by the mining and quarrying industries. If we can adapt current rock crushing processes to trap CO2, with very little extra energy expenditure (other than that used to transport the CO2), then this could be used to trap greenhouse gases from 'hard to decarbonise' industries. Based on our published early research findings, at least 0.4MtCO2 of thermally-stable and insoluble CO2 can be trapped for every 100Mt of saleable crushed aggregate. We estimate that, if this technology was developed and adopted worldwide, it could capture ~0.5% of global CO2 emissions, or 175MtCO2 annually: this is equivalent to the CO2 trapped by a mature forest the size of Germany.

该项目旨在开发一种新技术，将碳捕获到采矿和骨料生产过程中自然形成的废石粉末中。我们的目标是利用岩石破碎过程中发生的机械化学反应，永久捕获工业废气中的二氧化碳，作为碳捕获的一种手段。在破碎过程中，当岩石中的化学键断裂时，能量（以带电粒子和光子的形式）被瞬间释放出来。我们利用这种机械化学能来捕获二氧化碳。我们最近发表在《自然可持续发展》杂志上的研究表明，如果你用二氧化碳气体而不是空气来粉碎富含硅的岩石，比如花岗岩和玄武岩，二氧化碳会通过化学吸附的过程被永久地困在破碎颗粒的晶格中。这个项目将以我们早期的研究为基础。我们将探索温度、破碎粒度和初始岩石含水量对每单位质量破碎岩石捕获的二氧化碳量的影响。我们还将研究气流组成。我们之前的研究使用的是纯二氧化碳：在这里，我们将在水泥生产、生物质发电、天然气制气和制氢等行业产生的富含二氧化碳的排放气体中粉碎岩石。我们将使用生命周期分析来评估我们的技术所节省的碳。最后，我们将探索(1)最终的岩石粉末用作部分水泥替代产品，以及(2)从富含二氧化碳的岩石粉末中联合生产有价金属的潜力。这项研究项目可能会对我们到2050年实现净零碳目标的能力产生重大影响。在世界范围内，每年至少有400亿吨富含硅酸盐的岩石被采矿和采石行业碾碎。如果我们可以调整目前的岩石破碎过程来捕获二氧化碳，而很少额外的能源消耗（除了用于运输二氧化碳的能源），那么这可以用来捕获来自“难以脱碳”的工业的温室气体。根据我们发表的早期研究结果，每100Mt可销售的破碎骨料可以捕获至少40 mtco2的热稳定和不溶性CO2。我们估计，如果这项技术在世界范围内得到开发和采用，它可以捕获全球二氧化碳排放量的0.5%，即每年1.75亿吨二氧化碳：这相当于一个德国大小的成熟森林所捕获的二氧化碳。