Development of activated carbons from Tyre Char for Carbon Capture and storage, for application in the global Cement Industry

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International deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) for point-source emitters (primarily combustion power plants) is considered as the only way to control CO2 emissions to within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) targets, whilst not disrupting global energy or industrial demands (IPPC, 2014) (DECC, 2012). The continued release of CO2 from human activities is mainly due to ongoing power generation from fossil fuel usage in developing economies (coal) and in developed countries (natural gas) alongside domestic fuel usage (heating and cooking). The other major global source of CO2 is from the production of cement clinker for the global construction industry. Cement manufacture is the single largest industrial source of industrial CO2, accounting for ~ 5% of global emission. It is rated as the third largest global source of CO2 after the economies of China and the USA. It is well recognised that the process of separating the CO2 from waste flue-gases is a highly energy intensive process (using up to 40% of the output from a typical power station), entailing the majority of the cost of existent CCS systems, hence the capture mechanism in these CCS processes is very inefficient. This inefficiency arises because significant heat is required to desorb the CO2 from the amine solution once it has been captured, due to the high binding energy of the CO2 to the amine. In a typical CCS retrofitted power plant, this can increase the electricity cost per KWh by 80%. An alternative methodology for CO2 capture is by adsorption on to activated carbon, which is an engineered organic matter with a very high surface area. he key research output will be the development of a novel activated carbon adsorbent-based "CO2 capture" system to achieve the separation and concentration of the CO2 from the waste gas stream of cement kilns. The proposed feedstock for the carbon used in the system will be the char from tyre pyrolysis. Through careful selection and analysis of the pyrolysis process, alongside the application of various optimisation and material processing techniques, it should be feasible to significantly enhance the adsorption of carbon dioxide by the resulting activated carbons. As an activated carbon, the char's value will increase significantly. Typically, activated carbon is sold for over £1000/tonne, with the price being linked to the specialisation of the application. An Activated carbon for specialist uses (such as CO2 capture), would be of a much higher value than basic water treatment carbons. The management of the concentrated CO2 is then much more readily achieved. For example, it can be pumped to secure storage (CCS), thus helping to reduce the global warming effect associated with CO2 release from cement manufacture of electricity generation or applied in specialist construction applications (cementitious carbonation).EPSRC research area :Carbon Capture and Storage