Colloidal Aminated Porous liquids for emission free and energy efficient CO2 capture (CAPCO2)

Ambitious goals of reduced and negative emissions of CO2 has put Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) back on the agenda. However, with the large energy use for the regeneration of the scrubbing fluids, CCS is expensive.

Here we propose studies of alternative fluids with built-in porosity that consist of colloidal aminated porous liquids (CAPLs).

We will study chemistry and colloidal phenomena coupled to the CAPLs, their CO2 capture abilities, energy use for regeneration, reaction kinetics, and thermal and hydrolytic stability. We plan to use a multipronged approach with many methods. A focus will be on polymeric CAPLs but also such based on porous carbons will be investigated.

The colloidal stability will be studied under CO2-rich and CO2-lean conditions as those will affect both the chemical engineering design and amine-densities possible to achieve.

To enhance the capture capacity and reduce the energy use, we will explore non-aqueous solvents that induce a CO2 capture chemistry that goes beyond that of ammonium-carbamate ion pairs.

The CO2 capture capacity, energy use, and kinetics will be studied experimentally and theoretically by a numerical model for reactive absorption of CO2 by a CAPL particle.

Emission of amines and amine decomposition products from the CAPLs will be analyzed to assure that these are significantly smaller than for conventional scrubbing liquids. One PhD student will be recruited and team supervised by the three involved principle investigators.