Method for manufacturing traditional chinese medicine type additive for reducing carbon dioxide emission in washing tower

Abstract

This invention proposes a method for manufacturing a traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in a scrubbing tower, comprising the following steps: a) taking equal weights of *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*, banana leaves, palm leaf branches, mugwort, cactus, *Bretschneidera sinensis* leaves, sunflower petals, large-leaved *Terminalia catappa* leaves, rapeseed, kelp, cloves, *Osmanthus fragrans*, *Hedyotis diffusa*, dandelion, *Sophora flavescens* root, *Ganoderma lucidum*, *Panax notoginseng*, *Gentiana scabra*, *Scutellaria barbata*, *Prunella vulgaris*, *Sophora tonkinensis*, *Codonopsis pilosula*, seaweed, angelica dahurica, ephedra, coptis chinensis, and magnolia officinalis, and pulverizing them; b) extracting the powdered *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*, banana leaves, palm leaf branches, mugwort, cactus, *Bretschneidera sinensis* leaves, sunflower petals, and large-leaved *Terminalia catappa* leaves with water at room temperature to obtain an extract solution; and c) adding the remaining materials into the extract solution for fermentation, and filtering out the suspended solids and residues after fermentation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a method for manufacturing a traditional Chinese medicine additive, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in a scrubbing tower. Background Technology

[0002] Every day, tens of millions of industrial chimneys around the world emit large amounts of waste gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur oxides (SO4). x ) and nitrogen oxides (NO) x Carbon dioxide (CO2) and other major compounds are significant sources of climate change and environmental pollution. Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that global CO2 emissions exceeded 36 billion tons in 2022, with industrial emissions accounting for over 40%. As CO2 exacerbates global warming, its environmental impact has become increasingly severe in recent years. With the Paris Agreement explicitly requiring net-zero emissions by 2050, countries are implementing carbon reduction policies, which has driven the development of innovative technologies.

[0003] Traditional waste gas treatment technologies include chemical adsorption, physical adsorption, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). While these technologies can partially reduce carbon dioxide emissions, they suffer from high costs, high energy consumption, and the potential to cause secondary pollution, making large-scale deployment difficult. Therefore, there is a need to develop a simple, economical, and efficient solution to address this challenge, particularly for chimney emission control.

[0004] Herbal plants, such as sweet potato leaves, banana leaves, and garlic, are gaining increasing attention for their application value in environmental remediation due to their rich content of active compounds (such as phenolic hydroxyl groups, sulfur compounds, and polyphenols). Furthermore, the active ingredients of umbelliferone and imperatorin further enhance the decomposition effect of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, providing a highly efficient and environmentally friendly CCS solution. This invention utilizes the fermentation of these plants to form a reagent, which is then applied within a chimney scrubbing tower. Through atomized spraying, carbon dioxide capture and decomposition are achieved, reducing a range of environmental problems caused by carbon dioxide emissions. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This paragraph describes some features of the invention. Other features will be described in subsequent paragraphs. Its purpose is to cover the spirit and scope of the appended claims, as well as to include various modifications and similar combinations.

[0006] This invention proposes a method for manufacturing a traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in scrubbing towers. The method includes the following steps: a) taking equal weights of *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*, banana leaves, palm leaf branches, mugwort, cactus, *Bretschneidera sinensis* leaves, sunflower petals, large-leaved *Terminalia chebula* leaves, rapeseed, kelp, cloves, *Osmanthus fragrans*, *Hedyotis diffusa*, dandelion, *Sophora flavescens* root, *Ganoderma lucidum*, *Panax notoginseng*, *Gentiana scabra*, *Scutellaria barbata*, *Prunella vulgaris*, *Sophora tonkinensis* root, *Codonopsis pilosula*, seaweed, *Angelica dahurica*, ephedra, *Coptis chinensis*, and *Magnolia officinalis*, and separately pulverizing them in a pulverizer for 1-30 minutes; b) mixing the powdered *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*, banana leaves, palm leaf branches, mugwort, cactus, *Bretschneidera sinensis* leaves, sunflower petals, and... a) Extracting the leaves of Terminalia chebula with water at room temperature to obtain an extract solution; c) Adding powdered rapeseed, kelp, cloves, Osmanthus fragrans, Hedyotis diffusa, dandelion, Sophora flavescens root, Ganoderma lucidum, Panax notoginseng, Gentiana scabra, Scutellaria barbata, Prunella vulgaris, Sophora tonkinensis, Codonopsis pilosula, seaweed, Angelica dahurica, Ephedra sinica, Coptis chinensis, and Magnolia officinalis to the extract solution, stirring evenly with a mixer, and fermenting in a sealed environment for 48 hours to obtain the additive stock; and d) Filtering the suspended solids and residues in the additive stock to obtain a pure liquid traditional Chinese medicine additive.

[0007] According to the present invention, the pulverized copper vine, banana leaf, palm leaf branch, mugwort, cactus, bougainvillea leaf, sunflower petal, large-leaf olive leaf, rapeseed, kelp, clove, osmanthus, white flower snake tongue grass, dandelion, sophora root, ganoderma, notoginseng, seven-leaf gentian, scutellaria barbata, prunella vulgaris, sophora tonkinensis, codonopsis, seaweed, angelica dahurica, ephedra, coptis chinensis and magnolia bark have a particle size of less than 1 mm.

[0008] According to the present invention, the weight percentage of water is no more than 90% when the total weight percentage of the Chinese medicine additive is 100%.

[0009] The method for manufacturing the traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in a scrubbing tower may further include step e) pouring the traditional Chinese medicine additive into multiple storage containers in quantitative quantities for packaging. This invention offers advantages such as cost-effectiveness (the cost per ton of waste gas treated is less than 70% of that of traditional CCS technology), technical safety (no high-pressure storage and transportation are required, avoiding the potential risks of traditional CCS technology), and environmental friendliness (the herbal medicine is a biodegradable material, and will not cause secondary pollution after treatment). Furthermore, this invention can reduce carbon dioxide emissions at the source, achieving a "zero-pollution" emission mode and fundamentally changing the existing industrial emission structure. In addition to chimney waste gas treatment, this invention can also be applied to exhaust gas treatment in industries such as steel, chemicals, and cement manufacturing, as well as new fields such as indoor air purification, demonstrating cross-sectoral application potential.

[0010] This invention successfully provides a traditional Chinese medicine-based additive based on herbal medicinal plants and verifies its high efficiency and feasibility in treating industrial chimney exhaust gas. This invention reduces carbon dioxide emissions at the source and has significant environmental and economic benefits, providing a novel pathway to achieving global net-zero emissions goals. Attached Figure Description

[0011] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in a scrubbing tower, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 2 This is a flow chart of the traditional Chinese medicine additive of the present invention used in a washing tower. Detailed Implementation

[0013] The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following embodiments.

[0014] See Figure 1 The figure is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in a scrubbing tower according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the "method"). The first step of the method involves taking equal weights of dried herbs including *Gnaphalium affine*, banana leaves, palm branches, mugwort, cactus, *Polygonum hydropiper* leaves, sunflower petals, *Terminalia catappa* leaves, rapeseed, kelp, cloves, *Osmanthus fragrans*, *Hedyotis diffusa*, dandelion, *Sophora flavescens* root, *Ganoderma lucidum*, *Panax notoginseng*, *Gentiana scabra*, *Scutellaria barbata*, *Prunella vulgaris*, *Sophora tonkinensis*, *Codonopsis pilosula*, seaweed, *Angelica dahurica*, ephedra, *Coptis chinensis*, and *Magnolia officinalis*, and pulverizing them in a pulverizer for 1-30 minutes (S01). The purpose of step S01 is to pulverize the traditional Chinese medicinal materials to form the raw materials for the composition in subsequent steps; therefore, these materials are all in a dry state. It should be noted that the purpose of this step is to release the components in the Chinese medicinal materials as much as possible, so the goal of the pulverization operation is to make the particle size of the above-mentioned Chinese medicinal materials after grinding as small as possible (less than 1 mm). However, due to the varying structural toughness of these Chinese medicinal materials, different materials may require different grinding times.

[0015] The second step of this method involves water extraction of powdered *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*, banana leaves, palm branches, mugwort, cactus, *Bretschneidera sinensis* leaves, sunflower petals, and *Terminalia chebula* leaves at room temperature to obtain an extract solution (SO2). Water extraction, also known as solid-liquid extraction or leaching, uses water (such as reverse osmosis water) as a solvent to separate components from a solid mixture. Because the aforementioned medicinal materials have relatively thick cell walls, pulverizing them before extraction facilitates water penetration and enables effective water extraction. Different steps and equipment can be used for water extraction; this invention is not limited to any specific method, as long as an aqueous solution of the extract can be obtained.

[0016] The third step of this method involves adding powdered rapeseed, kelp, cloves, osmanthus, oldenlandia diffusa, dandelion, sophora flavescens root, ganoderma lucidum, notoginseng, gentiana macrophylla, scutellaria barbata, prunella vulgaris, sophora tonkinensis, codonopsis pilosula, seaweed, angelica dahurica, ephedra, coptis chinensis, and magnolia officinalis to the extract solution. After thorough mixing with a mixer, the mixture is fermented in a sealed environment for 48 hours to obtain the additive stock (SO3). This step involves mixing the remaining pulverized materials with the extract solution and allowing them to ferment in the extract solution. Fermentation should be carried out in a sealed or non-ventilated environment, ideally maintaining a temperature between 43℃ and 46℃. Under anaerobic conditions, this step completes fermentation through a series of redox reactions catalyzed by enzymes present in the medicinal herbs.

[0017] The fourth step of this method is to filter the suspended solids and residues in the additive stock to obtain a pure liquid traditional Chinese medicine additive (S04). The purpose of this step is to remove suspended solids and residues from the additive stock to prevent them from adhering to the circulating liquid pipes or nozzles of the washing tower, causing cleaning difficulties. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the traditional Chinese medicine additive, due to the stirring of the extract solution from step S02, will contain a certain proportion of water. The weight percentage of water needs to be controlled to avoid the concentration of the traditional Chinese medicine additive being too low when mixed with the circulating water of the washing tower, thus losing its effectiveness. According to this invention, with the total weight percentage of the traditional Chinese medicine additive being 100%, the weight percentage of water is no more than 90%.

[0018] The final step of this method is to pour the herbal additives into multiple storage containers in measured quantities for sealing (S05). For example, a 5-gallon water container can be used as the storage container to quantitatively seal the herbal additives for use.

[0019] After analyzing the components of the traditional Chinese medicine additive prepared according to this method, it can be found that the additive contains various components such as organic acids, polysaccharides and proteins, tannic acid, tannins, crotonol, palmitic acid, glycerides, crotonol diester, crotonol triester, crotonin, crocin, D-mannitol, β-sitosterol, myristic acid, lauric acid, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, and umbelliferone. The specific proportions will vary depending on the source of the traditional Chinese medicine used. As mentioned earlier, the active components of umbelliferone and imperatorin enhance the decomposition effect of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

[0020] See Figure 2This figure illustrates the process flow diagram of the herbal additive used in the scrubbing tower according to the present invention. The first step of the process is to add the herbal additive to the scrubbing tower's water tank and mix it evenly with clean water to form circulating water (S11). The ratio of the herbal additive to the pre-stored clean water in the scrubbing tower's water tank can be adjusted according to the type of pollution source generating the high-temperature exhaust gas. In principle, the more herbal additive added, the better the carbon dioxide emission reduction effect. The second step of the process is to evenly spray the circulating water into the scrubbing tower onto the flowing high-temperature exhaust gas and detect the carbon dioxide concentration at the scrubbing tower's exhaust outlet (S12). The detected carbon dioxide concentration value is used for comparison of subsequent treatment results. The third step of the process is to recover the used circulating water and repeat step S12 until no high-temperature exhaust gas flows through (S13). That is, the spraying operation in the scrubbing tower does not stop until the pollution source stops emitting high-temperature exhaust gas. The fourth step of the process is to detect the change in carbon dioxide concentration at the scrubbing tower's exhaust outlet (S14). By comparing changes in carbon dioxide concentration, we can not only determine the effectiveness of carbon dioxide emission reduction, but also adjust the amount of herbal additives to be added in the next operation. In practice, if the factory chimney temperature exceeds 110℃, two scrubbing towers are required for circulating cooling.

[0021] The following examples illustrate the carbon dioxide emission reduction effect of the present invention.

[0022] Preparation of Chinese medicine additives Take 500 grams each of dried bronze vine, banana leaves, palm leaf branches, mugwort, cactus, bougainvillea leaves, sunflower petals, large-leaved Indian almond leaves, rapeseed, kelp, cloves, osmanthus, white flower snake tongue grass, dandelion, sophora root, ganoderma, notoginseng, seven-leaf gentian, scutellaria barbata, prunella vulgaris, sophora tonkinensis, codonopsis, seaweed, angelica dahurica, ephedra, coptis chinensis, and magnolia officinalis, and grind them separately in a grinder until the particle size is less than 1 mm.

[0023] Next, the powdered *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*, banana leaves, palm branches, mugwort, cactus, *Bretschneidera sinensis* leaves, sunflower petals, and *Terminalia chebula* leaves were added to 10 kg of water and extracted at 26-28℃ for 3 days to obtain an extract solution. The remaining powdered rapeseed, kelp, cloves, *Osmanthus fragrans*, *Hedyotis diffusa*, dandelion, *Sophora flavescens* root, *Ganoderma lucidum*, *Panax notoginseng*, *Gentiana scabra*, *Scutellaria barbata*, *Prunella vulgaris*, *Sophora tonkinensis*, *Codonopsis pilosula*, seaweed, *Angelica dahurica*, *Ephedra sinica*, *Coptis chinensis*, and *Magnolia officinalis* were added to the extract solution and stirred for 10 minutes. After thorough mixing, the mixture was fermented in a sealed environment for 48 hours at a controlled temperature of 45℃±1℃ to obtain the additive stock. The additive stock was then filtered to remove suspended solids and residues. Approximately 13 kg of pure liquid herbal additive was obtained and poured into a 5-gallon water tank for later use.

[0024] Scrubber Tower Environment Setup A simulated small-scale scrubbing tower was constructed, consisting of a 3-meter-high, 3-cm-inner-diameter metal tube equipped with atomizing nozzles. The spray particle size was controlled to be 20-50 micrometers to ensure sufficient contact between the herbal additive and the high-temperature exhaust gas. A water tank was installed below the small scrubbing tower, containing a mixture of the pure liquid herbal additive from the aforementioned containerized water and an equal volume of clean water as circulating water. A motor propelled this circulating water onto the atomizing nozzles. The water tank also served to collect the circulating water that had already been mixed with the exhaust gas flowing down from inside the small scrubbing tower. The high-temperature exhaust gas was introduced from below the small scrubbing tower. In this embodiment, the high-temperature exhaust gas originated from a diesel boiler, with a flow rate controlled at 50 L / min. To determine the volume ratio of oxygen to carbon dioxide in the exhaust gas above the small scrubbing tower, an infrared gas analyzer was installed near the opening at the top of the small scrubbing tower.

[0025] Experimental results Please see the table below, which shows the proportion (concentration) of carbon dioxide in the total exhaust volume before and after the atomizing nozzle is activated (using traditional Chinese medicine additives to react with the high-temperature exhaust gas). The table shows that the use of traditional Chinese medicine additives has a very significant effect on removing carbon dioxide from the high-temperature exhaust gas ((12.91%-0.67%) / 12.91%=95%), an increase of 12.24%.

[0026]

[0027] Further analysis revealed that the oxygen concentration increased from 6.93% before the atomizer nozzle was activated to 20.31% after activation, an increase of 13.38%. According to the carbon dioxide decomposition reaction CO2 → C + O2, for every molecule of CO2 decomposed, one molecule of O2 is generated. Theoretically, the reduction in carbon dioxide should equal the increase in oxygen. However, the actual increase in oxygen was slightly higher than the theoretically expected reduction in carbon dioxide. This may be due to the following reasons: a) Other reactions: The agent may not only decompose CO2 but also release additional oxygen through other mechanisms, such as oxidizing other pollutants (e.g., CO or NO). x (a) Measurement error: The data may contain measurement errors; (b) Gas dissolution or escape: Some CO2 or O2 may undergo other behaviors in the liquid phase or system, such as dissolution or escape. The data shows that the decrease in CO2 and the increase in O2 are close to 1:1, consistent with the main proportion of CO2 decomposition. However, the additional increase in O2 may indicate the presence of other pollutants in the system that decompose to produce oxygen, or experimental bias.

[0028] The mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine additives is explained below.

[0029] I. This Chinese medicine additive is composed entirely of natural Chinese medicinal materials, including compounds such as imperatorin, which have bond-breaking, separation, and reduction effects.

[0030] Second, this Chinese medicine additive can separate two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom of carbon dioxide, producing a bond-breaking reduction reaction and releasing a large amount of oxygen. Since the detected data of carbon dioxide emissions is about 130,000 ppm, the separation process causes the carbon dioxide to break bonds and produce a reduction reaction, resulting in the release of a large amount of oxygen from the two oxygen atoms.

[0031] Third, this Chinese medicine additive can also separate carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide produced by a typical factory is about 3000ppm to 4000ppm. After separation, some oxygen will be emitted.

[0032] Although the present invention has been disclosed above with reference to embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone skilled in the art can make any modifications and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a traditional Chinese medicine-based additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in a scrubbing tower, comprising the steps of: a) Take equal weights of the following herbs: copper vine, banana leaf, palm leaf branch, mugwort, cactus, bougainvillea leaf, sunflower petal, large-leaf almond leaf, rapeseed, kelp, clove, osmanthus, white flower snake tongue grass, dandelion, sophora root, ganoderma, notoginseng, seven-leaf gentian, scutellaria barbata, prunella vulgaris, sophora tonkinensis, codonopsis, seaweed, angelica dahurica, ephedra, coptis chinensis and magnolia officinalis, and grind them separately in a grinder for 1-30 minutes. b) Extract the powdered copper vine, banana leaves, palm leaf branches, mugwort, cactus, bougainvillea leaves, sunflower petals, and large-leaved terminalia leaves with water at room temperature to obtain an extract solution. c) Powdered rapeseed, kelp, cloves, osmanthus, oldenlandia diffusa, dandelion, sophora flavescens root, ganoderma lucidum, notoginseng, gentiana macrophylla, scutellaria barbata, prunella vulgaris, sophora tonkinensis root, codonopsis pilosula, seaweed, angelica dahurica, ephedra, coptis chinensis, and magnolia officinalis are added to the extract solution, stirred evenly with a mixer, and fermented in a sealed environment for 48 hours to obtain the additive raw material; and d) Filter the suspended solids and residues in the additive raw material to obtain a pure liquid traditional Chinese medicine additive.

2. The manufacturing method of the traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emission in a washing column according to claim 1, wherein, The pulverized copper vine, banana leaves, palm branches, mugwort, cactus, bougainvillea leaves, sunflower petals, large-leaved Indian almond leaves, rapeseed, kelp, cloves, osmanthus fragrans, oldenlandia diffusa, dandelion, sophora flavescens root, ganoderma lucidum, notoginseng, gentiana scutellaria barbata, prunella vulgaris, sophora tonkinensis, codonopsis pilosula, seaweed, angelica dahurica, ephedra, coptis chinensis, and magnolia officinalis have a particle size of less than 1 mm.

3. The method for manufacturing the traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in a scrubbing tower as described in claim 1, wherein the weight percentage of water is no more than 90% based on 100% of the total weight percentage of the traditional Chinese medicine additive.

4. The method for manufacturing the traditional Chinese medicine additive for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in a scrubbing tower as described in claim 1, further comprising step e) pouring the traditional Chinese medicine additive into multiple storage containers in quantitative quantities for packaging.

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