Syngas Separation via Water Solubility for Carbon Capture
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hydrogen production from hydrocarbons with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is energy-intensive and costly due to the need for CO2 purification, compression, and deep well injection, which increases the carbon footprint and operational expenses.
Innovation Solution
The method involves co-producing hydrogen and CO2 from hydrocarbons, using water-based separation technologies to isolate hydrogen, and injecting CO2-rich water into reactive mafic or ultramafic rocks, where CO2 is permanently immobilized as carbonate minerals, reducing the need for deep well injection and long-term monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional CCS methods are used for CO2 storage, then CO2 can be stored in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs or saline aquifers, but significant costs and energy consumption are required for purification, compression, and deep well injection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts CO2 from syngas using water-based separation technology, where CO2 dissolves in water while hydrogen remains in the gas phase. This extraction method eliminates the need for energy-intensive purification and compression steps required by conventional CCS, directly resolving the technical contradiction between storage reliability and energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and location of CO2 storage from compressed supercritical state in deep reservoirs to dissolved state in water injected into shallow mafic rock formations. This parameter change from compression-based storage to dissolution-based storage dramatically reduces energy consumption while maintaining storage reliability through mineralization reactions.
2Length of stationary object
If CO2 is compressed to liquid state for safe transportation and injection, then CO2 can be stored at shallower depths, but significant compression costs and energy consumption are incurred
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the phase transition of CO2 from gas to dissolved state in water, rather than compressing to supercritical liquid state. This phase transition occurs at much lower pressures, eliminating the need for energy-intensive compression equipment and reducing energy loss while enabling storage in shallower formations.
Solution Approach 2:
Water acts as an intermediary medium that dissolves CO2 and transports it to the mafic rock formation. This intermediary approach eliminates the need for direct compression of CO2 to liquid state, significantly reducing energy consumption while achieving safe transportation and injection at shallower depths.
3Quantity of substance
If CO2 is stored in conventional CCS reservoirs, then storage capacity is achieved, but sophisticated long-term monitoring programs are required to ensure CO2 confinement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potentially harmful CO2 gas into beneficial solid carbonate minerals through mineralization reactions with mafic rocks. This transformation eliminates the risk of CO2 migration and leakage, providing inherent long-term containment without requiring sophisticated monitoring programs, thus resolving the contradiction between storage capacity and monitoring complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The mafic rock formation provides self-service containment through natural mineralization reactions that permanently trap CO2 as solid carbonates. This self-containing mechanism eliminates the need for external monitoring infrastructure and complex safety systems, reducing device complexity while maintaining storage capacity.
4Ease of manufacture
If water-based separation is used to separate H2 from CO2, then CO2 of sufficient purity for CCS is achieved without additional purification, but CO2 must be compressed to supercritical state for injection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the phase transition of CO2 from gas to dissolved state in water during separation, and then from dissolved state to solid carbonate minerals during storage. These phase transitions occur at ambient or near-ambient pressures, eliminating the need for high-power compression equipment while maintaining ease of manufacture through simple water-based separation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces energy consumption and costs by allowing CO2 storage in basalts, which tolerates impurities and eliminates the need for deep well injection and sophisticated monitoring, while ensuring permanent CO2 removal with minimal greenhouse gas emissions.
Implementation Method 1
water-based separation technologies are used to separate H2 from other gas components, such as CO2 and H2S, based on differences in gas-water solubilities
Implementation Method 2
water saturated with byproduct components, such as CO2 and H2S for example, is injected into reactive mafic or ultramafic rocks, where CO2 and/or other waste gases are permanently immobilized as precipitated carbonate minerals
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for gas separation of syngas applying differences in water solubilities of syngas components, the method including producing a product gas comprising hydrogen and carbon dioxide from a hydrocarbon fuel source; separating hydrogen from the product gas to create a hydrogen product stream and a byproduct stream by solubilizing components in water that are more soluble in water than hydrogen; injecting the byproduct stream into a reservoir containing mafic rock; and allowing components of the byproduct stream to react in situ with components of the mafic rock to precipitate and store components of the byproduct stream in the reservoir.