Carbon Capture Innovation: Making an IMPACCT on Coal

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(Please note: US Department of Energy article. Copyright concerns are nil.)

http://energy.gov/articles/carbon-capture-innovation-making-impacct-coal-0

[font face=Times, Times New Roman, Serif][font size=5]Carbon Capture Innovation: Making an IMPACCT on Coal[/font]

February 16, 2012 - 4:48pm

April Saylor
New Media Specialist, Office of Public Affairs

[font size=3]Over the past 20 years, nearly three-fourths of human-caused emissions came from the burning of fossil fuels. This statistic is a reminder that we must invest in more sustainable sources of energy and use our energy resources as efficiently as possible. One way we’re doing this is by driving innovation in the renewable energy sector. The other way is by improving the energy sources we are already using.

As the largest domestically-produced source of energy here in the U.S., coal is used to generate about half of our nation’s electricity. So how can we make traditional energy sources like coal cleaner and safer for all Americans?

Enter carbon capture utilization and storage, or CCUS -- a process that focuses on capturing CO[font size=1]₂[/font] emissions from sources such as coal-fired power plants and either reusing it or storing it so it will not enter the atmosphere. The commercial success of CCUS depends on developing more affordable technologies, since the cost of capturing CO[font size=1]₂[/font] from power plants is currently too high for wide-scale implementation.

One way we’re addressing this is through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) IMPACCT program (which stands for Innovative Materials and Processes for Advanced Carbon Capture Technologies). Through the program, 15 high-impact projects are pushing the boundaries of carbon capture to lower the cost of capturing CO[font size=1]₂[/font] from coal-fired power plants already in use.

One of these projects is an “inertial CO[font size=1]₂[/font] extraction system” (known as ICES) that’s being developed by Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and partner ACENT Laboratories. This technology, based on rocket nozzle and wind tunnel applications, compresses the gas from power plant emissions and freezes the CO[font size=1]₂[/font], which is then separated. ICES swirls the separated particles into a "supersonic cyclone," and the CO[font size=1]₂[/font] is captured and collected as dry ice and processed using a self-pressurized system that uses excess waste heat from the power plant.

According to Dr. Anthony Castrogiovanni, President and CEO of ACENT, the ICES technology aims to lower the electricity premium for CO[font size=1]₂[/font] capture from approximately 81 percent to 35 percent. Additionally, the technology is easier to implement and scale up to the large sizes needed to capture CO[font size=1]₂[/font] from a power plant.

The ATK/ACENT team is currently in the discussion stages of commercialization. “We have several ongoing dialogs with prospective partners, including major international gas and energy companies,” says Dr. Castrogiovanni. The team plans to be in the pilot-scale testing and application phase within the next year.

To get up close and personal with the researchers of this and other IMPACCT projects that are changing the way we produce energy, visit the Technology Showcase at the 2012 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit outside Washington, DC from February 27-29.
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1. I knew the answer was a swirling self-pressurizing super-cyclone. I just knew it.

Question is, where do all these chunks of dry ice end up? In punchbowls? Keeping Ted Williams' head fresh?

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Capturing the stuff efficiently is the first challenge

Then you can put it to good use.
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/srccs/srccs_chapter7.pdf
http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/sequestration/carbon_utilization.html

For example, you can use it to make polycarbonate: http://www.google.com/search?q=CO2%20polycarbonate

Or you can sequester it some other way:
http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/carbon_seq/overview.html

http://fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2011/11058-CO2_Injection_Begins_in_Illinois.html

[font face=Times,Times New Roman,Serif]Issued on: November 17, 2011
[font size=5]CO2 Injection Begins in Illinois[/font]

[font size=4]Large-Scale Test to Inject 1 Million Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide in Saline Formation[/font]

[font size=3]Washington, D.C. — The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), one of seven regional partnerships created by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to advance carbon storage technologies nationwide, has begun injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) for their large-scale CO2 injection test in Decatur, Illinois. The test is part of the development phase of the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships program, an Office of Fossil Energy initiative launched in 2003 to determine the best approaches for capturing and permanently storing gases that can contribute to global climate change.

"Establishing long-term, environmentally safe and secure underground CO2 storage is a critical component in achieving successful commercial deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology," said Chuck McConnell, FE’s Chief Operating Officer. "This injection test project by MGSC, as well as those undertaken by other FE regional partnerships, are helping confirm the great potential and viability of permanent geologic storage as an important option in climate change mitigation strategies."

The CO2 is being captured from the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Ethanol Production Facility in Decatur, Illinois. A processing plant built for this project removes water from the CO2 stream and then compresses the dry CO2 to a liquid-like "supercritical" dense phase. The compressed CO2 then travels through a mile-long pipeline to the wellhead where it is injected into a deep saline formation more than a mile underground.

Up to 1 million metric tons of CO2 will be injected into the Mt. Simon Sandstone at a depth of about 7,000 feet over a 3-year period. The Mt. Simon Sandstone is the thickest and most widespread saline reservoir in the Illinois Basin, with an estimated CO2 storage capacity of 11 to 151　billion metric tons. Analysis of data collected during the characterization phase of the project indicated that the lower Mt. Simon formation has the necessary geological characteristics to be a good injection target.

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3. The Achilles' Heel of CCS remains

When no ones looking, turn those pipes to the sky and keep a boatload of money.

It doesn' t have a chance.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. I fear, it's one of the few hopes we have

Naturally, there are dishonest people out there. So, monitoring is important.

http://ecolocalizer.com/2011/03/27/more-illegally-dumped-radioactive-waste-found-on-somalias-coast/

[font face=Times,Times New Roman,Serif][font size=5]More Illegally Dumped Radioactive Waste Found on Somalia’s Coast[/font]

March 27, 2011 By Rhonda Winter

[font size=3]Yesterday the BBC reported that radiation levels at the crippled Fukushima reactor site are ten million times normal levels. As the oceans near the damaged nuclear plant are becoming contaminated with increasing amounts of nuclear radiation, concerns are growing about how much radioactive poison the planet’s seas can withstand.

However, although it is not receiving anywhere near as much attention as the unfolding disaster in Japan, the massive amounts of illegally dumped radioactive nuclear waste that are still being thrown into Somalia’s oceans potentially could prove to be an even more deadly catastrophe.



[font size=5]“Safely” Disposed Nuclear Waste?[/font]

For decades members of organized crime syndicates and other western companies have been freely dumping tons of radioactive nuclear waste into the unregulated shores off Somalia’s coastline, poisoning the seas and devastating the local population. Somalia has not had a functioning government for many years; the scores of rusty leaking hazardous waste tanks that have been washing up on their shores prove just how many criminals have been exploiting the nation’s inability to protect their own waters.

Project Censored and Boing Boing have been reporting on this horrific situation that is unfolding in the African country:

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http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/09/18/the-nuclear-dump-in-the-mediterranean-sea/

[font face=Times,Times New Roman,Serif]Weekend Edition September 18-20, 2009
[font size=4]International Eco-Mafia and an Ecological Catastrophe[/font]
[font size=5]The Nuclear Dump in the Mediterranean Sea[/font]

by MICHAEL LEONARDI

[font size=3]Now being overshadowed by the deaths of 6 Italian soldiers in the growingly unpopular war in Afghanistan, another deadly and sinister Tragedy is brewing. In the beckoning blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea that surround the Italian Peninsula and its islands, and which laps at the coasts of 22 countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, a hidden legacy of the Sea being used as a disposal site for radioactive and other toxic wastes for over 20 years is beginning to come to light. What some inside the halls of government are calling an international catastrophe, runs the risk of being swept under the table once again by an Italian Government that has been colluding and embroiled in this ecological and public health disaster from its beginnings.

Dozens of ships, reportedly carrying cargos of what could be thousands of barrels of radioactive and toxic wastes have been intentionally sunk off the shores of Italy, Spain, Greece and as far away as Africa and Asia, by the International Ecomafia led by Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate. This has taken place for over twenty years and insiders in the Italian government and secret service have been involved in covering it up. The first of these ships to be found, thought to be called the Cunsky, has been photographed by a robot off the coast of Cetraro, a medium sized town on the Tyrrheinan coast of Calabria. Cancerous tumors and thyroid problems are highly prevalent here and a growing epidemic all along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Certraro is a town known for its port by tourists all over the world. Fish caught by the hundreds of fishemen that make their livelihoods there are eaten throughout Italy and sold on the International market.

The setting for this story is putting the spotlight on the south of Italy and the regions of Calabria in the toe of the boot, Basilicata above Calabria, Puglia in the heel, but also Greece and Spain with repercussions for the entire Mediterranean basin. The facts of this unfolding disaster have been documented by Greenpeace and Italy’s leading environmental organization Legambiente dating back to the late 90’s. Greenpeace has worked to trace the trail of large Cargo Ships that have disappeared from international circulation. Between 32 and 41 such ships are thought to have been sunk in international waters between Italy, Greece and Spain, but mostly along the Italian coastlines. Then, in 2005, a mafia “pentito” (one who repents) named Franceso Fonti testified of his involvement in the sinking of three specific ships called the Cunsky, off Cetraro, the Yvonne A off the coast of Maratea in Basilicata, and the Voriais Sporadais, said to be off the coast of Metaponto in Basilicata on the Ionian Sea. All are international tourist destinations with large fishing industries.

Last week a robot was sent down into the depths 11 kilometers off the coast of Cetraro. There, the robot shot photos of the ship thought to be the Cunsky, confirming the story of the ‘Ndrangheta “pentito” and striking a chord of alarm throughout Italy and the world. In the photos drums like those used to transport and store radioactive and toxic wastes can be distinguished.

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[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Carbon storage project combines innovation and outreach

http://news.illinois.edu/news/12/0220IBDP_RobertFinley.html

[font face=Times,Times New Roman,Serif][font size=5]Carbon storage project combines innovation and outreach[/font]

2/20/2012 | Liz Ahlberg, Physical Sciences Editor | 217-244-1073; [e-mail]

[font size=3]CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Geologists are hoping to learn a great deal about geologic carbon sequestration from injecting 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into sandstone 7,000 feet beneath Decatur, Ill. And they’re hoping the public learns a lot from the endeavor, too.

The Illinois Basin – Decatur Project began its injection, the first million-ton demonstration from an industrial source in the U.S., in November 2011. Over the next three years, the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium, led by the Illinois State Geological Survey, hopes to use innovative science and engaging outreach to evaluate the potential of carbon capture and storage techniques.

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Geologic sequestration, or underground carbon storage, is a process that injects compressed carbon dioxide into a porous rock layer, such as sandstone. The Illinois Basin, a large geologic formation underlying the state of Illinois as well as western Indiana and Kentucky, has a layer of sandstone deep beneath multiple layers of shale, which act as a cap to keep the carbon dioxide permanently trapped.

The IBDP is located at the Archer Daniels Midland ethanol fermentation processing plant in Decatur, making it the first large-scale sequestration effort in the U.S. to use carbon from a biofuel production source. Ethanol fermentation emits nearly pure carbon dioxide. The IBDP captures the gas, compresses it to a liquid-like dense phase, and injects it into the underground sandstone at a rate of 1,000 metric tons per day.

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