Premium
Nuclear powered CO 2 capture from the atmosphere
Author(s) -
Sherman Steven R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
environmental progress and sustainable energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.495
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1944-7450
pISSN - 1944-7442
DOI - 10.1002/ep.10337
Subject(s) - atmosphere (unit) , fossil fuel , kiln , nuclear power , environmental science , lime , waste management , carbon sequestration , carbon capture and storage (timeline) , process (computing) , carbonate , process engineering , carbon dioxide , chemistry , materials science , engineering , geology , computer science , climate change , metallurgy , meteorology , ecology , physics , oceanography , organic chemistry , biology , operating system
A process for capturing CO 2 from the atmosphere was recently proposed. This process uses a closed cycle of sodium and calcium hydroxide, carbonate, and oxide transformations to capture dilute CO 2 from the atmosphere and to generate a concentrated stream of CO 2 that is amenable to sequestration or subsequent chemical transformations. In one of the process steps, a fossil‐fueled lime kiln is needed, which reduces the net CO 2 capture of the process. It is proposed to replace the fossil‐fueled lime kiln with a modified kiln heated by a high‐temperature nuclear reactor. This will have the effect of eliminating the use of fossil fuels for the process and increasing the net CO 2 capture. Although the process is suitable to support sequestration, the use of a nuclear power source for the process provides additional capabilities, and the captured CO 2 may be combined with nuclear‐produced hydrogen to manufacture liquid fuels via Fischer‐Tropsch synthesis or other technologies. Conceivably, such plants would be carbon‐neutral and could be placed virtually anywhere without being tied to fossil fuel sources or geological sequestration sites. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2009