Carbon Emissions | July 06, 2009 |
Canadian Company Demonstrates Carbon Recycling
Carbon sequestration has been the subject of extensive study, but is it the only option for carbon removal? A Canadian company, Strategic Visionary Alternatives, has spent years researching and has already demonstrated its unique carbon recycling method. The company's "Green Carbon" technology will split post-combustion CO2 emissions, through heat and "special catalysts," into carbon and oxygen. The carbon derived from the scalable process could be used to enhance energy-generating combustion -- re-injected into a chamber or transported as a pellet.
The pure carbon, compared to pulverized coal, could be used as a supplement to fossil and bio-fuels. According to the company's president, Viva Cundliffe, "It is basically the same BTU value as metallurgical-grade coal with no impurities."
Strategic Visionary Alternatives' demonstrations have shown a parasitic load (extra electricity consumed) of 13 to 15 percent. Cundliffe explains that carbon capture and sequestration isn't the answer-- it's expensive and lacks control methods.
Green Carbon could also result in Current popular carbon capture technologies, chilled ammonia and amine solvents, which demand a higher parasitic load. Burying carbon costs "about $70 per metric ton... far above the cost to recycle it," added Cundliffe.
Green Carbon units will cost about $20 million per 100 megawatt, plus $30 per ton of carbon in royalties, and will produce up to 120 tons of pure carbon daily.
The company, based in Kamloops, British Columbia, first installed a concept prototype three years ago, and last year a demonstration installation took place in the same Kamloops facility. Another demonstration is planned for this year, and according to Cundliffe, investors have been impressed with the results.
The Green Carbon system will be sharing the spotlight with algae ventures, who share similar carbon conversion aims. Covered last month, the Mantra Venture Group is developing technology that will convert CO2 into formic acid-- which is produced for defensive measures by some ants and is also used as a pesticide.
While carbon recycling methods might be considered the refuge of clean coal advocates, technologies like this could be used in future biofuel integration.
Reddit
Digg
Stumble
ShareThis
Comments By Readers
Has nobody spotted the massive gaping hole in the thermodynamics of this system? If you want to split a molecule of CO2 into carbon and oxygen you need to supply the energy that it released in the first place when the carbon was burned to create the CO2. This amount of energy cannot be altered by catalysts which only provide an alternative reacton path with a lower activation energy.
How does this system work without violating the laws of thermodynamics? This is especially pertinent as the claimed system uses electrical energy to operate which would therefore suffer from generation inefficiencies. For example 1 mole of Carbon burned will release 393.5 Kj and produces 1 mole of CO2. of this about 122kJ will be converted to electrical power. If this electrical power is used to split the CO2 molecules formed then it will allow one third of a mole of CO2 to be split and that is assuming that the bond splitting occurs with 100% efficiency which is not even remotely likely.
Even if you do manage to circumvent the laws of thermodynamics how do you separate the atomised carbon from the oxygen before combustion reoccurs.
Can someone explain to me what I have missed that makes this system feasible? It just seems to be so full of holes that it can't be genuine.
Post Your Comment