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Frontiers of Engineering Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2012 Symposium (2013) / Chapter Skim
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Removing Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere: Possibilities and Challenges of Air Capture--Christopher W. Jones
Pages 13-18

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From page 13...
... concentration from approximately 280 ppm in preindustrial times to almost 400 ppm today. Given the link between the rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and global climate change, the world is now "carbon-constrained," and scientists, engineers, segments of the public, and scientifically literate policymakers are pushing for rapid development of alternative energy sources.
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From page 14...
... A recent study published by the US Department of Energy suggests that 90% of the coal-fired power plants in the United States could implement PCC at a cost of approximately $60 per ton of CO2 captured (Nichols 2011)
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From page 15...
... 3. Favorable adsorption kinetics are important to enable short cycle times (long cycle times lead to impractical plant sizes associated with large inventories of adsorption media)
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From page 16...
... In contrast, the scope of materials for air capture applications is dramatically decreased because processes must operate near ambient temperature and pressure and offer good adsorption capacities under ultradilute conditions. Supported amine materials, a class of solids functionalized with organic amine sites, are the only materials available that offer large CO2 capacities under air capture conditions and operate near ambient temperature.
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From page 17...
... 2011. Coal-Fired Power Plants in the United States: Examination of the Costs of Retrofit ting with CO2 Capture Technology, Revision 3.
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Key Terms

  • gas separation
  • ambient air
  • supported amine
  • fossil fuel
  • separation processes

  • fossil energy
  • capture processes
  • ambient temperature
  • near ambient
  • amine adsorbents

  • global atmospheric
  • direct capture
  • plant sizes
  • fuel combustion
  • estimated costs

  • low pressure
  • cycle times
  • emerging technology
  • initial deployments
  • operate near

  • processes based
  • pressure drops
  • scalable air
  • gas pretreatment
  • amine materials

  • global energy
  • reducing global
  • carbon tax
  • scalable gas
  • capture carbon


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