MSGID: 1:317/3 6427b370   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Path to net-zero carbon capture and storage may lead to ocean    
      
     Date:   
         March 31, 2023   
     Source:   
         Lehigh University   
     Summary:   
         Engineering researchers have developed a novel way to capture   
         carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the 'infinite sink'   
         of the ocean.   
      
         The approach uses an innovative copper-containing polymeric   
         filter and essentially converts CO2 into sodium bicarbonate (aka   
         baking soda) that can be released harmlessly into the ocean. This   
         new hybrid material, or filter, is called DeCarbonHIX (i.e.,   
         decarbonization through hybrid ion exchange material). The research   
         has demonstrated a 300 percent increase in the amount of carbon   
         captured compared with existing direct air capture methods.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Lehigh Engineering researcher Arup SenGupta has developed a novel way to   
   capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the "infinite sink"   
   of the ocean.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   The approach uses an innovative copper-containing polymeric filter and   
   essentially converts CO2 into sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda) that   
   can be released harmlessly into the ocean. This new hybrid material,   
   or filter, is called DeCarbonHIX (i.e., decarbonization through hybrid   
   ion exchange material), and is described in a paper recently published   
   in the journal Science Advances.   
      
   The research, which demonstrated a 300 percent increase in the amount   
   of carbon captured compared with existing direct air capture methods,   
   has garnered international attention from media outlets like the BBC,   
   CNN, Fast Company, and The Daily Beast, and professional organizations   
   like the American Chemical Society. SenGupta himself has been fielding   
   interest in the technology from companies based in Brazil, Ireland,   
   and the Middle East.   
      
   "The climate crisis is an international problem," says SenGupta, who   
   is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and civil and   
   environmental engineering in Lehigh's P.C. Rossin College of Engineering   
   and Applied Science.   
      
   "And I believe we have a responsibility to build direct air capture   
   technology in a way that it can be implemented by people and countries   
   around the world.   
      
   Anyone who can operate a cell phone should be able to operate this   
   process.   
      
   This is not technology for making money. It's for saving the world."   
   The work is yet another extension of SenGupta's personal and professional   
   commitment to developing technologies that benefit humanity, and in   
   particular, marginalized communities around the world. His research   
   on water science and technology has included drinking water treatment   
   methodologies, desalination, municipal wastewater reuse, and resource   
   recovery. He invented the first reusable, arsenic-selective hybrid   
   anion exchanger nanomaterial (HAIX-Nano), and as a result, more than   
   two million people around the world now drink arsenic-safe water. Two   
   of his patents have been recognized as "Patents for Humanity" by the US   
   patent and Trademark Office.   
      
   His invention of DeCarbonHIX was the outcome of an ongoing CO2-driven   
   wastewater desalination project funded by the Bureau of Reclamation under   
   the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior. SenGupta and his   
   students were on the lookout for a reliable supply of CO2 even in remote   
   places. That quest led the way to the field of direct air capture, or DAC,   
   and the creation of DeCarbonHIX. This subject was the dissertation topic   
   for environmental engineering student Hao Chen '23 PhD, who successfully   
   defended his PhD in March and will receive his doctorate in May.   
      
   Capturing carbon at lower concentrations The most abundant of the   
   greenhouse gasses contributing to global warming is carbon dioxide. In   
   2021, global emissions of CO2 rose by 6 percent from the previous year   
   -- to 36.3 gigatons, according to the International Energy Agency. Just   
   one gigaton (equal to 1 billion tons) is the equivalent of the mass of   
   all land mammals on earth.   
      
   Emissions from greenhouse gasses have increased global temperatures by   
   approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according   
   to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In its 2021 working   
   group report, the IPCC estimates the average yearly temperature over the   
   next 20 years is expected to rise by at least 1.5 degrees Celsius. The   
   warmer the earth gets, the greater the fallout in terms of rising sea   
   levels, extreme storm events, and ecological disruption, all of which   
   have repercussions on global health, security, and stability.   
      
   "The worst part of this crisis is that people who are marginalized,   
   who are poor, will suffer 10 times more than those who contributed to   
   this situation," says SenGupta.   
      
   There are three ways to reduce CO2, he says. The first -- government   
   action - - can reduce emissions, but that won't address what's already   
   in the air.   
      
   "The second way is removing it from point sources, places like chimneys   
   and stacks where carbon dioxide is being emitted in huge amounts,"   
   he says. "The good thing about that is you can remove it at very high   
   concentrations, but it only targets emissions from specific sources."   
   The newest method is called direct air capture, which, he says, "allows   
   you to remove CO2 from anywhere, even your own backyard."  With DAC,   
   chemical processes remove CO2 from the atmosphere, after which it's   
   typically stored underground. However, says SenGupta, the technology   
   is limited by its capacity. It can't capture enough CO2 to overcome the   
   energy cost of running the process.   
      
   "If you're capturing carbon dioxide from a chimney at a plant, the   
   amount of CO2 in the air can be upwards of 100,000 parts per million," he   
   says. "At that concentration, it's easy to remove. But generally speaking,   
   the CO2 level in the air is around 400 parts per million. That's very   
   high from a climate change point of view, but for removal purposes, we   
   consider that ultra-dilute. Current filter materials just can't collect   
   enough of it."  Another challenge with DAC involves storage. After   
   the CO2 is captured, it's dissolved, put under pressure, liquified,   
   and typically stored miles underground. A DAC operation must then be   
   located in an area with enough geological storage -- and stability. A   
   country like Japan, for instance, can't pump CO2 underground because   
   the area is prone to earthquakes.   
      
   Seeing a solution in seawater SenGupta has developed a DAC method that   
   overcomes both the capture problem and the issue of storage.   
      
   For the capture problem, he developed DeCarbonHIX -- a mechanically   
   strong, chemically stable sorbent (a material used to absorb liquids or   
   gasses) -- that contains copper.   
      
   "The copper changes an intrinsic property of the parent polymer material   
   and enhances the capturing capacity by 300 percent," he says. "We showed   
   that for direct air capture from air with 400 parts per million of CO2,   
   we achieve capacity, meaning capacity is no longer a function of how much   
   carbon dioxide is in the air. The filter will get saturated completely   
   at any concentration, which means you can perform DAC in your backyard,   
   in the middle of the desert, or in the middle of the ocean."  The ocean   
   is actually SenGupta's solution to the storage problem. His DAC process   
   starts with air blowing through the filter to capture CO2. Once the filter   
   is saturated with gas molecules (determined by measuring the amount of   
   gas going into the filter versus coming out of it), seawater is passed   
   through the filter. The seawater converts the carbon dioxide to sodium   
   bicarbonate (you likely know it as baking soda, but lose the visual as   
   we're talking about a dissolved solution here). The dissolved sodium   
   bicarbonate is then released directly into the ocean, what Sengupta   
   calls "an infinite sink."  "And it has no adverse impact on the ocean   
   whatsoever," says SenGupta. "It doesn't change the salinity at all."   
   In fact, he says, the sodium bicarbonate, which is slightly alkaline,   
   may improve the health of the ocean. That's because elevated levels   
   of CO2 in the atmosphere have gradually reduced the pH of the ocean,   
   causing acidification.   
      
   More acidic waters harm the growth and reproduction of marine life   
   like corals and plankton and can create catastrophic collapses in the   
   food chain.   
      
   "Sodium bicarbonate may reverse that lowering of pH," he says.   
      
   It's worth noting, he says, that like existing DAC processes, DeCarbonHIX   
   can also be desorbed with hot water or steam, and pure CO2 can be   
   recovered, compressed, and stored underground in geological storage.   
      
   "In reality, this new filter material offers a dual mode of desorption   
   and sequestration."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Matter_&_Energy   
                   # Engineering # Energy_Policy # Organic_Chemistry #   
                   Materials_Science   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Global_Warming # Air_Quality # Environmental_Issues   
                   # Climate   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Carbon_cycle o Carbon_dioxide_sink o Carbon_dioxide o   
             Activated_carbon o Carbon_monoxide o Forest o Tensile_strength   
             o Ocean_acidification   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by Lehigh_University. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Hao Chen, Hang Dong, Zhongyu Shi, Arup K. SenGupta. Direct air   
      capture   
         (DAC) and sequestration of CO 2 Dramatic effect of coordinated   
         Cu(II) onto a chelating weak base ion exchanger. Science Advances,   
         2023; 9 (10) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg1956   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230331131514.htm   
      
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