Carbon capture research
Alicat has been cited in over 1,000 peer-reviewed research papers. The following papers focus on carbon capture and emerging technologies in that field. Contact us if you’d like your research to be highlighted.
Abstract
In situ utilization of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Mars atmosphere provides a critical element for on-surface crop production. The atmosphere management system for the MarsOasis® growth chamber provides CO2, recovers water and oxygen, and removes ethylene to maintain a hospitable atmosphere for the crops. A supported ionic liquid membrane (SILM) can selectively provide CO2 while rejecting carbon monoxide (CO) back to the Mars atmosphere. The SILM comprises an ionic liquid infiltrated into the pores of a thin physical membrane support such as polyethersulfone or nylon. Ionic liquids are most promising for their negligible vapor pressure, low melting points (many remain liquid below 0°C), thermal stability up to 100°C or greater, and solubilities (especially for water and/or acid gases) that depend upon the cation and anion that comprise the IL.
Conceptual design of an atmospheric management system for the MarsOasis® plant growth chamber
The negligible vapor pressure means that fluid will not be lost from the membrane, a common problem with other liquid sorbents. The physical processes of sorption and solution-diffusion through the membrane are enhanced; in part, because the supported liquid membrane can be made much thinner than a purely physical membrane without blowing liquid out of the support or losing it to vaporization. Then, amine-, fluorine-, or nitrile-functionalized groups in the IL can further facilitate the highly selective transport since these compounds chemically interact with CO2 to increase its uptake and rate of diffusion. In this paper we report experiments to characterize a SILM for selective CO2 capture from surrogate atmospheres.
Reference
Nabity, J., Tata, B., Armstrong, I., & Escobar, C. (2021). Supported ionic liquid membrane for selective CO2 capture. International Conference of Environmental Systems. Retrieved 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bharath-Tata-3/publication/354031489_Supported_Ionic_Liquid_Membrane_for_Selective_CO_2_Capture/ links/611fd0ad1e95fe241ae71254/Supported-Ionic-Liquid-Membrane-for-Selective-CO-2-Capture.pdf.
Abstract
Understanding condensation of CO2 is essential for e.g designing compact heat exchangers or processes involved in Carbon Capture and Storage. However, a consistent experimental campaign for condensation of CO2 on common materials is lacking. In this work, we present an experimental method and an associated laboratory setup for measuring the heat transfer properties of CO2 condensation on materials commonly used in heat exchangers for the liquefaction of CO2. We have investigated the heat transfer during CO2 condensation on copper, aluminum, stainless steel (316) to reveal the heat transfer dependency on surface properties.
The experiments are conducted at three saturation pressures, 10, 15, and 20 bar and at substrate subcooling between 0 and 5k. The results show that the heat transfer coefficients decrease with increasing surface subcooling. It was also found that increasing the saturation pressure increases the heat transfer coefficient. The results indicate that surface roughness and surface energy affect the condensation heat transfer coefficient, and an increased roughness results in reduced heat transfer coefficients. The highest heat transfer coefficient is found for condensation on copper, for which the lowest surface roughness has been measured.
Condensation HTC for Cu, Al, and steel at 10,15, and 20 bar saturation pressure, respectively. The Nusselt models for the 15 bar and 20 bar saturation pressure are included for comparison, and a modified Nusselt model is presented.
Reference
Snustad, I., Ervik, Å., Austegard, A., Brunsvold, A., He, J., & Zhang, Z. (2021). Heat transfer characteristics of CO2 condensation on common heat exchanger materials: Method development and experimental results. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 129, 110440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2021.110440