CO2MPRISE - Excellence training in solutions for CO2 capture technology

V. FARINA; G. MULAS; S. GARRONI; S. CUESTA LÓPEZ; C. PISTIDDA; I. YAKOUMIS; N. VLACHOS; F. C. GENNARI; F. GRACIA

Kosice

Conferencia; 9th International Conference on Mechanochemistry and Mechanical Alloys -INCOME 2017; 2017

INCOME

Among the main and fascinating challenges proposed to the scientific community in the next 10 years is to find an efficient solution for significant CO2 reduction from industries and civil transport. It is well known that the fast accumulation of CO2 level in the atmosphere is the prevalent cause of the even increasing global warming problem and this level is expected to continually increase for the next few decades. Thus, development of new materials and technologies for reducing or eliminating CO2 emissions from various industrial processes are of urgent importance. Carbon capture, storage and conversion technologies are a promising route for mitigating CO2 emissions in the near future.[1,2] In this process, carbon is converted to its most thermodynamically stable state through the reaction with natural minerals to form carbonates.[3]The most promising minerals to achieve that strategy are ultramafic rocks, because of their high content of magnesium and iron. Among them, olivine exhibits the highest CO2 mineralization potential. Mineral sequestration of carbon dioxide is promoted by the serpentinization process, during which silica-based minerals of Mg and Fe react with water to give H2 and minerals of the serpentine group [(Mg, Fe)3Si2O5 (OH)4] [4,5]. This involves the formation of extremely fluid fluids, so any possible species such as inorganic carbon can be reduced. CO2 reacts with H2 through a Fischer Tropsch-Type or Sabatier mechanism, to form CH4 and light hydrocarbons.Despite being thermodynamically favoured, the reaction rate is very slow. In order to obtain this transformation, it is necessary a preliminary treatment of the mineral like mechanical activation.[6]The present work is part of a RISE action, CO2MPRISE (G.A. 734873), a funded European project which aspires to enhance and valorize the skills of scientists and employers in the carbon dioxide, CO2, storage and conversion field using innovative methods and taking advantage of a combined experimental and modelling approach for overcoming the current state of the art. Know-how and expertise transfer will be encouraged by favouring staff exchange among academics institutions and industrial partners.We have obtained preliminary results after the pre-activation of olivine through high-energy milling with water and following treatment under CO2 atmosphere. These results show the evaluation of CH4 and other light hydrocarbons, detected by gas chromatography. The kinetic curve of the reaction, expressed as the degree of transformation in function of time, showed a sigmoidal shape typical for reactions that involving solids (nucleation and growth of nuclei).