1. CO2 research in the Institute for Advanced Energy Solutions
Assistant Professor John Kitchin
Department of Chemical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
11/29/2017
John Kitchin

2. CO2 – the 30 Gt gorilla in the room
~2/3 of the world’s power comes from fossil fuel combustion
~30 Gt CO2/year emissions
No uncertainty that rising CO2 levels are causing climate change
Great uncertainty in the extent of changes to expect and course of action to minimize negative effects
Total = 16.7 TW-hr
Energy sources (2004)
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John Kitchin

3. CO2 emissions, atmospheric concentration and global temperature anomaly
There is no uncertainty that our CO2 emissions are contributing to global atmospheric CO2 levels and that climate change is related to these levels.
There is great uncertainty in how much climate will change and what we can do about it.
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John Kitchin

4. CO2 management strategies
Technology
Economics
Policy
Society
Energy consumers:
Conservation
Efficiency improvements
Process intensification
Integrated Processes
Energy suppliers:
Carbon-free
Solar, Wind
Geothermal, Hydro
Nuclear
Carbon-neutral
Biofuel
Novel fuel (re)cycles
CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS)
11/29/2017
John Kitchin

5. NETL-Institute for Advanced Energy Solutions
Virginia Tech and Penn State recently joined our team.
1. Materials
10. Combustion
Seetharaman, Salvador
9. Water management
2. Process modeling
Biegler, Sahinidis
8. Deep oil and gas
3. Catalysis
Gellman, Miller, Kitchin
7. Hydrates
4. Carbon Management
Kitchin, Rubin
6. Energy Conversion Devices
Kitchin, Salvador
5. Sensors
Grieve
40 Resident Institute Faculty Fellows, ~160 Institute Researchers. Direct collaborations between multiple Universities and NETL
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John Kitchin

6. Carbon management– A set of technical challenges
Each approach has a unique set of technical challenges in materials, process integration due to the widely varying operating conditions
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John Kitchin

7. NETL-IAES CO2 research 2009 CO2 capture CO2 sequestration
Risk assessment
Molecular design of CO2 sorbents
Novel chemical looping materials
High-pressure polymer sorbents
pH swing regeneration of CO2 sorbents
Electrochemical separation of CO2 from flue gas
Hybrid CO2 capture/H2 generation systems
Seismic imaging of CO2 reservoirs
CO2 reservoir modeling
Effect of dissolved CO2 on well head cement
A technical-economic systems model of CO2 storage in unminable coal seams
Nanoparticle-Stabilized Emulsions of CO2 in Brine for Enhanced Sequestration in Aquifers
Stochastic optimization for risk management in sequestration technologies
Understanding Radical Technology Innovation and its Application to CO2 Capture R&D
Geodatabases for CO2 sequestration
CO2 utilization in 2010
CMU-based projects
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John Kitchin

8. CO2 sorbent research program
Computational
Kitchin, Johnson R1
Surface Science
Gellman, Miller
Molecular sorbents
Inorganic sorbents
Systems
Biegler, Sahinidis
Fixed bed reactors
Kitchin, Dadyburjor
Characterizing Radical Technological Innovation
Applications in CO2 capture from flue gas, WGS reactors and gasifiers
11/29/2017
John Kitchin

9. The future: Integrated systems eCO2 fuel – a conceptual system for transportation fuel
Atmospheric CO2 + H2O
sorbent
H2O
CO2
Sorbent
Regeneration/
H2 production
captured
CO2 H2
CO2
Transportation
H2O O2
Synthetic fuel plant e-
Oxy-fired fossil power plant
CO2 for EOR and sequestration
Continuous operation
~10,000 mi2 required with today’s technology
1-5% solar-to-fuel efficiency with 50% efficient fuel synthesis
Competition with farmland or living space unnecessary
John Kitchin

10. Thank you!
For more information about CO2 research in the IAES see: Or contact Andy Gellman:
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John Kitchin

11. 2005 IPCC special report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage
Ed Rubin (EPP/ME) one of the lead coordinating authors
Several other CMU faculty (CHE/CEE) contributed to this report
2007 Nobel peace prize for “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change”
Significant reductions in global CO2 emissions are needed to stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
11/29/2017
John Kitchin

12. Policy and economic research at CMU
Climate Decision-making Center
Develop decision strategies and tools for policy makers that incorporate climate change uncertainties
Carbon Capture and Sequestration Regulatory project
Design a U.S. regulatory environment for the capture, transport and geological sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is safe, environmentally sound, and affordable
~250 global users
11/29/2017
John Kitchin

13. Many options for sequestration
No single reservoir is clear winner
Geologic sequestration seems most promising
Constraints on capacity, transport, availability
Deep ocean sequestration currently not favored
Mineralization is currently too slow and energy intensive
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John Kitchin