Carbon Capture Chalk From CO2

Anthony Butterfield Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering

University of Utah

Based on a Teaching Module Developed by Alissa Park

Developed by The NSF Research Coordination Network on CCUS

http://www.aiche.org/ccus-network

http://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/module?p_id=36

Safety

• Everyone put on:

– A pair of safety glass.

– A pair of gloves.

Phenol Red CaCl2 Na2CO3

Why Care About Atmospheric CO2?

Global Temperatures & CO2 Correlation…

Greenhouse Effect?

Venus - Surface T = 863 °F - Atmosphere: 96% - CO2

3.5% - N2 0.5% - Other

- One generally unpleasant planet

T=15 °C T=5,500 °C

Why Does CO2 Trap Energy?

Carbon Capture in Nature

Tien Son Cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang Nitzana Chalk Curves

Western Negev, Israel Author: Yuvalr

Trapping CO2 in Water

Phenol Red

W h y ?

𝑃𝑖 = 𝐾𝐻𝑖𝐶𝑖

O2, 18.5

N2, 78.5

CO2, 4 Other, 1

O2, 21

N2, 78

CO2, 0.03 Other, 1

Henry’s Law Reaction Equilibrium

𝐶𝑂2 +𝐻2𝑂 𝐻2𝐶𝑂3

Human Breath Air

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eemcNjfR0No

Materials

Weigh Out Reactants

• 8g of CaCl2.

• 8g of Na2CO3 (or a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio).

Dissolve Salts in Separate 20 ml of Water

Temperature?

Mix the Two Solutions

Viscosity?

Precipitate?

The Reaction?

http://www.che.utah.edu/~tony/OTM/MolKinetics/

𝑁𝑎2𝐶𝑂3(𝑎𝑞) + 𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑙2

(𝑎𝑞) 2𝑁𝑎𝐶𝑙(𝑎𝑞) + 𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑂3(𝑠)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRq4WDoN4qo

The Intermediate Gel?

+ Cl-Ca2+Cl- 2Na+Cl- +

The Intermediate Gel?

Filter Out the Solid Product

Dry the Filtered Product

What Would the Chemical Engineer Do?

Process Scale-Up

Author Yuri Raysper

• Chemical engineers make products on a large scale, efficiently and safely.

• We have big toys.

Vs.

Going from CO2 to Chalk

CO2(g) ↔ CO2

(aq)

CO2(aq) + H2O ↔ H2CO3

(aq)

2 NaOH(aq) + H2CO3(aq) → Na2CO3

(aq) + 2 H2O

Na2CO3(aq) + CaCl2

(aq) → CaCO3(s) + 2 NaCl(aq)

CO2(g) + 2 NaOH(aq) + CaCl2

(aq) → CaCO3(s) + 2 NaCl(aq) + H2O

What Would It Take to Capture Your Carbon?

• Carbon footprint calculator:

– http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/ind-calculator.html

– https://www.google.com/search?q=carbon+footprint+calculator

• If you don’t know an answer use the given American household average.

Average American 83,000 lbs CO2/yr

What Would It Take to Capture Your Carbon?

• If we use this set of reactions:

How much reactants will we need to use in your personal carbon sequester plant each day?

CO2(g) + 2 NaOH(aq) + CaCl2

(aq) → CaCO3(s) + 2 NaCl(aq) + H2O

Formula MW (g/mol)

CO2 44

NaOH 40

CaCl2 111

CaCO3 100

NaCl 58.4

H2O 18

83,000 lbs/yr 3.76e7 g/yr

Process 1

Process 2 Process 3

Process 4

Stuff 1

Stuff 3

Stuff 2

Stuff 4

Stuff 5

Stuff 6

Stuff 8

Stuff 9

Stuff 7

What It Might Look Like…

Who Has the Best Design?

Design Your Carbon Capture Plant some things to consider…

• What process do you need to get CO2 out of the air and into water?

• What should you use to mix the two solutions you mixed today, and how big should it be?

• How are you going to separate your chalk product apart from the salt water product?

• How can you ensure complete reactions?

• How can you save on resources? Recycle?

Other CM-Related K-12 Modules

• Photobioreactors.

• Fermentation.

• Biodiesel.

• Fuel Cells.

• Stirling Engines.

http://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/teaching_modules

Photobioreactors & Fermenters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R0Rre07kNE

http://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/module?p_id=29 http://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/module?p_id=19

Biodiesel

http://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/module?p_id=12

Fuel Cells

http://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/module?p_id=15

http://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/module?p_id=30

K-12 Carbon Capture Chalk From CO2

Anthony Butterfield Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering

University of Utah

Based on a Teaching Module Developed by Alissa Park

Developed by The NSF Research Coordination Network on CCUS

http://www.aiche.org/ccus-network

http://www.che.utah.edu/outreach/module?p_id=36