Capture and mineralization of carbon dioxide from coal combustion flue gas emissions

(Proprietary information: PCT/US/2006/49411 and WO/2007/081561A) Enormous amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) released by human activity (anthropogenic), may lead to climate changes that could spread diseases, ruin crops, cause intense droughts and floods, and dramatically raise the sea levels, thereby submerging the low lying coastal regions. The objective of this study was to test whether CO2 and sulfur dioxide (SO2) from flue gases can be directly captured and converted into carbonate and sulfate minerals respectively through the mineralization process of alkaline solid wastes. A flow-through carbonation process was designed to react flue gases directly with alkaline fly ash, under coal combustion power plant conditions. For the first time, CO2 levels in the flue gas were reduced from 13.6% to 9.7% after the reaction with alkaline fly ash in a reaction time of less than 1 minute. Using a combination of OrionRTM plus multi-gas detector, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques, flue gas CO2 mineralization on fly ash particles was detected. This method can simultaneously help in separate, capture, and mineralize anthropogenic CO2 and SO2. Moreover, this process may be environmentally safe and a stable storage for anthropogenic CO2. Capturing anthropogenic CO2 using this mineralization process is an initial step towards developing more efficient methods of reducing industrial point source CO 2 emissions into the atmosphere.