Separating any molecule is alwaysa huge problem often difficult at the best and often costly in terms of energy. A sieve is always the best choice if it isavailable because little energy is needed.
Separating CO2 is critical inmany chemical processes, not least in dealing with natural gas. This technology will impact broadlythroughout all aspects of the chemical industry. Even pollution control for smoke stacks canbe tackled with this trick. Just strippingCO2 allows the remainder to be pumped back into the burn to complete oxidation.
It will be interesting to seewhere this does go.
Capturing carbon with clever trapdoors
by Staff Writers
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Capturing_carbon_with_clever_trapdoors_999.html
A team of Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies(CO2CRC) researchers based at the University of Melbourne have developed anovel method of capturing carbon dioxide thatwill reduce the cost of separating and storing the gas.
The quest to capture carbon dioxide is crucial to a cleaner future andonce captured, carbon dioxide can be compressed and safely stored. It is also auseful source for chemical manufacture.
However, current processes are inefficient and require several stagesof refining and extraction before a pure form of carbon dioxide isproduced.
One method of capturing carbon dioxide is through molecular sieve, anultra-fine filter system that captures a variety of molecules but that needsfurther filtering.
Professor Paul Webley and his team including PhD student Jin Shang andresearch Fellow Gang Li from the
"The findings published in the Journal of the American ChemicalSociety suggest that this new material has important applications to naturalgas purification.
Many natural gas fields contain excess carbon dioxide that must beremoved before the gas can be liquefied and shipped, Professor Webley said.
"Because the process allows only carbon dioxide molecules to becaptured, it will reduce the cost and energy required for separating carbondioxide. The technology works on the principle of the material acting like atrap-door that only allows certain molecules to enter, he said.
Once entered, the trapdoor closes and the carbon dioxide moleculesremain," said Professor Webley.
"We took a collaborative approach to this research with input fromCSIRO, the Department of Materials Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at
We have a new material that is able to separate carbon dioxide from anygiven stream such as power stations and from natural gas sources. While wecan't change industry in a hurry, we have provided a viable bridging solution.
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