University of Bath researchers believe they have made a breakthrough in converting captured carbon dioxide into a useful fuel and so reducing the harmful impact of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Carbon capture and storage is seen as one of the most promising solutions to global warming, but the Bath research team now want to take that locked-away carbon dioxide and realise its potential as a large-scale and free alternative to fo
ssil fuels.
As oil prices have risen and governments have become environmentally concerned, researchers around the world have revived a way of converting carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide first used in the 1920s called the Fischer-Tropsch.
However creating the catalysts needed to convert the carbon dioxide is energy intensive, costly and not suitable for large scale use.
The method being pioneered by the Bath team is much quicker and simpler and has the potential to be harnessed on a much larger scale.
Dr Davide Mattia, project lead from the University’s Department of Chemical Engineering, said: “To date, methods have typically required the use of one catalyst to create the carbon support for the conversion process. Then the first catalyst has to be flushed out, and replaced with the second catalyst for the Fischer-Tropsch process. This is time and energy intensive, so makes the whole method expensive.”
Co-author of the paper Dr Matthew Jones added: “Our method is considerably simpler. We use the same catalyst at both stages, which means energy and time isn’t required to purify the carbon support and the process can take place far more quickly.
“This makes our process scaleable to a level where it could be used in industry and have a significant impact on the environment.”
The new method developed by the research team at Bath has been shown to work with both carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, and tests have found it to result in a more effective catalyst than previous alternatives.
The team now hopes to explore the use of waste heat from power plants to run the process. Dr Mattia said: “By using waste heat we can further reduce the energy required by our method, and in the future it could even become carbon neutral.”
The research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies and Bath Ventures at the University of Bath.
The full research paper can be accessed via the RSC website.
