Carbon Dioxide Conversion
The Opportunity
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere by human activity, most
significantly electric power generation, is regarded as a major contributor to
adverse climate change by the “Greenhouse Effect”. The US Department of Energy
Carbon Sequestration Program funded over $630 million in research and
development support.
A system that would activate CO2 and convert it to useful commodity chemicals
with economic feasibility would be a superior solution to sequestration and
storage. In addition to the capital cost and technical challenge, sequestration
will use 25% or more of the power output of a coal fired power plant. There is
also the risk of CO2 release over time and the threat to life of a sudden and
substantial release from geologic shift. The stability of the molecule requires
a storage life in excess of that for nuclear waste.
CO2 is an inert non-polar compound with a very low energy state, resulting in a
very high stability that has long defied efforts to successfully activate it by
scientists. Catelectric Corp. has developed and patented an electrical control
system for catalytic reactions that offers a proven solution.
In a sponsored research project at the Department of Chemistry at the University
of Connecticut, a catalytic reactor with the Catelectric control system has been
proven to convert CO2 into products of value, with product Selectivity
approaching 100%. In addition to a wide variety of hydrocarbon products of
value, significant amounts of free molecular oxygen are also produced.
Core Benefits
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Produces products of high value from inexpensive CO2 feedstock
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Process does not require prior CO2 sequestration
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Products are selectively produced, eliminating the need for separations.
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Process yields valuable carbon credits
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Process is done in a single catalytic reactor with no moving parts other than the fluid (e.g. flue gas and product).
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Uses a non-noble metal oxide catalyst costing under $5.00/pound.
Products Include:
paraformaldehyde, H2, CO, methane, ethylene, ethane, propane, propylene, cyclic hydrocarbons and alcohols and in excellent yields. Hundreds of hydrocarbons can be selectively produced, including larger molecules (to date up to C-42).
Thermodynamics
The claim that our system can convert CO2 into valuable hydrocarbons with energy of less than 4 watt-hours per mole appears to defy the laws of thermodynamics. For example, the simplest possible reaction by which CO2 and water can be converted into an alkane, in this case methane:
CO2 + 2H2O à CH4 + 2O2
This is an endothermic reaction, requiring an input of 818.5 kilojoules of
energy (delta G) per mole of methane produced (starting with water vapor (CO2(g)
+ 2H2O(g) CH4 + 2O2), the delta G is 801 kilojoules per mole. The stated 4
watt-hours of energy, however, is equivalent to only 14.4 kilojoules of energy,
less than two percent of the energy required.
Depending on the product, the control system electrical energy provides less
than two percent of that required for mass-energy balance. The remaining energy
used in this process is thermal. Catalytic reactions are driven by thermal
activation (kinetics).
In the flue gas CO2 treatment application, the process will use the waste heat
in the gas to drive the reaction. This will not only mitigate CO2 emissions but
local thermal pollution as well.
Most chemical production processes are thermodynamically “uphill”. Substituting
CO2 for more expensive feedstock and producing carbon credits makes the
Catelectric process feasible.
The feasibility of this process is further enhanced by the low capital
requirement for production. The entire conversion process is single stage
catalysis and catalytic reactors are scalable and gangable.




