The carbon recovery strategy will open the car-free era

Scientific researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a project to recover, store and eventually recycle carbon from vehicles to prevent it from being released into the air. Researchers from the George Institute of Technology Research envisioned a vehicle with no emissions and a system of transport vehicles that absolutely do not use obsolete fuel.

The technology to recover CO2 emissions from large-scale sources such as power plants has recently gained some impressive progress, but about two-thirds of global CO2 emissions are emitted from smaller sources of pollution such as cars, transportation vehicles and electricity generation applications (eg diesel generators).

The goal of the George Institute of Technology team is to create a sustainable vehicle system that uses liquid fuel and recovers carbon emissions right in the vehicle to then process them at the refueling station . The carbon is then transported to a treatment plant where it can be converted into liquid fuel. Currently, George Institute of Technology researchers are developing a fuel handling device to separate carbon and store them into the vehicle in liquid form.

Andrei Fedorov, an associate professor of the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and head of the project's research team, said: 'We currently have an unsustainable carbon-based development economy with Some strict restrictions include limiting the supply of obsolete fuel, high costs and the release of polluting CO2. We want to create a sustainable energy strategy for cars that addresses every single limit, even using renewable energy sources and using it in a way that is aware of security. environmental protection. '

Very little research has been done on car carbon recovery, but the Georgia Institute of Technology team has outlined a feasible project for handling fossil fuels or synthetic fuels. contains carbon. The project allows carbon capture and recycling as soon as they are released. In the long run, this project will lead to the development of a sustainable transport system without carbon emissions.

The near future project of the Georgia Institute of Technology involves the recovery of carbon emissions from vehicles using traditional fuels that are obsolete hydrocarbon-based natural materials. These vehicles are fitted with a fuel handling system designed to separate hydrogen gas from the fuel from carbon. Hydrogen gas is then used to run the vehicle, while carbon is stored on the vehicle in liquid form until it is poured into the refueling station. They will then be transported to a centralized treatment site in a remote and long-lived place, such as where geological tectonics are located under the sea or in solid carbon forms. Currently, scientists are surveying the location.

In a long-term project, CO2 will be recycled to form a closed system, involving the synthesis of high-energy liquid fuels that are suitable for the transport sector.

Operation process of CO2 recovery and recycling system.(Photo: Georgia Institute of Technology Research)

The Georgia Institute of Technology decided to choose hydrogen-based vehicles for a plan to collect carbon emissions because pure hydrogen will not produce carbon emissions when they are used as a fuel to operate vehicles . The fuel processing system will produce hydrogen on the car from hydrocarbon fuel without the presence of air during this process. The result of creating a carbon-rich byproduct can be recovered with extremely small disadvantages. Traditional internal combustion engines including gasoline-powered cars now have a combustion process that combines fuel and air, thus producing very dilute CO ₂ emissions and the recovery of it is very difficult. .

David Damm, a PhD student at the University of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the lead author of a paper written in the newspaper and a collaborator of Fedorov, said: 'We have to develop. a system does not dilute fuel by air because once carbon dioxide is diluted, it is impractical to recall it on vehicles or other smaller systems.

The Georgia Institute of Technology team compared this system to other systems that are currently being considered and focus on transport and economics in its application on a global scale. Specifically, electric vehicles may be part of a long-term solution to carbon emissions, but the Georgia Institute of Technology team is concerned about the limitations of technology. Battery including the time used and charging time.

When hydrogen promises another viable solution to carbon emissions, it also provides another barrier - infrastructure. While liquid hydrogen-containing devices can be transported and stored by existing infrastructure systems, the distribution of hydrogen requires the construction of new piping systems, tanks and refueling stations. material.

The Georgia Institute of Technology has created a fuel processing system called CHAMP processing system (short for CO ₂ / H ₂ Active Membrane Piston). The system is capable of producing hydrogen efficiently and the ability to separate and liquefy CO2 gas from liquid hydrocarbon fuels or synthetic fuels used in internal combustion engines or fuel cells . After CO2 is removed from hydrogen, it will be stored in liquid form on the vehicle. In liquid form, carbon is more stable and dense which makes storage and transport easier.

In the Georgia Institute of Technology newspaper, the next long-term projects are also detailed in order to create a truly sustainable system that includes the storage of carbon stored in the past into a process of carbon recycling. recovered into fuel. Once the carbon is recovered directly on the vehicle, liquid CO2 will be poured back to the refueling stations and transmitted to the treatment plant, where it will be recycled into liquid synthetic fuel. to complete the recycling process.

Fedorov said: Currently the Georgia Institute of Technology is seeking solutions for systems and equipment to produce hydrogen gas and simultaneously recover carbon emissions. The biggest challenge for a completely carbon-free transport system is the development of a method to produce liquid fuels synthesized from CO2 and water using renewable energy sources. created. He added that the team is studying some ideas in this area.

The paper is published in the journal Energy Transformation and Control. The study was funded by the US Space and Aeronautics Agency (NASA), the NDSEG program of the US Department of Defense and the Georgia Institute of Technology (New Energy Development) program.