PNNL

Abstract

Concentrating CO2 from the dilute coal combustion or gasification gas stream to a level suitable for sequestration purposes represents a major cost factor to curtail CO2 emissions by capture and sequestration schemes. This paper provides a short review of CO2 capture incentives, current separation processes, and research progress of various new technologies. Technically, CO2 can be separated out of a gas mixture by all the methods discussed in this work, such as distillation, absorption, adsorption, gas/solid reaction, membrane, electrochemical pump, hydrate formation, etc. The challenge lies in determining which approach is the most practical or feasible, and ultimately the most cost-efficient. Important material issues and their impacts on the process viability will be discussed.