2022 Annual Meeting
(648d) Efforts to Reduce GHG Emission Footprint of Magnesium Industries By Deep Eutectic Solvents
Authors
Quaid, T. - Presenter, Florida Institute of Technology
Reza, T., Florida Institute of Technology
Greenhouse Gases (GHG) are vaporized compounds that absorb infrared radiation (IR) and act as heat sinks in Earthâs atmosphere. Among other sectors, manufacturing industries are considered as major GHG emitters. For instance, magnesium industry has been emitting CO2 and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) which is more than 22,000 times more potent than CO2 at absorbing IR. The aim of this research is to analyze the potential use of a new class of green solvents called deep eutectic solvents (DES) to selectively capture GHGâs from magnesium industries. DES are considered cheap, environmentally benign, and highly tunable as they are comprised of two or more components with nearly infinite combinations and compositions. They have been proven to be highly efficient at selectively absorbing CO2, but little research has been done regarding other GHGâs like SF6. The objective of the study is to identify the solvent characteristics that will enable a highly efficient DES combination for magnesium industry. A conductor like screening model (COSMO) is adopted to screen suitable hydrogen bond acceptors (HBA) and hydrogen bond donors (HBD) for GHG absorption based on hydrogen bond properties using a triple-zeta valence polarization (TZVP) basis set. This model is evaluated compared to literature experimental studies to verify integrity of the results. The results indicate the solvents that are prone to vander Waals interactions have the highest molar absorbance capacity for the GHGâs, but the lowest selectivity for separating them from the bulk air waste stream. The polarized solvents are the most selective for CO2 due to the acid gas nature of this gas, and the alcohol-based DES are the most efficient at absorbing SF6, while providing a compromise between selectivity and absorbance capacity between the bulk air and GHGâs. These classes of DES are then further tuned by adjusting the length the alkyl chains and the core organic elements/structures of nitrogen. phosphorous, or aromatics. These relationships are discussed in further detail within the work.