The growing demand for technologies to capture, utilize, and sequester CO2, bolstered by government and public realization of meeting global energy demands and climate goals, is a critical opportunity for the chemical and process industries. There has been a building momentum in the field arising from investment incentives and the civic value of meeting climate targets. At SwRI, we have integrated teams working on all facets of CCUS and related infrastructure developed for real-world CO2 producers. Our expertise ranges over chemisorption, membrane and oxy-fuel separations, chemical and calcium looping, direct air capture, infrastructure and logistics, and supercritical CO2 power cycles. SwRI has developed a novel technology to convert CO2 into different carbonaceous forms including graphene through a metallothermic reduction reaction. This presentation will discuss the results of the experimental testing including yields, analytical characterization, and the results of a preliminary techno-economic analysis that details the mass and energy balance of a pilot-scale process. Leveraging high dollar value markets with newly coming-online carbon capture projects has the potential to change the perception of CCUS worldwide by shifting the perspective of CCUS from having little cost benefit to a lucrative opportunity. The focus of the research conducted by SwRI is to explore an experimental method of graphene production in a novel process in which carbon dioxide is reduced to carbon via vapor-liquid metallothermic reduction. The current scope of the research seeks to determine the requirements and viability of building and operating a plant utilizing this process at scale through bench scale experimentation of the metallothermic reduction and a subsequent techno-economic analysis utilizing process data. The process concept developed at SwRI revolves around a molten metal reduction of CO2 to carbon that can be operated in a semi-batch process. Operation of the bench scale unit utilized a specialized stirred crucible melting furnace modified to operate safely in our facility, completing a test matrix to determine optimal process conditions. Furthermore, a preliminary techno-economic assessment has been performed in Aspen Plus. This presentation will discuss preliminary results and observations of a techno-economic analysis evaluating the feasibility of a plant-scale operation based on data gathered through testing and operation of a bench-scale unit.
