Research Plan

Creating an Electrochemical Cell that uses CO2 to Produce Electricity Commented [YE1]: So, we’re almost done. We must do a
bit more history on CCUS and then our bibliography which is
Present Technology gonna be hella big. But besides that, it’s pretty much it.
Commented [YE2]: Title
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is one of the most defining challenges of the world right now.
And with the seemingly limitless sources of emission — from general breathing of countless living species to Commented [YE3]: Journal Article and Sources in there.
vehicular to industrial emissions — the amount of carbon dioxide seems to be ever increasing. Between Angamuthu
1957 and 2000, the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere increased 18%. More recently, the Commented [YE4R3]: Intro and Present Technology
CO2 measured 405.1 parts per million in 2016 at the Mauna Loa Baseline Atmospheric Observatory in
Hawaii, marking five consecutive years of CO2 increases of at least 2 parts per million. Most world energy
forecasts show that fossil fuels will continue to play a major role in meeting worldwide energy demands for
the future, particularly in the transportation and power generation sectors. To capitalize on the exceptional,
high energy density of fossil fuels, the incorporation of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration
(CCUS) technologies is essential to reduce global CO2 emissions and has already been implemented.
However, using classical CCUS technologies on a large scale is limited as it can increase energy demand—
and the cost of energy—by at least one-third. Recently, CO2 capture has been demonstrated for mobile
sources, capitalizing on the waste energy of combustion engines which are engines that generate mechanical
power by combustion of a fuel. A requirement for the commercial success of any CCUS process is the
conversion of CO2 to useful chemicals and fuels but it has proven to be very difficult because of the
thermodynamic and kinetic stability of CO2. The conversion of CO2 to oxalates, which are a feedstock to
useful chemicals supporting various markets/industries, has recently been demonstrated by Raja
Angamuthu, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, who used a copper-based catalyst.

Before going any further, what an electrochemical is and how it functions needs to be clarified.
There are two types of electrochemical cells; an electrolytic cell and a galvanic cell. Galvanic cells are cells
that convert chemical energy into electrical energy while electrolytic cells are cells that convert electrical
energy into chemical energy. A nonchargeable battery consists of one or more galvanic cells while a
rechargeable battery consists of one or more electrolytic cells. A simple example of a galvanic cell would be

two beakers; one with a zinc sulfate solution and the other with copper sulfate solution. Then, a piece of Commented [YE5]: Present Tech (How a Battery Works)
zinc metal is put in the zinc sulfate solution and a piece of copper metal is put in the copper sulfate solution. Commented [Gu6R5]: dude the first sentence needs to
Next, a metal wire is connected between these metals and electrons from the zinc metal start to move to the be revised
copper metal generating electricity. To understand what happens, the model needs to be zoomed in at an
atomic level. Now, in each beaker, two types of atoms can be seen; one kind is the solid metals (Zinc atom Commented [YE7]: Everything under here is History
and Copper atom) and the other kind is the ions in the solution (Zinc 2+ and Copper 2+). Since Copper 2+
has a stronger pull for electrons than Zinc, it takes electrons away from the Zinc atom. When Zinc gives Commented [YE8R7]: Essentially, what I’m doing here is
away its electrons, it causes its charge to change and becomes an ion. This is a big change as metal ions explaining how CCUS technologies have developed over
usually dissolve in water, making the part of the Zinc metal in the solution smaller and smaller over time. time. Leading up to our battery technology
On the other hand, when copper gains these electrons, it becomes a neutral atom which makes the part of
the copper metal in the solution larger over time. Through this movement of electrons, electricity is
generated. Zinc losing its electrons is a process called oxidation and copper gaining electrons is a process
called reduction. The cathode is the site of reduction and the anode is the site of oxidation. For a battery,
the cathode is the positive terminal and the anode is the negative. The same is true for a rechargeable
battery, but they change charges while the battery is being charged. Essentially, the cathode becomes
negative and the anode becomes positive. Oxidation and reduction reactions cannot be carried out
separately. They must appear together in a chemical reaction. The two parts of this galvanic cell are called
oxidation half-cell and reduction half-cell. The two half-cells may use the same electrolyte, or they may use
different electrolytes. In the case described above, two different electrolytes were used; Zinc Sulfate and
Copper Sulfate. In a nonchargeable battery, this same process occurs numerous amounts of time. In a
rechargeable battery, the opposite of this process occurs.

History

CCUS technologies have played and still play an important role in reducing global emissions of
carbon dioxide and they have evolved greatly from other forms over time. The use of CO2 for
commercial enhanced oil recovery started in USA in the early 1970s. Initiated in 1989, the Carbon Capture

and Sequestration Technologies Program at MIT conducts research into technologies to capture, utilize,
and store CO2 from large stationary sources. It is globally recognized as a leader in the field of carbon
capture and storage research. Next in 1991, the Norwegian government imposed a tax on hydrocarbon fuels
produced offshore motivating Statoil, a Norwegian oil and gas company, to begin its Sleipner CCS project in
the North Sea in 1996. The Sleipner CCS project produces natural gas and light oil from the Heimdal
sandstones, which are about 2500 m below sea level. The natural gas produced at Sleipner contains
unusually high levels of carbon dioxide, but the customers require less than 2.5%. To avoid paying the
carbon tax and as a test of alternative technology, all the CO2 extracted since 1996, when gas production
started at Sleipner, has been pumped back deep underground. The Sleipner project is the first commercial
example of CO2 storage in a deep saline aquifer, so there is a lot of interest from around the world in its
success. In 1998, a Canadian oil and gas corporation (the EnCana Corporation) announced plans to
implement a large scale EOR project in an oilfield near Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada, using
CO2 captured from the Dakota Gasification Company.

Moving into the 20th Century, the Carbon Sequestration Initiative (CSI) was launched in July 2000
as a major component of the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies Program at MIT. CSI is an
industrial consortium formed to investigate CCS technologies, and aims to provide an objective source of
assessment and information about carbon sequestration, educate a wider audience on the possibilities of
carbon sequestration and stimulate and seed new research ideas. The next big project is the Carbon
Capture Project (CCP). CCP is a partnership of major energy companies working to advance CO2 capture
and storage (CCS) development for the oil & gas industry. The group has been working closely with
government organizations – including the US Department of Energy, the European Commission and more
than 60 academic bodies and global research institutes. It has been divided into four phases and each one
with a specific purpose. The first phase was from April of 2000 to December of 2003. It mostly consisted of
evaluating ideas, implementing those ideas and seeing how they work. The second phase began in 2005 and
was completed in 2009. Phase two had two major technical focal points: 1) the development of capture
technologies and 2) storage, monitoring and verification (SMV) tools and processes. Phase 2 also included

analysis of policies that supported the use of capture and storage methods, as well as efforts to communicate
the advances in these areas of the project. Phase 2 of the program continued the most promising
technologies from Phase 1, had identified and developed technologies not included in the first phase and
updated the cost evaluation. During phase three of CCP (2009-2014), CCP focused on implementing
capture technologies at the demonstration stage. This phase saw significant progress resulting in many
demonstrations, field trials and studies. Phase four of CCP has already started in 2015 and is ending in
2018. In phase four of CCP, the program aims to further knowledge in the three CO2 capture scenarios
addressed in previous phases (refinery, heavy oil and natural gas power generation), together with a new
scenario – CO2 separation from natural gas production. Within CO2 storage, the phase four program will
continue to demonstrate safe and secure geological containment through field-based monitoring and the
development of robust intervention protocols. Altogether, CCP has undertaken more than 150 projects
since 2000 to increase the science, economics and engineering applications of CCS and will continue to do
so.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), almost 4000 million tonnes annually of CO2
would need to be captured and stored by 2040 to avoid a 2°C global temperature rise. The Global CCS
Institute (GCCSI) estimates show that the current carbon capture capacity for projects in operation and
under construction is at around 40 million tonnes annually leaving a significant gap to be filled. This brings
the rise of the utilization factor into CCS creating carbon, capture, sequestration, and utilization
technologies. To encourage CCUS technologies, the XPrize Foundation’s NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize is
holding a competition, which will conclude in 2020, offering a $7.5 million prize to each winning
demonstration project on two tracks, one to be demonstrated at utility scale with flue gas from a coal-fired
power plant, and the other with flue gas from a gas-fired plant. The competition began in 2015 with 47
project teams from seven countries including carbon capture technology companies, academic institutions,
non-profits, startups and even a father-and-son team. Among the carbon utilization projects are teams
hoping to produce fuels for power generation and transport, cement, polymers, proteins, chemicals and
chemical precursors, and advanced materials such as nanotubes and graphene. Canada’s Carbon-Cure

Technologies aims to produce concrete, while US-based Carbon Upcycling UCLA is aiming for 3D-printed
concrete replacement building material. Switzerland’s Aljadix is focused on carbon-negative biofuel, and
India’s Breathe on methanol. US-based Protein Power is aiming for fish food, while Canada’s Tandem
Technical goals are health supplements, toothpaste, paint and fertilizers. Dr. Marcius Extavour, director of
technical operations for the Carbon XPrize, says: “We have always known that an incredible array of
products and materials we use every day are carbon-based down at the molecular level. That means that, in
principle, they could be made using CO2 as a building block. What we didn’t expect was that teams would
demonstrate practically every category of product that could be made.” In October, the XPrize team
announced that 27 teams had gone through to the second round. These teams from Switzerland, India,
China, Scotland, Canada and the US include 12 groups focusing on using CO2 from coal-fired power plants
and 21 teams focusing on CO2 from natural gas-fired plants. The Round 2 semi-finalists will demonstrate
their technologies at pilot scale, using either real or simulated flue gas. Over a 10-month period the teams
must meet the competition’s minimum requirements, including converting at least 30 per cent of the CO2
in a flue gas stream, consuming less than 4 cubic meters of fresh water per tonne of CO2 converted,
requiring a land footprint of less than ca 2300 square meters and demonstrating a pathway to overall CO2
emissions reduction.

Opus 12’s project utilizes CO2, water and electricity in a reactor with a catalyst to produce a wide
range of materials. “It’s been known for a long time that you can take CO2, H2O and electricity on a metal
surface and can rearrange atoms of CO2 and water and use the energy to make carbon-based compounds,”
Kendra Kuhl, co-founder of US-based team Opus 12, explains. “This is difficult to do outside a laboratory
environment because the reactors in the lab aren’t suitable to scale up to commercial and industrial scale.
But if you take the same reactor used to split water to make hydrogen and oxygen, which is used commonly
around the world on a multiple-tonnes-per day scale, you can convert that reactor into one that can use
CO2 to make other carbon-based compounds.” In addition to this, utilization of carbon has also been
proven very useful in electrochemistry. Previously mentioned before, Raja Angamuthu has created an
electro catalytic conversion to oxalates using a copper complex. In conclusion, CCUS technologies have

come a long way. They are accepted as an appropriate emissions reduction technology to help address the
challenge of reducing CO2 emissions while the world develops alternative energy sources. Over the last 50
years, CCUS technologies have done more than any other technological industry to reduce CO2 emissions.