University of South Carolina at Columbia
Stabilizing CO2 concentrations is conceived to be one of the best near term solutions to mitigating the adverse effects on climate. An appealing alternative to geologic storage of captured CO2 is to have CO2 recycled back to the fuel form. The significance of this technological development is enormous: it rebalances the carbon cycle in the ecosystem, and therefore enables a sustainable energy future. With future renewable energy as the input to the conversion, the making of synthetic fuels from CO2 can be a carbon-neutral or even carbon-negative process.
The objective of the proposed research is to advance the engineering development of an innovative capture and conversion all-in-one CO2 reactor by acquiring foundational science and engineering knowledge on electrochemical capture of CO2 and conversion chemistry of CO2 into synthetic fuels. The unified CO2 reactor proposed consists of two newly developed electrochemical membranes for CO2/H2O capture and a solid-oxide electrolysis cell for instant CO2 conversion into syngas. Such an integrated system has great potential to be energy efficient and cost effective, offering an innovative and viable solution to the realization of a carbon balanced ecosystem.
In a particular the research will focus on the elucidation of the parallel ionic and electronic transport mechanisms, advancing the science of fast multi-ionic/electronic transport in heterogeneous systems. The foundational knowledge gained will help design more efficient and complex mixed ionic/electronic systems. In addition, the parametric study and computational analysis complement the fundamental understanding, providing engineering insights for the system design and configuration, and potentially laying the foundation for commercialization of this novel unified CO2 reactor.
The importance and potential impact of ongoing scientific advances in the area of CO2 capture and conversion technologies will be disseminated to the general public via an annual "Edison Lecture Series" program at the University of South Carolina. A joint summer workshop on energy research topic with Benedict College, a historically black college, will be held in the University of South Carolina to promote education and workforce development for minority and underrepresented students. A focused approach to introducing and engaging undergraduate students in research will be implemented by delivering seminar series to the local ASME and ECS student chapters.
