Technical Evaluation and Market Penetration of Carbon Captures and Utilization

Manufacturing industries play a very important role in modern days, without industries modern life is impossible to think, rapidly increasing population, preference of comfort, modern and innovative technologies and tendency to do work in minimum time is driving the industrialization of almost every sector and every region throughout the globe. These industries are also become a source of emission of greenhouse gases majorly Carbon Dioxide during the manufacturing of various product and it is not a very new thing that Carbon Dioxide emission impacts the environment negatively, Carbon dioxide drives climate change when released to the atmosphere.

Alternatively, Carbon Dioxide could be captured and utilized as a carbon source for the manufacturing of different chemicals whose raw material is Carbon or Carbon dioxide, the basic idea of capturing Carbon Dioxide and preventing it from being released into the atmosphere was first suggested in 1977 using existing technology in new ways. Carbon Dioxide capture technology has been used since the 1920s for separating Carbon Dioxide sometimes found in natural gas reservoirs from the saleable methane gas.

Carbon capture and utilization is the aim to use the captured carbon dioxide for conversion into other substances or products with higher economic value while retaining the carbon neutrality of the production processes.

Capture and utilization Technologies:

Carbon utilization technologies can generate revenue that can offset some of the costs of capture and sequestration. Carbon Dioxide can be used to produce fuels, carbonates, polymers and chemicals, due to political and environmental support carbon capture and utilization has the potential to create a new economy for Carbon Dioxide, as used as raw material.

Carbon capture and utilization may delay carbon emissions to the atmosphere while reducing the consumption of the original feedstock and avoiding the emission of other substances associated with them.

Carbon Capture:

There are three different configurations of technologies for capture exist:

1. Post-combustion capture

2. Pre-combustion capture

3. Oxy-fuel combustion

Post-combustion Capture:

In post-combustion carbon capture, Carbon Dioxide is separated or captured after the combustion of fossil fuel. The principal challenge in post-combustion capture is separating the Carbon Dioxide generated during combustion from the large amounts of nitrogen found in the flue gas. An array of different techniques is available including the use of solvents, sorbents, and membranes (and novel concepts that can include hybrid technologies) all properly designed for operation at post-combustion conditions.

Pre-combustion Capture:

In pre-combustion carbon capture, Carbon Dioxide is separated or captured before the combustion of fossil fuel. Pre-combustion capture involves the reaction of a fuel with oxygen or air and in some cases steam to produce a gas mainly composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which is known as synthesis gas (syngas) or fuel gas. The produced carbon monoxide is reacted with steam in a catalytic reactor, called shift converter to give Carbon Dioxide and more hydrogen. Carbon Dioxide is then separated, usually by cryogenic distillation or chemical absorption process.

Oxy-fuel Combustion:

In oxy-fuel combustion, nearly pure oxygen is used for combustion instead of ambient air, and this results in a flue gas that is mainly Carbon Dioxide and water, which are separated by condensing water. Three major advantages of this method are high Carbon Dioxide concentration in the output stream (above 80% v/v), high flame temperature, and easy separation of exhaust gases.

There are many technologies use under these technologies such as membrane which can be understood by the following figure:

Captured Carbon Utilization:

Captured carbon can be utilized in two ways which are categorized on the basis of utilization pathway:

1. CO2 conversion technology

2. CO2 non-conversion technology

CO2 Conversion Technology:

CO2 conversion technologies that convert CO2 into chemical and biochemical via numerous reactions with a focus on front-running technologies that are at, or close to large-scale demonstration or commercialization.

The CO2 conversion technologies are grouped according to the technological routes used, such as electrochemical, photocatalytic and photosynthetic, catalytic, biological process (using microbes and enzymes), copolymerization and mineralization.

With appropriate enzymes or bacteria, CO2 can be converted into chemicals through bioreactions. One advantage of bioconversion is that it normally takes place at low temperature and pressure, so energy consumption is low. The process is, in general, simple, with main bioreactor(s) and a product-separation/purification process leading to low costs. The processes can take the exhaust from emission sources without the need to treat and purify the fuel gas.

CO2 Non-conversion Technology:

CO2 Non- conversion technologies that include direct use, by which CO2 is not chemically altered. Among such alternatives, the injection of supercritical CO2 into depleted oil wells to enhance the further recovery of oil is well established. Indeed, this is presently the only commercially viable technology adding value to large volumes to CO2 in the order of magnitude of emissions from fossil fuel-based energy generation.

Different Example of the utilization of captured CO2 based on utilization pathway areas in the following figure:

Carbon Capture Storage and Utilization Technology Readiness Level

Political Support for Carbon Capture and Utilization

There are several reinforcing elements of the policy-making process that are critical to accelerate the deployment of CCS. These include:

1. The setting of credible and economy-wide emissions reduction targets, consistent with the aims of the Paris Agreement.
2. Designing policy to achieve medium-term emissions reductions in a range of sectors and in line with these longer-term targets, combined with measures that meaningfully deal with or compensate those who lose from transitioning to a low-carbon future.
3. Explicitly including CCS in national climate action plans or similar flagship policy statements, which either implicitly or explicitly acknowledge how CCS can play a role alongside other low-carbon technologies.
4. Securing policy certainty via a government commitment that has been demonstrated to extend beyond political cycles and to be resilient to conflicting political demands.
5. Establishing (region-relevant) public/private business models that better manage risk allocation between the capture, transport and storage elements of the CCS chain, thus reducing overall risks.
6. Devoting special attention to accelerating investment in storage exploration and characterization, in view of the long lead times for development in certain regions.

Drivers for Carbon Capture and Utilization Market:

There are two main drivers for CCU: Reducing CO2 emissions to the atmosphere and expanding the regional resource basis.

1. The capability of CCU to replace fossil resources and thus to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The direct greenhouse gas impact is realized directly through delayed CO2 emissions.

2. CCU has the potential to expand the regional resource basis and secure energy supply. With high shares of variable low-carbon electricity, such as solar and wind power, CCU could enable the introduction of additional low-carbon energy into the system and potentially bring additional flexibility to systems.

Carbon Capture and Utilization Market:

Source: European Commission

According to the European Commission, carbon capture and utilization market was estimated globally 2.79 billion USD which was segmented into regions. North America consists of the largest market of carbon capture and utilization which was estimated to 33% of the global market total of 0.92 billion USD and the Asia Pacific consists smallest market of carbon capture and utilization which was estimated to15% of the global market total of 0.43 billion USD in 2017.

Final Remarks:

Carbon capture and utilization is a tool which is helpful in reducing greenhouse gas emission from the various industry by capturing and utilizing the emitted Carbon Dioxide from the various operation of industries such as energy generation, manufacturing process, and recycling of waste or used product. Captured Carbon Dioxide is utilized in products of various materials such as fuel, polymers, carbonated drinks, fertilizers, chemicals and so on in a sustainable manner.

Carbon capture and utilization is helpful for the environment and prevent atmospheric changes thus regulating authority are coming with rules and regulation to promote it.it also has potential to replace fossil fuel and provide secure energy supply thus companies are also focused on adapting the latest technologies related to carbon capture and utilization. According to the European Commission in 2017 global market of carbon capture and utilization was estimated to USD 2.79 billion.

Rapid development can be achieved in industry sectors where CO2 is already separated as part of the production processes.

Carbon capture and utilization market can increase rapidly as available technology and easily accessible raw material along with political and social support.