Carbon Capture And Storage
(Capture The Carbon)
Abstract:
Carbon capture and sequestration
has a seductively simple appeal: We generate
carbon dioxide emissions by burning geology
— coal and oil — carbon dioxide building up in the atmosphere
so to fix the problem, we should simply
capture it and inject it back into the ground.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a
means of mitigating the contribution of fossil
fuel emissions to global warming, based on
capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from large
point sources such as fossil fuel power
plants, and store it away from atmosphere by
different means. It can also be used to
describe the scrubbing of CO2 from ambient
air as a geoengineering technique.
Conventional capturing and compressing
CO2 requires much energy and would
increase the fuel needs of a coal-fired plant
with CCS by 25%-40%. These and other
system costs are estimated to increase the
cost of energy from a new power plant with
CCS by 21-91%. So an exclusive alternative
for this process is to capture the CO2 by
special cage-like molecules called CO2
capturing ZIFs() well suited to working
under real-world condition. These materials
could eventually make capturing CO2 easier
— and therefore, more cost effective. The
crystals are non-toxic and require little
energy to create, making them an attractive
possibility for carbon capture and storage.
Keywords: CCS, carbon capture, ZIF, Green
House, CO2
Introduction:
Green technology is that in which the
technology is environmentally friendly and is
created and used in a way that conserves
natural resources and the environment. Carbon
is emitted into the atmosphere (as carbon
dioxide, also called CO2) whenever we burn
any fossil fuel, anywhere. To prevent the
(probably causing global warming and
definitely causing ocean acidification), we can
catch the CO2, and store it. Carbon capture
and sequestration, is a means of mitigating the
contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global
warming, based on capturing carbon dioxide
(CO2) from large point sources such as fossil
fuel power plants, and storing it in such a way
that it does not enter the atmosphere.
CCS is a three-step process, including the
capture of CO2 from power plants, industrial
sources, and natural gas wells; transportation,
usually via pipelines, to the storage site; and
storage in deep saline formations, depleted oil
or gas fields, unmineable coal seams, and
enhanced oil recovery (EOR) sites.
Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIF) are
one kind of metal-organic frameworks'
subsidiaries which could be used to keep
industrial emissions of carbon dioxide out of
the atmosphere. One litre of the crystals could
store about 83 litres of CO2. They have huge
potential and efficiency over the conventional
methods.
Why do we need to capture the carbon?
In the decades, the phenomenon of
global warming became extremely important
issue that impacts in increasing of temperature
in surface environment. The greenhouse
effect caused by greenhouse gases trap in the
atmosphere and forms a layer which prevents
reflection of the heat out of the earth. This
effect will increase the temperature at the
earth's surface. As we know that carbon
dioxide (CO2) is the largest contributor to this
which increased dramatically since the
industrial revolution in 1700.
Global warming is also causing a lot of natural
disasters in various parts of the world such as
floods, droughts, extreme weather, hurricanes
and health. As mention in above paragraph
that the growth of carbon dioxide is the largest
contributor to global warming then we should
note that the growth of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emission in the atmosphere has reached 28
Gt / year. Meanwhile, the concentration has
reached 380 ppm. Researcher shows that
increasing of 450 ppm will increase
temperature 4 C. If the growth rate of carbon
dioxide is not pressed, this concentration will
be 600 ppm in 2050 and will reach 750 ppm in
2100. We have to stop and decrease carbon
dioxide rate. Mitigation to reduce carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere opens a new
paradigm of technology Carbon Capture
Storage (CCS) to against global warming.
Figure 1.
As we can see in the figure 1 the rising level
of the carbon dioxide also increases the global
warming which can lead to increase in
temperature, floods, melting of ice, draught
etc. so this need to addressed with insurgency.
What is carbon capture and storage?
Carbon capture and sequestration
has a seductively simple appeal: We generate
carbon dioxide emissions by burning geology
— coal and oil —
so to fix the problem, we should simply
capture it and inject it back into the ground.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a
means of mitigating the contribution of fossil
fuel emissions to global warming, based on
capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from large
point sources such as fossil fuel power plants,
and store it away from atmosphere by
different means. It can also be used to describe
the scrubbing of CO2 from ambient air as a
geoengineering technique.
Carbon is emitted into the atmosphere (as
carbon dioxide, also called CO2) whenever we
burn any fossil fuel, anywhere. The largest
sources are cars and lorries, and power
stations that burn fossil fuels: coal, oil or gas.
To prevent the carbon dioxide building up in
the atmosphere (probably causing global
warming and definitely causing ocean
acidification), we can catch the CO2, and store
it. As we would need to store thousands of
millions of tons of CO2, we cannot just build
containers, but must use natural storage
facilities. Some of the best natural containers
are old oil and gas fields.
What might Carbon Capture and Storage
(CCS) look like?
 Conventional Methods Of Carbon dioxide
capturing
Capturing CO2 might be applied to large point
sources, such as large fossil fuel or biomass
energy facilities, industries with major CO2
emissions, natural gas processing, synthetic
fuel plants and fossil fuel-based hydrogen
production plants.
1. POST COMBUSTION CAPTURE: In
‘‘post combustion capture, the CO2 is
removed after combustion of the fossil
fuel - this is the scheme that would be
applied to fossil-fuel burning power
plants. Here, carbon dioxide is
captured from flue gases at power
stations or other large point sources.
The technology is well understood and
is currently used in other industrial
applications, although not at the same
scale as might be required in a
commercial scale power station.
2. PRE-COMBUSTION : The
technology for pre-combustion is
widely applied in fertilizer, chemical,
gaseous fuel (H2, CH4), and power
Figure 2. production. In these cases, the fossil
fuel is partially oxidized, for instance
in a gasifier. The resulting syngas (CO
and H2) is shifted into CO2 and more
The figure 2 shows a conceptual plan for H2. The resulting CO2 can be captured
CCS, involving 2 of the common fossil fuels, from a relatively pure exhaust stream.
methane gas (also called natural gas) and coal. The H2 can now be used as fuel; the
carbon dioxide is removed before
Methane gas is produced from offshore gas combustion takes place.
fields, and is brought onshore by pipeline. 3. OXY-FUEL COMBUSTION: In oxy-
Using existing oil-refinery technology, the gas fuel combustion the fuel is burned in
is 'reformed' into hydrogen and CO2. The CO2 oxygen instead of air. To limit the
is then separated by a newly-designed resulting flame temperatures to levels
membrane, and sent offshore, using a common during conventional
corrosion-resistant pipeline. The CO2 goes to combustion, cooled flue gas is
an oilfield. The CO2 is stored in the oilfield, recirculated and injected into the
several km below sea level, instead of being combustion chamber. The flue gas
vented into the atmosphere from the power consists of mainly carbon dioxide and
station. water vapor, the latter of which is
condensed through cooling. The result
is an almost pure carbon dioxide
stream that can be transported to the
sequestration site and stored. Power
plant processes based on oxyfuel
combustion are sometimes referred to
 as "zero emission" cycles, because the change. Previous efforts have required heat to
CO2 stored is not a fraction removed trap the carbon dioxide particles. Heat requires
from the flue gas stream (as in the energy, and that energy costs money. Making
cases of pre- and post-combustion carbon capture more efficient could reduce the
capture) but the flue gas stream itself. cost of the process and bring "cleanish" fossil
It should be noted, however, that a fuel plants closer to reality.
certain fraction of the CO2 generated
during combustion will inevitably end
up in the condensed water. To warrant
the label "zero emission" the water
would thus have to be treated or
disposed of appropriately. The
technique is promising, but the initial
air separation step demands a lot of
energy.

Disadvantages Of Conventional Methods

1. Conventional capturing and

compressing CO2 requires much
energy and would increase the fuel
needs of a coal-fired plant with CCS
by 25%-40%.
2. These and other system costs are
estimated to increase the cost of
energy from a new power plant with
CCS by 21-91%.
3. The technology uses between 10 and
40% of the energy produced by a
power station.
Capturing the carbon with new CO2
capturing ZIF
An exclusive alternative for this process is to
capture the CO2 by special cage-like
molecules called CO2 capturing ZIFs 69 well
suited to working under real-world condition.
These materials could eventually make
capturing CO2 easier — and therefore, more
cost effective.
Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF) are
metal-organic framework for carbon dioxide
sinks which could be used to keep industrial
emissions of carbon dioxide out of the
atmosphere.
The sponge-like material, called ZIF-69,
promises to hold 60 times its volume in
carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas scientists
say is primarily responsible for climate
Figure 3. Showing ZIF 69
ZIF-69 is like a carbon dioxide trap, allowing
only CO2 in, while screening out molecules
with different shapes. Under pressure, the
compound allows the carbon dioxide in, but
not back out. Then, when scientists
decompress the material, the gas is released,
allowing scientists to dump the captured CO2
into a storage system. One litre of the crystals
could store about 83 litres of CO2. The
crystals are non-toxic and require little energy
to create, making them an attractive possibility
for carbon capture and storage. "The porous
structures can be heated to high temperatures
without decomposing and can be boiled in
water or solvents for a week and remain
stable, making them suitable for use in hot,
energy-producing environments like power
plants”.
Advantages of ZIF
1. CCS by using ZIF can make this
process very easy.
 2. This has the potential to be used as a
negative carbon emission technique.
3. Economical in implementation.
4. Very less amount of energy required to
make the crystals.
CO2 transport
After capture, the CO2 would have
to be transported to suitable storage sites. This
is done by pipeline, which is generally the
cheapest form of transport. In 2008, there
were approximately 5,800 km of CO2
pipelines in the United States, used to
transport CO2 to oil production fields where
the CO2 is injected in older fields to extract
oil. The injection of CO2 to produce oil is
generally called "Enhanced Oil Recovery" or
EOR. In addition, there are several pilot
programs in various stages to test the long-
term storage of CO2 in non-oil producing
geologic formations.
Storage
Geological storage
Also known as geo-sequestration, this method
involves injecting carbon dioxide, generally in
supercritical form, directly into underground
geological formations. Oil fields, gas fields,
saline formations, unminable coal seams, and
saline-filled basalt formations have been
suggested as storage sites. Various physical
(e.g., highly impermeable caprock) and
geochemical trapping mechanisms would
prevent the CO2 from escaping to the surface.
Ocean storage
Another proposed form of carbon storage is in
the oceans. Several concepts have been
proposed:
• 'dissolution' injects CO2 by ship or
pipeline into the water column at
depths of 1000 m or more, and the CO2
subsequently dissolves.
• 'lake' deposits CO2 directly onto the
sea floor at depths greater than 3000
m, where CO2 is denser than water and
is expected to form a 'lake' that would
delay dissolution of CO2 into the
environment.
• convert the CO2 to bicarbonates (using
limestone)
• Store the CO2 in solid clathrate
hydrates already existing on the ocean
floor, or growing more solid clathrate.
Mineral storage
Carbon sequestration by reacting naturally
occurring Mg and Ca containing minerals with
CO2 to form carbonates has many unique
advantages. Most notabl[e] is the fact that
carbonates have a lower energy state than
CO2, which is why mineral carbonation is
thermodynamically favorable and occurs
naturally (e.g., the weathering of rock over
geologic time periods). Secondly, the raw
materials such as magnesium based minerals
are abundant. Finally, the produced carbonates
are unarguably stable and thus re-release of
CO2 into the atmosphere is not an issue.
However, conventional carbonation pathways
are slow under ambient temperatures and
pressures. The significant challenge being
addressed by this effort is to identify an
industrially and environmentally viable
carbonation route that will allow mineral
sequestration to be implemented with
acceptable economics.
Leakage – A major concern
A major concern with CCS is whether
leakage of stored CO2 will compromise CCS
as a climate change mitigation option. For
well-selected, designed and managed
geological storage sites, IPCC estimates that
risks are comparable to those associated with
current hydrocarbon activity. CO2 could be
trapped for millions of years, and although
some leakage occurs upwards through the soil,
well selected stores are likely to retain over
99% of the injected CO2 over 1000 years.
Leakage through the injection pipe is a greater
risk. Although the injection pipe is usually
protected with Non-return valves (to prevent
release on a power outtage), there is still a risk
that the pipe itself could tear and leak due to
the pressure. A small incident of this type of
CO2 leakage was the Berkel and Rodenrijs
incident in December 2008, where a modest
release of greenhouse gas emissions resulted
in the deaths of a small group of ducks. In
order to measure accidental carbon releases
more accurately and decrease the risk of
fatalities through this type of leakage, the
implementation of CO2 alert meters around the
project perimeter has been proposed.
In 1986 a large leakage of naturally
sequestered carbon dioxide rose from Lake
Nyos in Cameroon and asphyxiated 1,700
people. While the carbon had been
sequestered naturally, some point to the event
as evidence for the potentially catastrophic
effects of sequestering carbon.
For ocean storage, the retention of CO2 would
depend on the depth; IPCC estimates 30–85%
would be retained after 500 years for depths
1000–3000 m. Mineral storage is not regarded
as having any risks of leakage. The IPCC
recommends that limits be set to the amount
of leakage that can take place. This might rule
out deep ocean storage as an option.
Future of CCS And ZIFs
What kind of developments should we
expect in the area of CCS? Judging from the
research topics that we have today, we might
predict that in the near future things such as
ZIF crystals capable of capturing the carbon
dioxide that is already in the atmosphere, i.e.
capturing the carbon from the air. The CCS is
a promising technology which has the huge
potential for the negative carbon emission. In
future it can be used for lowering down the
CO2 concentration in the atmosphere which is
already there.
Conclusion : (What Should Happen)
• CCS is the need of the present and the
future. New promising techniques had
to be developed for controlling global
warming.
• Global warming is a problem that
requires urgent action. It calls for a
multi-faceted approach. It is a problem
that can only be solved with
international co-operation and
commitment. CCS is one technology
available to combat global warming.
The Global CCS Institute is focused on
this solution.
• Renewable energy technology
continues to develop, but fossil fuels,
in particular coal, will continue to
provide the bulk of the world’s energy
for the foreseeable future. CCS is a
technology that can reduce emissions
from power plants and factories to
almost zero.
• ZIFS and its like materials has huge
potential and are very efficient over
conventional methods.
• The carbon footprints generated from
the usage of conventional energy
resources have to be controlled so as to
keep the waste minimized and keep the
planet safe.
References:
Wikipedia (2010-11-02). “Carbon Capture And
Storage”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_stora
ge
Omar Yaghi (2010-11-02), “CO2-Absorbing Crystals
Just the Tip of Iceberg for UCLA Lab”
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/
2008/02/gallery_nanotech?slide=10&slideView=6
CCS (2010-11-02), “Need of CCS”
http://www.globalccsinstitute.com/about_css/why_we_
need_css.html