Protonated amines mediated CO2 mineralization of coal fly ash and polymorph selection of CaCO3

The extensive consumption of acid and alkaline reagents is the most critical challenge hindering the development of the pH-swing process for CO2 mineralization. To deal with the problem, the present paper demonstrates the feasibility of using protonated amine as the reagent in coal fly ash (CFA) based leaching-mineralization process. The protonated amine could leach Ca2+ from CFA and be converted into free amine. The free amine was supposed to be in-situ regenerated into protonated amine by grab protons released from the CaCO3 precipitation reaction. 13 typical amines with varying amino types, pKa values, and side-chain length, were selected to systematically investigate the effects of amino groups on Ca2+ leaching performance from CFA, carbonation performance, CaCO3 nucleation, and crystal growth, as well as the process mechanism. Results indicated that effective Ca leaching, CaCO3 precipitation, and protonated amine regeneration were achieved. There was a linear relationship between the Ca utilization efficiency and pKa values of different amines. TEA obtained the highest CaCO3 yield and Ca utilization efficiency of 56.8 % and 16.8 %, respectively. In addition, amines provided excellent control of the size, polymorph, and morphology of the CaCO3 product. The primary amino group had a more pronounced effect on vaterite stabilization than secondary and tertiary ones. Introducing a side chain could promote the vaterite transforming to calcite and increasing chain length could decrease the vaterite particle size. Moreover, the maximal utilization efficiency in MEA was 15.9 % at conditions: 160 g/L solid to liquid ratio, 58 % degree of protonation, and 2.0 mol/L MEA concentration.

Automated summary

The feasibility of using protonated amine as reagent in coal fly ash based leaching-mineralization process was demonstrated, achieving effective Ca leaching, CaCO3 precipitation, and protonated amine regeneration. Different types of amines with varying pKa values and side-chain lengths were shown to significantly influence the reaction process and product properties.