Integrated mineral carbonation reactor technology for sustainable carbon dioxide sequestration: 'CO2 Energy Reactor'

To overcome the limitations of mineral carbonation that thus far have prevented it from becoming an acceptable route to sustainable CO2 sequestration, a novel reactor technology that makes use of a Gravity Pressure Vessel is developed. The 'CO2 Energy Reactor' applies the principles of process integration and process intensification to achieve the technological leap needed to make mineral carbonation industrially feasible. Its autothermic ity, hydrostatic pressurization, vertical plug flow design and underground installation make it an appealing alternative to other CCS techniques. This work reports the technical details of the conceptual design, and studies the effect of process parameters on reaction characteristics (kinetics and conversion) and energy balances by means of mathematical modeling. The parameter sets (particle size, solids loading, pumping rate, and reactor dimensions) that ensure autothermic behavior, maximize carbonation efficiency and enable recoverable heat generation are identified. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of GHGT