The Need

There has been growing concern about global warming since the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere has surpassed 400 ppm in the past decade. The combustion of fossil fuels is one of the major contributors to the large amount of CO₂ emission, and membrane technologies have been suggested as a promising approach to capture CO₂ from large stationary sources (e.g., flue gases from coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants), followed by compression and geological sequestration. Multiple research efforts were dedicated in designing membrane processes that can capture 90% CO₂ from the power plant flue gases with a CO₂ purity of at least 95%.

The Technology

Researchers at The Ohio State University, led by Dr. Winston Ho, have developed various methods for CO₂ capture. In one instance, researchers developed an economical two-stage membrane process for CO2 capture from the flue gas of power plants. Another novel method synthesizes PVAm membranes with amino acid salts as mobile carriers for CO2 separation applications. A third method consists of a novel amine-containing membrane incorporated with carbon nanotubes for CO2/N2 separation with a vacuum pulled on the permeate side.

Commercial Applications

• CO2 capture, separation, and removal
• Global warming mitigation

Benefits/ Advantages

• The incorporated carbon nanotubes enhance membrane performance
• CO2 capture cost is decreased