Keeping captured carbon dioxide in liquid makes it more reactive and easier to concentrate
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 - 06:31
in Physics & Chemistry
To convert carbon dioxide captured at coal-fired power plants into valuable chemicals requires an energy-intense exchange between the carbon being a gas or trapped in liquid. Avoiding the exchange could reduce the amount of energy used. The challenge is in understanding how the carbon dioxide acts in a liquid state. The behavior of the gaseous state is well known. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) showed that carbon dioxide in solution is reactive and concentrated, far different from the stable and diffuse gaseous state.