Startup launches breakthrough technology, converting CO2 into sustainable fuel

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas that accounts for the majority of global warming and is produced by power plants, manufacturing plants and many different forms of transportation...

Startup company SpiralWave (USA) has just introduced a groundbreaking device that uses future technology to convert CO2 gas into methanol. Illustration

Chemists have developed an innovative method to capture and convert carbon dioxide into methane, opening up the possibility of converting future emissions into alternative fuels, thereby opening up further opportunities. roads using electricity from fossil fuels. renewable source.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas that causes much of global warming and is produced by power plants, factories, and various forms of transportation. Conventional carbon capture systems aim to reduce its presence in the atmosphere in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by sequestering CO2 from other gases and converting it into useful products. However, this process is difficult to deploy on an industrial scale due to the enormous amount of energy required for these systems to operate.

Startup company SpiralWave (USA) has introduced a groundbreaking device that uses future technology to convert CO2 gas into methanol - a potential liquid fuel in fighting the climate crisis. The technology is based on a "pulsed plasma tower," which uses cold plasma to break the molecular bonds of carbon dioxide, thereby producing methanol with high energy efficiency.

TECHNOLOGY BREAKTHROUGH

SpiralWave was co-founded by Abed Bukhari and Adam Amad. Bukhari, the company has previously developed spectroscopy and semiconductor devices. SpiralWave realized that cold plasma could be used in carbon capture technology. Their system not only captures CO2 but also recycles it into methanol, a liquid fuel that can be used in industrial applications and as an alternative fuel.

According to the description, pulsed plasma technology works by stimulating microwaves at different frequencies, promoting three main chemical reactions, including the decomposition of CO2 into CO, then the decomposition of water (H2O) into hydrogen (H) and hydroxyl radical (OH) and finally combine the molecules to form methanol.

Methanol is colorless and can be used as fuel for racing cars, ships, or to produce chemicals such as formaldehyde and acetic acid.

SpiralWave's technology converts 75-90% of electrical energy into stored chemical energy in the form of methanol, outperforming current methods such as combining wind power, electrolysis and direct CO2 capture, which only achieves about 50% efficiency.

The test showed the ability to produce more than 1 ton of methanol from CO2 at a concentration of 90% and consume 7,000 kWh of electricity. The research team also plans to develop larger systems.

SpiralWave aims to deploy compact systems at customer locations, while scaling up to build the world's largest e-methanol plant. With ten 20-foot containers, they hope to achieve commercial-scale production of clean, low-cost fuel.

Adam Amad, co-founder of the company, said: “With this technology, we are not only fighting climate change but also creating opportunities for sustainable fuel production for the future.”

PERFORMANCE AND PROSPECTS

In addition, according to the study “Integrated Carbon Dioxide Capture with Amine and Conversion to Methane on a Single-Atom Nickel Catalyst” by a group of scientists published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the conversion Converting CO2 into fuel with renewable electricity has the potential to close the carbon cycle.

Methane could be a really interesting product, but most importantly this opens the way to developing more processes to convert captured CO2 into other products. Illustration photo

For example, when methane is burned to produce energy, it releases carbon dioxide which, if captured and converted back into methane, can lead to a continuous cycle of energy production without increasing the burden. severe global warming of the Earth.

This research is also the first time scientists have discovered that they can use electrochemistry to achieve the conversion of carbamate into methane. Although there have been many efforts to convert captured CO2 into useful products, to date most researchers have only shown the ability to produce carbon monoxide.

"Methane could be a really interesting product," said researcher Tomaz Neves-Garcia, lead author of the study and now a postdoctoral fellow in chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State University. But most importantly, this opens the way to develop more processes to convert captured CO2 into other products."

Going forward, the team hopes to continue exploring other chemical clean energy alternatives to help inspire the creation of more sustainable carbon capture routes.

“Everything always comes back to energy, and there is a lot of excitement and effort invested in the future of this field to save even more energy,” said author Neves-Garcia.

Source: vneconomy.vn