Session A11
Paper # 6102
Disclaimer — This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This
paper is based on publicly available information and may not be provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this
paper is used for any purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year
(freshman) engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at
his or her own risk.
THE IMPORTANCE AND APPLICATIONS OF CARBON CAPTURE
SEQUESTRATION THROUGH SELECTIVE MEMBRANES
Zachary Dissen, zpd2@pitt.edu, Mahboobin 10:00, Tanner Prime, tjp50@pitt.edu, Mahboobin 4:00
Revised Proposal-- Carbon capture sequestration (CCS) is a
method of capturing carbon emissions within pollutants
before they reach the atmosphere, and then reusing the
Carbon Dioxide (CO ) gas for various purposes. CCS is one
of the subgoals of environmental engineering that aims to
reduce the amount of greenhouse gas pollution and help slow
global warming [1]. There are many methods that have
achieved various levels of success, but this paper will discuss
the membrane approach, a method of CCS that uses various
levels of pressurization and filtration to separate the CO from
the other gasses in pollutants and harvest them for reuse
while using minimal resources and space. Specifically, this
paper will discuss the various benefits and applications of
CCS through selective membranes, and the re use of this
harvested carbon.
The process of carbon capture by membrane involves the
use of exhaust gas from common sources such as coalburning power plants, automobiles, and any machinery that
consumes fossil fuels, even natural gas or propane
appliances. The process involves the insertion of a
mechanism into the exhaust line of a vehicle or plant that
filters the CO component of the gas out, and collects it in a
solvent to be stored for later use [2]. Membranes are an
attractive method for CCS due to their generally small and
modular designs, as well as their high efficiency and
selectivity (in membranes with less permeability) [3].
The most popular application of CCS is Enhanced Oil
Recovery (EOR), which involves pumping CO into bedrock
to force out trapped oil deposits. The CO can even dissolve
in the crude oil and make it easier for it to flow to the
collection reservoir, improving oil harvests drastically and
reducing the strain on the environment that would appear in
methods such as chemical injection [4]. The impact of the
ability to install CCS in nearly any vehicle or other small
pollution source is that the level of carbon emissions could be
drastically decreased in the coming decades, implying a
sizeable decrease in the effects of global warming by the year
2050 [5].
The structure of this paper will first focus on the intricacies
of membrane technology and how membranes can extract CO
from pollutants. Then the application of membrane
technology to existing infrastructure will be discussed, and
2
finally, the benefits and application of harvested carbon will
be explained-thus illustrating CCS’s ethical impact on the
world today. To accomplish this multiple scientific papers
that concern CCS and membrane technology will be
consulted. In addition, professors, who have been working on
this particular aspect of CCS, will be interviewed and their
opinions on CCS through selective membranes will be
assessed.
REFERENCES
2
2
2
2
[1] University of Melbourne Public Lecture Program. (23 July
2010). “How CCS works – and why we need it”. CRC for
Greenhouse Gas Technologies. (Online article).
[2] J. Sullivan and M. Sivak. (May 2012). “Carbon Capture in
Vehicles: A Review of General Support, Available
Mechanisms, and Consumer-Acceptance Issues”. University
of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. (Online
article).
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/909
51/102855.pdf
[3] K. Simons. (2010). “Membrane technologies for CO2
capture”. University of Twente. (Online article).
https://www.utwente.nl/tnw/mtg/publications/mstpublication
s/pdf/2010_Simons.pdf
[4] United States Department of Energy. (2016). “Enhanced
Oil Recovery”. (Online article).
http://energy.gov/fe/science-innovation/oil-gasresearch/enhanced-oil-recovery
[5] J. Wilcox. (2014). “Carbon Capture using NitrogenSelective Membrane Processes”. Department of Energy
Resources Engineering, Stanford University. (Video).
http://www.istc.illinois.edu/about/SustainabilitySeminar201
41027.cfm
[6] United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014).
“Environmental Engineers.” (Online article).
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-andengineering/environmental-engineers.htm
2
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering 1
2016/01/29
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Zachary Dissen
Tanner Prime
This video focused on the ability for CCS to be applied
to any small source of carbon emissions. It explained how
CCS could be implemented on various carbon emissions and
the all-around effects it could cause on society, including
global warming. We intend to use this source as a strong
component for our argument of the importance of CCS in
today’s world.
“Develop Carbon Sequestering Methods”. (2016). National
Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges for Engineers.
(Online
article).
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/9077.aspx
This article from the National Academy of Engineering
Grand Challenges provided information that outlines the
current environmental dangers of carbon pollution. The
source also provides a basic understanding of various
approaches to solving carbon pollution, as well as, arguing for
the importance of solving this issue as soon as possible. The
information from this source will provide us with a basic
understanding of CCS and open our eyes to the large scale
meaning of these CCS membranes.
K. Simons. (2010). “Membrane technologies for CO2
capture”. University of Twente. (Online article).
https://www.utwente.nl/tnw/mtg/publications/mstpublication
s/pdf/2010_Simons.pdf
Simon's article from the University of Twente detailed two
important membrane processes that capture Carbon dioxide;
a gas-liquid membrane contactor and thin, dense gas
separation membrane. In addition this article touched upon
the big picture of CCS effects. The information from this
source will be heavily used to understand how CCS exactly
works when using a membrane.
H. Zhai and E. Rubin. (March 2011). “Technical and
Economic Assessment of Membrane-based Systems for
Capturing CO2 from Coal from Coal-fired Power Plants fired
Power Plants”. Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Carnegie Mellon University. (Online presentation).
http://www.cmu.edu/epp/iecm/rubin/PDF%20files/2012/Zha
i,%20Rubin_Membrane_2011%20AIChE%20Spring%20Mt
g_3-13-11.pdf
Zhai and Rubin’s presentation, from Carnegie Mellon
University, provides a reservoir of information on CCS from
coal burning plants and the intricacies of membrane
separation. This source also provides data for the economic
impacts and implication of CSS. This source will serve as a
tool to understand CCS and its components when applied to
large Coal power plants, as well as, a reference to examine the
economics of CCS.
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014).
“Environmental Engineers.” (Online article).
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-andengineering/environmental-engineers.htm
This online article from the Bureau of Labor and
Statistics gives a detailed summary of an environmental
engineer. It provides a definition of environmental engineer
and what environmental engineers do, as well as, various
other aspects of environmental engineers such as pay, work
environment, and job outlook. This source’s information
allows us to identify with a specific engineering field, and
opens us up to a specific group of people interested in the
work that we are doing.
J. Sullivan and M. Sivak. (May 2012). “Carbon Capture in
Vehicles: A Review of General Support, Available
Mechanisms, and Consumer-Acceptance Issues”. University
of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. (Online
article).
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/909
51/102855.pdf
This online article, from the University of Michigan,
focused on worldwide views of CSS and its growing
popularity. It also examined the capturing of carbon dioxide
using three different mechanisms; absorption, membrane
separation, and adsorption. The paper mainly focused on the
capturing of carbon dioxide from post combustion reactions.
Bringing this source to our paper will add the dimension of
application. It provides us information on applying this new
technology of CCS to already existing infrastructures.
United States Department of Energy. (2016). “Enhanced Oil
Recovery”. (Online article).
http://energy.gov/fe/science-innovation/oil-gasresearch/enhanced-oil-recovery
This source provided a detailed explanation of the uses
of captured carbon dioxide, specifically enhanced oil
recovery. The article explained how enhanced oil recovery is
performed currently, possible new approaches to enhanced oil
recovery, and where enhanced oil recovery is heading.
Understanding all the effects and uses of CCS are very
important to us and our paper. Therefore we will use this
source’s information to explain a specific use of CCSenhanced oil recovery.
University of Melbourne Public Lecture Program. (23 July
2010). “How CCS works – and why we need it”. CRC for
Greenhouse Gas Technologies. (Online article).
http://www.co2crc.com.au/dls/media/10/PublicLectureJuly.p
df
The University of Melbourne's article described the
overall impact and problems with CCS. This source sheds
J. Wilcox. (2014). “Carbon Capture using Nitrogen-Selective
Membrane Processes”. Department of Energy Resources
Engineering,
Stanford
University.
(Video).
http://www.istc.illinois.edu/about/SustainabilitySeminar201
41027.cfm
2
Zachary Dissen
Tanner Prime
light into the CCS’s ability to maintain the carbon dioxide
levels, as well as its impact in reducing global warming.
In addition, this article examined the economic problems
with CCS through the eyes of Mr. Barry Hooper,
CO2CRC Chief Technologists. This source will serve as a
general base line for the effects and implications of CCS.
3