Carbon sequestration methods and systems
Methods of sequestering carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) are provided. Aspects of the methods include contacting a CO 2 containing gaseous stream with an aqueous medium under conditions sufficient to produce a bicarbonate rich product. The resultant bicarbonate rich product (or a component thereof) is then combined with a cation source under conditions sufficient to produce a solid carbonate composition and product CO 2 gas, followed by injection of the product CO 2 gas into a subsurface geological location to sequester CO 2 . Also provided are systems configured for carrying out the methods.
1. A method of sequestering carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the method comprising:
contacting a CO 2 containing gaseous stream with an aqueous medium to produce a bicarbonate rich product;
combining the bicarbonate rich product or a component thereof with a cation source to produce a solid carbonate composition and product CO 2 gas; and
injecting the product CO 2 gas into a subsurface geological location to sequester CO 2 .
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the aqueous medium is a bicarbonate buffered aqueous medium.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the bicarbonate buffered aqueous medium has a pH ranging from 8 to 10.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 containing gaseous stream is a multicomponent gaseous stream.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the bicarbonate rich product comprises droplets of a liquid condensed phase (LCP) in a bulk liquid.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the solid carbonate composition is produced without the use of an alkalinity source.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the product CO 2 gas comprises substantially pure CO 2 .
8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising compressing the product CO 2 gas prior to injecting the product CO 2 gas in the subsurface geological location.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the subsurface geological location is a subterranean location.
10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises producing a commodity from the solid carbonate composition.
11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the commodity is a building material.
12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the building material is an aggregate.
13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the building material is a cement or supplemental cementitious material.
14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method produces a mole of purified CO 2 for every two moles of CO 2 removed from the gaseous stream.
15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 containing gas is obtained from an industrial plant.
16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the CO 2 containing gas is a flue gas.