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 system for sequestering CO 2 from a CO 2 containing gas, the system comprising:
a source of the CO 2 containing gas;
a source of an aqueous medium;
a reactor configured to:
contact the CO 2 containing gas with the aqueous medium under conditions sufficient to produce a bicarbonate rich product; and
produce a solid carbonate composition and a product CO 2 gas from the bicarbonate rich product; and
an injector configured to inject the product CO 2 gas in a subsurface geological location.
2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 containing gaseous stream is a multicomponent gaseous stream.
3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the bicarbonate rich product comprises droplets of a liquid condensed phase (LCP) in a bulk liquid.
4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 containing gas is contacted with the aqueous medium in the presence of a catalyst that mediates the conversion of CO 2 to bicarbonate.
5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the solid carbonate composition is produced without the use of an alkalinity source.
6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the product CO 2 gas comprises substantially pure CO 2 .
7. The system 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.
8. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the subsurface geological location is a subterranean location.
9. The system 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.
10. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the aqueous medium is a bicarbonate buffered aqueous medium.
11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the bicarbonate buffered aqueous medium has a pH ranging from 8 to 10.
12. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 containing gas is obtained from an industrial plant.
13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the CO 2 containing gas is a flue gas.
14. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to produce a commodity from the solid carbonate composition.
15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the commodity is a building material.
16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the building material is an aggregate.
17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the building material is a cement or supplemental cementitious material.