Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Open Access Master's Report

Degree Name

Master of Science in Environmental Engineering (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Advisor 1

Daisuke Minakata

Committee Member 1

David Watkins

Committee Member 2

Robert Handler

Abstract

The increase in anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), has caused global temperatures to rise, requiring the implementation of effective solutions to mitigate the carbon emissions such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Even though CCS holds potential, there are concerns surrounding the capacity for CO2 storage and the potential for leakage. This study investigates the water utilization and energy consumption for the dissolution of captured CO2 of three technologies -scrubbing, nanobubble and membrane technologies. We constructed a spreadsheet model utilizing Henry's law to forecast the amount of water needed and energy used for each technology considering parameters such as temperatures, pressures, and CO2 gas content in the gas mixture. Scrubbing and membrane technologies necessitate a larger amount of water due to constraints on solubility as compared to nanobubble technologies, for which solubility is not limited by Henry’s solubility limit. Furthermore, membrane technology is notable for being the most energy-efficient approach, as it does not require gas compression for membrane permeation. Although the use of freshwater is more energy efficient, the large availability of seawater may offset energy consumption concerns. This study highlights membrane technology as a cost-effective and energy-efficient method for dissolving CO2.

Additional Files
CO2 dissolution water and energy consumption calculator.xlsm (177 kB)
Supplementary material-MS Excel Spreadsheet
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