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OwnerStephen E. Beaton, Gaurav Kamat +2inventors
InventorsSTEPHEN E. BEATON, GAURAV KAMAT, FORD McCLURE, ANNA LEE TONKOVICH
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Captured carbon dioxide is converted into ultra-high purity hydrocarbons, particularly methane. A gas stream containing carbon dioxide is fed to a reactor containing both sorbent and catalyst, until the sorbent portions are substantially saturated with carbon dioxide; non-sorbed species are removed from the first reactor via vacuum and/or purge cycles with high-purity gas; hydrogen gas is introduced to the first reactor to a pressure above ambient; reactor temperature is raised to facilitate desorption of carbon dioxide; and the carbon dioxide is catalytically transformed with the hydrogen gas into methane by recirculating the gas through the reactor. Carbon dioxide adsorption and desorption occur within the sorbent portions, while methanation takes place on the catalytic portions assisted by the sorbent at a temperature substantially consistent with the desorption. Downstream upgrading steps may remove or reduce impurities to produce ultra-high purity methane for chemical vapor deposition or other processes.
A process for making methane from CO2 and hydrogen comprising providing a catalyst and a solid sorbent together in a reactor chamber wherein the process is cyclic and comprises a sorption step for capturing CO2 with the solid sorbent, a vacuum step operating with a sub-atmospheric pressure less than 1 bar absolute to discharge non-sorbed species from the reactor chamber, and a conversion step wherein hydrogen is fed to the reactor chamber to produce methane with the CO2 previously sorbed in the sorption step by hydrogenation, wherein all three steps occur in the same reactor chamber displaced in time.
A process for making methane from CO2 and hydrogen, the process comprising providing a catalyst and sorbent provided in a reactor with a reactor length, the catalyst and sorbent being in contact for at least a portion of the reactor length, the process further comprising CO2 being captured from a stream comprising the CO2 and N2 at an inlet N2 concentration, and subsequently feeding a hydrogen stream to the reactor so that the captured CO2 is hydrogenated to methane and a methane reactor effluent is produced, wherein the methane effluent contains an exit N2 concentration less than 10 ppm N2 and the exit N2 concentration is lower than the inlet N2 concentration.
A method for making a combined sorbent and catalyst coating on interior surfaces of an open flow channel reactor body wherein the reactor body is made from an alumina forming material and the maximum flow channel opening is less than 2 mm in width or in height in at least a portion of the flow length.
A process for making a hydrocarbon product from CO2 and hydrogen using a reactor body comprising a sorbent and catalyst wherein the process comprises discontinuous flow of hydrogen to said reactor body, the flow of hydrogen occurring during a hydrogenation portion of the process wherein the temperature change within said reactor body is less than 20 C rise during said hydrogenation portion of the process.
A method for producing high purity methane in a single cellular reactor from a gaseous stream comprising CO2, the method comprising providing a cellular reactor having a length, and performing a step wherein the gaseous stream flows past a dual function material (DFM) material, on walls of a plurality of open-ended cells of the cellular reactor, along at least a portion of the reactor length, so that CO2 is adsorbed, and performing a step comprising providing hydrogen in the reactor so that the adsorbed CO2 and hydrogen are converted to methane and wherein effluent of the single cellular reactor is methane gas with a purity of greater than 90% on a dry basis upon a single pass of hydrogen.
A process for adjusting hydrogen content of a dual function material (DFM) effluent gas comprising hydrogen and gaseous hydrocarbons from a cyclic process producing the hydrocarbons over DFM, the process comprising using a hydrogen fuel cell on said DFM effluent gas and providing a fixed or variable electrical load, to alter the concentration of hydrogen in a fuel cell effluent gas, exiting the fuel cell, compared to said DFM effluent gas.
A process for using a reactor containing dual functional material, the reactor having two ends and a length between the two ends, the process comprising depositing current via at least one electrode to at least one of said two ends to allow said current to reach at least a portion of the reactor length where reactor feedstock flow traverses the length of the reactor, wherein at least one power source is provided outside the reactor and the at least one electrode is directly connected with the power source and spans at least a portion of the length of the reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.