Project Selections for FOA 2614: Carbon Management (Round 2)

AREA OF INTEREST (AOI)-2: CARBON DIOXIDE REMOVAL TECHNOLOGY

AOI-2F: Carbon Dioxide Removal R&D: Field Validation of Abiotic Ocean-Based Carbon Removal & AOI-2G: Carbon Dioxide Removal R&D: Integrated Carbon-Neutral Methanol Synthesis from Direct Air Capture and Carbon-Free Hydrogen Production

Ocean-Based Carbon Capture, Storage, and Alkalinity Improvement by a Seawater-Regenerated Metal-Polymer Hybrid Sorbent— Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) plans to develop a novel ocean-based abiotic carbon capture technology (DeCarbonHIX), which uses seawater to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO₂) while simultaneously reversing CO₂-induced seawater acidification. The project seeks to design and model a full-scale offshore DeCarbonHIX system including demonstrating the proposed capture bed's air-side pressure drop and CO₂ capture abilities and the weak-acid regeneration system's efficiency, operation, and electrical consumption. The system will be benchmarked against state-of-the-art carbon dioxide removal technologies. Additionally, the project will deliver a DeCarbonHIX pilot-scale system final design.

DOE Funding: $199,883
Non-DOE Funding: $50,116
Total Value: $249,999
 

Atmospheric CO₂ Removal via Direct Ocean Capture on an Offshore Platform — Captura Corporation (Pasadena, California) intends to develop Atmospheric CO₂ Removal via the Direct Ocean Capture on an Offshore Platform project. The project seeks to perform conceptual design and feasibility studies of an atmospheric CO₂ removal system that utilizes an innovative new direct ocean capture technology with a capacity of 1,000 tons of CO₂ per year and is located on an offshore gas or oil platform, to be provided by Equinor. Captura will seek to lay the groundwork for the commercialization of its innovative technology and the corresponding creation of high-quality engineering, construction, and operations jobs in coastal communities around the country.

DOE Funding: $199,919
Non-DOE Funding: $50,000
Total Value: $249,919
 

Optimizing the integration of aquaculture and ocean alkalinity enhancement for low-cost carbon removal and maximum ecosystem benefit — Ebb Carbon, Inc. (San Carlos, California) intends to develop an ocean alkalinity enhancement that has the potential to mitigate global CO₂-driven climate change and regional impacts of ocean acidification. Ebb Carbon generates clean, aqueous alkalinity with no trace impurities from coastal brine outfalls such as those at aquaculture farms. This alkalinity partially reverses ocean acidification, especially close to shore, and draws additional CO₂ from the air into oceanic bicarbonate where it is stored for over 10,000 years. Acidification can cause reductions of more than 30% in the yield of shellfish of significant economic value.

DOE Funding: $200,000
Non-DOE Funding: $50,000
Total Value: $250,000
 

Ocean Energy Carbon Removal — Ocean Energy USA LLC (Sacramento, California) plans to recover CO₂ from seawater that will enable the integration of renewable wave energy with a direct ocean capture process by building on the experience of Ocean Energy on the development of wave energy converters and the Navy Research Laboratory’s experience in developing systems for carbon dioxide removal by direct ocean capture from seawater. The project objective is to perform conceptual design studies to integrate the laboratory's Electrolytic Cation Exchange Module system within the Ocean Energy Buoy wave energy converter to develop a field validation of the combined ocean-based carbon dioxide removal system forming a direct ocean capture realization.

DOE Funding: $200,000
Non-DOE Funding: $50,000
Total Value: $250,000
 

Development of Modular Electrochemical Tubes to Remove Dissolved Inorganic Carbon from Ocean — University of Houston (Houston, Texas) plans to develop a system designed to eliminate the need for costly ion-exchange membranes and utilizes a process to control pH using low-cost and environmentally benign electrode materials. The modularity and scalability of this system allow it to be easily deployed to existing on-shore (e.g., desalination plants) and off-shore (e.g., oil rigs) infrastructure. A theoretical model of the process will be formulated to establish the key parameters to be optimized. Reinforced by the theoretical considerations, a lab-scale system, called electrochemical tubes, will be developed to remove dissolved inorganic carbon from synthetic seawater for validation.

DOE Funding: $199,999
Non-DOE Funding: $50,044
Total Value: $250,043
 

Depolarized Electrochemical Reactor for Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement and Facile Recovery of High Purity Carbon — University of Kentucky Research Foundation (Lexington, Kentucky) intends to develop a direct ocean capture process featuring a depolarized electrochemical reactor that is powered by and located near the proposed PPL Corporation’s offshore wind farm near the Rhode Island coast. The process will produce high-purity CO₂ from ocean water and facilitate alkalinity to carbon ratio-enhanced abiotic carbon capture at a target of <145 kJ/mol.

DOE Funding: $199,998
Non-DOE Funding: $50,000
Total Value: $249,998
 

Hydrolytic Softening for Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal — University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) (Grand Forks, North Dakota) plans to develop the conceptual design of a field validation unit based on hydrolytic softening capable of removing up to 10 tons of CO₂ per year from the ocean. This technology could be a near-term, scalable and cost-effective method to draw down legacy CO₂ emissions that have been absorbed in the oceans. Offshore operations would create highly skilled jobs directly at the direct ocean capture facilities in addition to supporting a wider network of coastal service providers and their communities.

DOE Funding: $188,748
Non-DOE Funding: $47,187
Total Value: $235,935
 

TRACER: Electrochemical Removal of Carbon Dioxide from Oceanwater: Field Validation — University of Texas at Arlington (Arlington, Texas) plans to develop a transformative electrolytic carbon dioxide removal approach that exploits the ocean-air equilibrium of CO₂ and the enormous abundance of alkaline cations in seawater. These attributes are leveraged during a continuous process to permanently lock CO₂ within stable carbonates and hydroxides, and/or as aqueous bicarbonates/carbonates. The university's proposed strategy will have the potential for implementation at a global scale and will be capable of much higher rates of carbon mineralization and CO₂ removal than existing negative emissions technologies. The approach can be performed cost-effectively and is not dependent on the creation of supportive policy and de-risking because it ensures permanence of CO₂ storage.

DOE Funding: $200,000
Non-DOE Funding: $50,000
Total Value: $250,000
 

CO₂ to Methanol with Solid Polymer Electrolytes and Composite Electrodes in Stackable Zero-Gap Electrochemical Cells (CO2eMeOH) — AirCapture LLC (Berkley, California) intends to produce carbon-neutral methanol from CO₂ captured from air via an integrated system of direct air capture and electrochemical methanol production under $800/tonne. AirCapture will partner with Corning and Hyundai Innovation North America to develop a novel, scalable, energy-efficient, and low-cost approach of producing carbon-free methanol. The research is intended to demonstrate a significant reduction in overall direct air capture and methanol costs while reducing system complexity and increasing overall sustainability of direct air capture-produced CO₂ and value-added products.

DOE Funding: $396,996
Non-DOE Funding: $131,386
Total Value: $528,382
 

Compact, Modular, and High-Yield Membrane Reactor for Carbon-Neutral Methanol Synthesis from Direct Air Capture and Carbon-Free H₂ Production — E2H2NANO, LLC (Buffalo, New York) plans to develop a technology that builds on three DOE-supported technologies: 1) direct air capture using trapped small amines in hierarchical nanoporous capsules, 2) carbon-free hydrogen (H₂) production using proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, and 3) cost-effective membrane reactor for methanol synthesis from CO₂ and H₂. The project team intends to develop a carbon-neutral methanol production system integrating three innovative process components.  

DOE Funding: $400,000
Non-DOE Funding: $100,000
Total Value: $500,000
 

Production of Low-Carbon Methanol through the use of Direct-Air Capture of CO₂ and Solid-Oxide Co-Electrolysis of CO₂ and H₂O to Syn-Gas (Air2MeOH) — GE Research (Niskayuna, New York) intends to develop a novel sorbent, contactor design and the technology to coat that contactor with the sorbent. The structured sorbent combination shows high affinity for CO₂ and rapid kinetics of uptake from the air. Additionally, GE Research has leveraged its decades of experience in solid-oxide fuel cells to demonstrate that these solid-oxide stacks can be run in the reverse direction, accepting CO₂ and water as inputs and generating syngas as a product. The success of this program will demonstrate and quantify how a versatile chemical like MeOH can be produced from low-carbon starting materials at a cost that can be competitive with fossil fuel processes.

DOE Funding: $374,664
Non-DOE Funding: $124,888
Total Value: $499,552
 

Mobile Air to Methanol (Air2Fuel) — Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona) plans to conceptually design an integrated direct air capture-to-carbon-neutral-methanol (MeOH) system called Air2Fuel, building on best-in-class lab- and pilot-scale direct air capture units at Arizona State University, carbon-free hydrogen units at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and CO₂ to MeOH units at AirCo. The project has the potential to significantly reduce capital and operating costs through heat integration, novel pressure/steam recovery, hydrogen drying not being needed, and novel CO₂/hydrogen compression and provide insights into integrating Air2Fuel with renewable energy on MeOH cost and sustainability.

DOE Funding: $399,999
Non-DOE Funding: $100,011
Total Value: $500,010
 

An Integrated Technology Demonstration of Continuous Passive Direct Air Capture and Green Methanol Production — Research Technology Institute (RTI) (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina), in partnership with Creare LLC, Casale, and the Electric Power Research Institute, intends to perform conceptual design and feasibility studies followed by building and operating a cost-effective and an integrated laboratory-scale process for carbon-neutral methanol (MeOH) synthesis from CO₂ removed from the air by direct air capture and concomitant production of hydrogen from water electrolysis. The team will provide deeper insight into the process integration advantages of direct CO₂ to MeOH synthesis over the conventional process for producing MeOH, both economic and environmental.

DOE Funding: $400,000
Non-DOE Funding: $100,000
Total Value: $500,000
 

Green Methanol Production from Atmospheric CO₂ — Susteon Inc (Cary, North Carolina) plans to develop an integrated process to utilize CO₂ and water extracted directly from air using carbon-free electricity to efficiently produce sustainable, carbon-negative methanol at a production cost of less than $800/metric ton. The proposed system will consist of (1) Sustaera’s direct air capture technology for CO₂ and water production from air, (2) a polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer for hydrogen production using water produced from direct air capture, and a commercial high-pressure CO₂-to-methanol process. The project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of this system to achieve the target cost of under $800/metric ton using a 10 kg methanol/day bench-scale integrated operation.

DOE Funding: $400,000
Non-DOE Funding: $100,000
Total Value: $500,000
 

Efficient Integrated Methanol Synthesis Using Carbon from Direct Air Capture— TDA Research, Inc (Wheat Ridge, Colorado), in collaboration with Bluescape Energy Solutions; Schlumberger New Energy; and the University of Colorado, Denver; plans to complete a conceptual design study for an integrated direct air capture and carbon dioxide utilization system that captures and utilizes CO₂ in an integrated MeOH synthesis unit. The CO₂ captured from air is reacted with the carbon-free hydrogen generated using renewable electricity and converted into “green” MeOH with negative CO₂ emissions. The energy needed for direct air capture of CO₂ is provided by utilizing waste/low-grade heat from the methanol synthesis process. The methanol is produced by Bluescape’s STG+® Process with very high per pass completion (over 99.5%), forming very low amounts of methane byproduct due to its low-temperature operation.

DOE Funding: $400,000
Non-DOE Funding: $100,000
Total Value: $500,000
 

Integrated Carbon-Neutral Methanol Production from Direct Air Capture and Carbon-Free Hydrogen — University of Delaware (Newark, Delaware) team intends to develop an integrated process that includes an electrochemically driven CO₂ separator to direct air capture, an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer to generate green hydrogen, an anion exchange membrane CO₂ electrolyzer to convert CO₂ to carbon monoxide (CO), and a thermochemical methanol synthesis unit driven by CO₂, CO, and hydrogen. The project objective is to perform a laboratory-scale validation of an integrated process to produce carbon-neutral methanol using carbon-free hydrogen and CO₂ provided by direct air capture with a cost below $800 per ton of methanol.

DOE Funding: $400,000
Non-DOE Funding: $100,000
Total Value: $500,000
 

Green Methanol Via an Integrated Direct Air Capture, CO₂ Electrolyzer, and Hydrogenation Reactor — University of Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee) intends to develop a novel electrochemical reactor with the potential to disrupt this industry. Initial observations have shown electrocatalysts that operate at high rates, and throughout the course of this project, they will deliver a system with the possibility for operation at high efficiencies with high yields for commodity chemicals used in multi-billion-dollar global markets.

DOE Funding: $399,999
Non-DOE Funding: $100,002
Total Value: $500,001
 

Methanol from Integrated Direct Air Capture and Ceramic Electrolysis — Washington State University (Pullman, Washington) intends to advance a novel system concept for integrating pre-commercial technologies to produce methanol at or below the $800/ton program target. The concept addresses the program objective to consolidate operations by combining crude CO₂ cleanup, hydrogen production, and partial CO₂ reduction steps within a carbon tolerant high-temperature electrolyzer. The design lowers costs by simplifying the methanol recovery cycle, reducing carbon losses from venting, reducing sensitivity to catalyst selectivity, and potentially avoiding syngas compression.

DOE Funding: $400,000
Non-DOE Funding: $101,866
Total Value: $501,866
 

Modular Integrated System for Carbon-Neutral Methanol Synthesis Using Direct Air Capture and Carbon-Free Hydrogen Production – Phase I — West Virginia University Research Corporation (Morgantown, West Virginia), with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and their 10 industrial partners, intends to conduct a conceptual design and feasibility study of a proposed integrated process for producing green methanol. The key outcome will be a highly integrated and optimized process with state-of-the-art technologies for direct air capture, electrolysis and methanol synthesis leading to cost-efficient production of >99.7% pure green methanol with maximum utilization of net CO₂ and minimum environmental footprint.

DOE Funding: $400,000
Non-DOE Funding: $113,675
Total Value: $513,675