Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Kraft lignin is a common byproduct of the forestry industry produced in the paper pulping process. Despite the variety of applications, only 1-2 % of the annually produced 50-70 million tons of lignin is used to produce value-added products. Thus, the market potential for lignin and its derivatives is grossly underutilized. With a commodity cost of approximately $250/metric ton, sodium lignosulfonate is an attractive raw material for the carbon dioxide sequestration process, which requires the cheap and durable absorbent to make the sequestration process commercially viable. TDA will develop a new class of biodegradable CO2 sorbents based on Kraft lignin waste that has increased CO2 absorption capacity. The new lignin-based sorbent material can be used to provide cost-effective capture of CO2 from both industrial flue gases and direct air capture (DAC). The new class of sorbents proposed here could also find use in a wide range of gas purification and storage applications and will create another value-added product for the underutilized lignin raw material. Manufacturing a new CO2 absorbent material from the wood-based raw material will address USDA's Strategic Goal 1 for FY 2022-2026: Global Climate Change to Support America's Working Lands, Natural Resources and Communities and specifically addresses Objective 1.4. It also addresses three of the core USDA SBIR/STTR program research priorities: a) Increasing the Utility of Forest Grown Materials (8.1.b); b) Climate Change (8.1.e); and c) Sustainable Bioenergy and Development of Value-Added products from Forest Resources (8.1.g).
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
50%
Developmental
30%
Goals / Objectives
The overall objective of the proposed research is to demonstrate the feasibility of novel crosslinked lignin-based sorbent produced from lignin to capture CO2 from the industrial flue gases of coal or natural gas fired power powerplants or cement plants. In Phase I we will prepare and optimize the sorbent structure, degree of crosslinking, porosity/surface area, and affinity to the carbon dioxide gas. TDA will screen the optimized sorbent material based on their CO2 adsorption capacity under representative conditions. Once the structure/properties characteristics are optimized, we will conduct a multiple-cycle (500 adsorption/regeneration cycles) test to demonstrate its stable chemical activity and durability. Based on the results, we will carry out a technoeconomic assessment. The specific objectives supporting our research plan are to:Optimize the sorbent structure and synthesis conditions to improve its performance for CO2 adsorption, energy consumption in adsorption/regeneration cycles.Identify the optimum conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure, space velocity and purge gas) for sorbent performance (both adsorption and regeneration steps).Assess the impact of flue gas contaminants on the performance of the sorbent.Characterize the sorbents to obtain a fundamental understanding of the CO2 adsorption and desorption mechanisms and the influence of the flue gas contaminants.Evaluate the long-term durability of the sorbent formulation.Carry out a technoeconomic and life cycle assessment to identify the merits of our lignin-based CO2 capture sorbent technology.The successful completion of Phase I will provide a basis for further optimization and scale-up of the sorbent formulations and the capture process.
Project Methods
To accomplish our Phase I goals, we have divided the project into five technical tasks and one reporting task. In Task 1 we will synthesize and optimize the reaction conditions for making the crosslinked SLS sorbent 3. In parallel in Task 2 we will characterize the sorbent material with a variety of analytical techniques, such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, and elemental analysis. We will also measure the CO2 adsorption equilibrium and kinetics (in Micromeritics ASAP 2020, isotherm measurement unit), and the oxidative stability (in a thermogravimetric analyzer) of the sorbents that we synthesized . In Task 3 we will perform the fixed bed adsorption breakthrough experiments in an existing apparatus that we have previously used in other carbon capture projects. Based on the results of analysis, synthesis conditions may be adjusted to maximize the surface area and tailor its affinity to CO2. In Task 4 we will demonstrate the life of the sorbent through multiple adsorption/regeneration cycles, carrying out at least 500 cycles. In Task 4 we will also study the influence of flue gas contaminants, such as NOx and SO2 on the CO2 adsorption capacity of the sorbent. Finally, in Task 5 we will conduct a technoeconomic analysis of the optimized sorbent material to assess the merits of technology and a scale-up manufacturing potential. Task 6 is reporting.