Researchers develop technology to turn factory emissions directly into fuel

CANBERRA: Researchers from Australia, France and China have found a way to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) from dirty factory emissions directly into fuel without first cleaning or purifying the gas.

The study, published in Nature Communications, overcomes one of the biggest challenges facing carbon capture technologies: the complex mix of gases found in industrial flue, a major source of global CO2 emissions, according to a statement released by Australia's Adelaide University on Monday.

The team, led by Adelaide University and the University of Montpellier in France, developed a system that uses a special organic liquid to efficiently convert CO2 from industrial emissions into carbon monoxide (CO), a key building block for producing fuels and chemicals, the statement said.

Industrial flue gases contain only small amounts of CO2 alongside large quantities of nitrogen and oxygen, impurities that reduce conversion efficiency, researchers said, adding most existing carbon capture technologies require CO2 to be separated and purified before it can be converted into useful products, making the process both costly and energy intensive.

Adelaide University Chemical Engineering Dean, Professor Jiao Yan, said the team has developed an organic solvent mixture that weakens hydrogen bonding, suppressing unwanted side reactions while promoting CO2 conversion, allowing CO2 to be used "directly from industrial exhaust streams without extensive purification."

In tests using simulated flue gas containing 15 percent CO2 and 8 percent oxygen, the system achieved nearly 100 percent conversion selectivity to CO and operated continuously for more than 100 hours while maintaining high performance.

When coupled with a high-efficiency solar cell, the system reached a solar-to-fuel efficiency of about 5.5 percent, comparable to systems using purified CO2, the researchers said, adding the approach could support cleaner production in emissions-intensive industries, including steel, alumina refining, cement, chemicals and energy production.- Xinhua