Thursday, February 7, 2013

New coal technology harnesses energy without burning, nears pilot-scale development

sciencedaily

The coal and iron oxide are heated to high temperatures, where the materials react with each other. Carbon from the coal binds with the oxygen from the iron oxide and creates carbon dioxide, which rises into a chamber where it is captured. Hot iron and coal ash are left behind...The coal ash is removed from the system.The carbon dioxide is separated and can be recycled or sequestered for storage. The iron beads are exposed to air inside the reactor, so that they become re-oxidized be used again. The beads can be re-used almost indefinitely, or recycled...Since the process captures nearly all the carbon dioxide, it exceeds the goals that DOE has set for developing clean energy. New technologies that use fossil fuels should not raise the cost of electricity more than 35 percent, while still capturing more than 90 percent of the resulting carbon dioxide.

Question:

What do you do with the carbon dioxide?  Sure, it's captured, but then what?  It still has to be processed.

Oh yeah, there is a process which makes calcium carbonate out of it.



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