Elsevier

Journal of Cleaner Production

Volume 103, 15 September 2015, Pages 784-792
Journal of Cleaner Production

Sustainable technologies for the reclamation of greenhouse gas CO2

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.10.025Get rights and content

Abstract

The reclamation of greenhouse gas CO2 which brings the new opportunity in the area of C1 chemistry will become a new hot topic in the research frontier of green catalysis. The topics on the reclamation of CO2 discussed in the review are as follows: (i) hydrogenation to methanol, dimethyl ether, methane, alkene, formic acid, etc. (ii) reaction with hydrocarbons, including CO2 reforming of methane to syngas; hydrocarbons oxidation to alkene, aldehyde, and carboxylic acid; C1–C3 hydrocarbons and aromatics carboxylation. (iii) reaction with oxy-organics, such as methanol, propylene glycol and epoxide, to obtain valuable chemicals and materials. (iv) Reaction of CO2 with others. In this review, the performance of the catalysts involved was evaluated, and the underlying reaction mechanisms of CO2 activation by catalysis were analyzed. In addition, opportunities and prospects in the other utilization of carbon dioxide were introduced, such as conversion of carbon dioxide to biodiesel and biogas by biological microalgae technologies, progress of CO2 utilization as new hydrogen storage materials. Carbon dioxide has good chemical stability, and the activation of CO2 is believed to be the key of the whole utilization process. It is necessary to develop suitable catalysts with high activity and selectivity in the further work. The exploitation of homogeneous catalyst may greatly enhance the conversion and selectivity of the reaction. Multi-functional catalysts with desirable adsorption–catalysis activity also need to be developed in order to directly use carbon dioxide emitted from different practical sources. Moreover, the investigation of metal ligand coordination catalysis, photocatalysis and biological biomimetic catalysis is beneficial to both the utilization of new energy and the mitigation of greenhouse gas.

Introduction

Due to the fact that burning of fossil fuels which contributes to the greenhouse effect has accounted for more than 60% today, the CO2 concentration in the earth's atmosphere has exceeded 400 ppm by May 2013 (Cai et al., 2013). The concentration of the growth rate was 0.2 ppm per year between 2000 and 2009, with the speed growing up year by year. With the accelerating process of industrialization, its emissions are increasing gradually. The present concentration of carbon dioxide is much higher than its value of 280 ppm in the pre-industrial era (China agenda management center, 2012). The human factor is the main reason for the sharp rise in CO2 concentration. 57% CO2 is released into the atmosphere, leading to the greenhouse, global warming, sea level rising; the rest released into the sea, leading to ocean acidification (Luo, 2012).

Fossil fuels are gradually being replaced, and recent studies have been focused on the conversion of plant materials (Yan et al., 2014). Meanwhile, CO2 capture and utilization have attracted serious concern of the whole society. In the Copenhagen Conference 2009, the greenhouse gas CO2 reducing emission was placed to the unprecedented important agenda. Under double pressures of ensuring energy security and fighting against global climate change, carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) was promoted vigorously all over the world, aiming at cutting carbon dioxide emissions to alleviate the greenhouse effect in the short term.

If the emission of CO2 can be used effectively, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will be reduced and the greenhouse will be mitigated. The environmental protection is undoubtedly beneficial. There are increasing attempts to consider carbon dioxide a resource and a business opportunity rather than a waste with the cost of disposal. Within the whole society at large, as an abundant and cheap carbon source, has been utilizing and utilized to produce a variety of chemical products, such as inorganic, organic and polymer chemicals, etc. The reclamation of greenhouse gas CO2, to the society as a whole, are of great economic and environmental benefits.

There are different measures to convert CO2 to useful chemicals and fuels. Hydrogenation of CO2 to synthesis oxygenates or hydrocarbons are the most widely investigated area in CO2 conversion. Concerning all the catalysts studied to date, they can be generally divided into two classes, one is copper-based catalysts, the other is supported catalysts using precious metals as the main active component. However, due to hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to hydrocarbons needs much more H2, this route is valuable in principle only when H2 is produced mainly from renewable or non-fossil resources as well as thermodynamic aspects are acceptable. Reforming of CH4 with CO2 is also a known technology which is applied in nearly industrial scale, but the positive impact on CO2 emissions that whether CO2 emissions due to energy consumption is higher than the amount of CO2 consumed in the reaction is questionable. Similarly, a number of organic synthesis using CO2 are investigated, only a few are applied in industry (Centi and Perathoner, 2009).

In the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide utilization, how to activate carbon dioxide effectively is the key to the whole process, as the nature of the carbon dioxide is inert. At present, experimental and theoretical studies on activating carbon dioxide using metal, metal complex, metal oxide and ionic liquid on the surface and interface have been increasingly enormous, which provides unprecedented opportunities for the development of the chemical conversion and C1 chemistry.

The main and typical CO2 catalytic conversions were reviewed in this paper, including hydrogenation, reaction with hydrocarbons and oxygen-containing organics. The research progress in catalysts and reaction mechanisms were emphasized. Based on the present status, as a future look, we put forward the field need to be carried out.

Section snippets

Synthesis of methanol

Methanol finds application both as an important starting material for several important chemicals, and as a fuel additive or clean fuel. Total global methanol demand reached 40.2 million t. in 2010 and is projected to grow to 50.4 million t. by 2015. In addition, the cleaner production of methanol is investigated more and more (Amjad et al., 2013). Everton et al. also designed and simulated of a methanol production plant from CO2 hydrogenation (Everton and Chakib, 2013). As an alternative

CO2 reforming of methane

Since CO2 reforming of methane (CRM, Eq. (8)) not only consumes and mitigates two greenhouse gases but also produces syngas (a mixture of CO and H2) with H2/CO molar ration closer to unity which is more suitable for production of valuable synthetic liquid fuels and oxygenated chemicals via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis processes, this processhas been paid special attentions. Supported noble metals (Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru) and non-noble transition-metals (Ni, Co, Fe) are two groups catalysts for the CRM.

Synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from CO2 and methanol

Synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) directly from CO2 and methanol was favorable for both reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and development of new carbon resource. In order to solve the difficulty in the activation of CO2, deactivation of the catalysts and the thermodynamic limitation, the new catalysts and technology for DMC synthesis are constantly investigated. Cu, Sn(IV), Ti(IV) supported catalysts and MCO3(M means alkaline metal) have been reported to be used in the synthesis of DMC

Reaction of CO2 with other chemicals

As a new carbon source in many chemical reactions, all kinds of reaction on CO2 are researched activity, and other paths of CO2 conversion are being investigated. Genovese et al. used nanocarbon-based electrodes for the electrocatalytic conversion of gaseous streams of CO2 to liquid fuels (Genovese et al., 2013a), developing a novel gas-phase electrocatalytic cell, different from the typical electrochemical systems working in liquid phase. She also produced solar fuels by electrocatalytic

Discussions and conclusion

This review has shortly analyzed the state of the art on the different options for the conversion of CO2 to chemicals, with a focus on the catalytic aspects.

Hydrogenation of CO2 to hydrocarbons is the most investigated area. Methanol synthesis from CO2 lies in a nearly commercial stage. Cu is the main active catalyst component for the methanol synthesis. A further step to directly produce DME, which is a preferable energy carrier, would be realized with multifunctional catalysts. Hydrogenation

Perspective

As the widespread use and large consumption of traditional fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, mankind not only faces increasing globalization environmental pollution and greenhouse effect, but also needs to explore new resources. CO2 resource utilization is becoming a hot spot in the field of green chemistry and catalysis chemistry. The green catalytic conversion of CO2 into high value-added chemical products will undoubtedly be an important way with a big potential market and a good

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the financial support from PetroChina Innovation Foundation (2013D-5006-0507) and Jinan R&D Innovation Project (201102041).

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