MIT researchers have invented a “plug-and-play” carbon dioxide scrubbing system that they say could be added relatively easily to any existing power plant, and uses less power than existing systems. Most existing systems rely on complex plumbing to divert the steam used to drive the turbines that generate power in these plants. Such systems are not practical as retrofits to existing plants, MIT says. By contrast, the MIT system requires no steam connection and can operate at lower temperatures than other scrubbing technology. The new electrochemical CO2 scrubber system is described in a paper published online in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, written by doctoral student Michael Stern, chemical engineering professor T. Alan Hatton and two others. The system is a variation on a well-studied technology that uses chemical compounds called amines, which bind with CO2 in the plant’s emission stream and then release the gas when heated in a separate chamber. But the conventional process requires that almost half of the power plant’s low-pressure steam be diverted to provide the heat needed to force the amines to release the gas. That massive diversion would require such extensive changes to existing power plants that it is not considered economically feasible as a retrofit. In the new system, an electrochemical process replaces the steam-based separation of amines and CO2. This system only requires electricity, so it can easily be added to an existing plant, researchers say. http://www.environmentalleader.com/...-play-co2-scrubber-for-existing-power-plants/
Heh heh? It will take two days for these wannabe scientific minds to collectively decipherer why. MIT is a long way from here. Beavers they are too.
We used a scrubber on our submarine that did not use steam. Would be interested in the price and waste creation differences. It might use less power, but cost three times as much as well as creating biohazards.
