Posted on 02/09/2022 12:47:12 PM PST by Red Badger
University of Delaware researchers have broken new ground that could bring more environmentally friendly fuel cells closer to commercialization. Credit: Graphic illustration by Jeffrey C. Chase
=========================================================================
University of Delaware (UD) engineers have demonstrated a way to effectively capture 99% of carbon dioxide from air using a novel electrochemical system powered by hydrogen.
It is a significant advance for carbon dioxide capture and could bring more environmentally friendly fuel cells closer to market.
The research team, led by UD Professor Yushan Yan, reported their method in Nature Energy on Thursday, February 3.
Game-changing tech for fuel cell efficiency
Fuel cells work by converting fuel chemical energy directly into electricity. They can be used in transportation for things like hybrid or zero-emission vehicles.
Yan, Henry Belin du Pont Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UD, has been working for some time to improve hydroxide exchange membrane (HEM) fuel cells, an economical and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional acid-based fuel cells used today.
But HEM fuel cells have a shortcoming that has kept them off the road—they are extremely sensitive to carbon dioxide in the air. Essentially, the carbon dioxide makes it hard for a HEM fuel cell to breathe.
This defect quickly reduces the fuel cell's performance and efficiency by up to 20%, rendering the fuel cell no better than a gasoline engine. Yan's research group has been searching for a workaround for this carbon dioxide conundrum for over 15 years.
A few years back, the researchers realized this disadvantage might actually be a solution—for carbon dioxide removal.
"Once we dug into the mechanism, we realized the fuel cells were capturing just about every bit of carbon dioxide that came into them, and they were really good at separating it to the other side," said Brian Setzler, assistant professor for research in chemical and biomolecular engineering and paper co-author.
While this isn't good for the fuel cell, the team knew if they could leverage this built-in "self-purging" process in a separate device upstream from the fuel cell stack, they could turn it into a carbon dioxide separator.
"It turns out our approach is very effective. We can capture 99% of the carbon dioxide out of the air in one pass if we have the right design and right configuration," said Yan.
So, how did they do it?
They found a way to embed the power source for the electrochemical technology inside the separation membrane. The approach involved internally short-circuiting the device.
"It's risky, but we managed to control this short-circuited fuel cell by hydrogen. And by using this internal electrically shorted membrane, we were able to get rid of the bulky components, such as bipolar plates, current collectors or any electrical wires typically found in a fuel cell stack," said Lin Shi, a doctoral candidate in the Yan group and the paper's lead author.
Now, the research team had an electrochemical device that looked like a normal filtration membrane made for separating out gases, but with the capability to continuously pick up minute amounts of carbon dioxide from the air like a more complicated electrochemical system.
In effect, embedding the device's wires inside the membrane created a short-cut that made it easier for the carbon dioxide particles to travel from one side to the other. It also enabled the team to construct a compact, spiral module with a large surface area in a small volume. In other words, they now have a smaller package capable of filtering greater quantities of air at a time, making it both effective and cost-effective for fuel cell applications. Meanwhile, fewer components mean less cost, and more importantly, provide a way to easily scale up for the market.
The research team's results showed that an electrochemical cell measuring 2 inches by 2 inches could continuously remove about 99% of the carbon dioxide found in air flowing at a rate of approximately two liters per minute. An early prototype spiral device about the size of a 12-ounce soda can is capable of filtering 10 liters of air per minute and scrubbing out 98% of the carbon dioxide, the researchers said.
Scaled for an automotive application, the device would be roughly the size of a gallon of milk, Setzler said, but the device could be used to remove carbon dioxide elsewhere, too. For example, the UD-patented technology could enable lighter, more efficient carbon dioxide removal devices in spacecraft or submarines, where ongoing filtration is critical.
"We have some ideas for a long-term roadmap that can really help us get there," said Setzler.
According to Shi, since the electrochemical system is powered by hydrogen, as the hydrogen economy develops, this electrochemical device could also be used in airplanes and buildings where air recirculation is desired as an energy-saving measure. Later this month, following his dissertation defense, Shi will join Versogen, a UD spinoff company founded by Yan, to continue advancing research toward sustainable green hydrogen.
Co-authors on the paper from the Yan lab include Yun Zhao, co-first author and research associate, who performed experimental work essential for testing the device; Stephanie Matz, a doctoral student who contributed to the designing and fabrication of the spiral module, and Shimshon Gottesfeld, an adjunct professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UD. Gottesfeld was principal investigator on the 2019 project, funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), that led to the findings.
Explore further
Stackable artificial leaf uses less power than lightbulb to capture 100 times more carbon than other systems More information: Lin Shi et al, A shorted membrane electrochemical cell powered by hydrogen to remove CO2 from the air feed of hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells, Nature Energy (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-021-00969-5 Journal information: Nature Energy Provided by University of Delaware
So the dumbazz commies want to kill all the trees and other plants?
Capture it, convert it all to graphemes and build Arthur Clarke’s sky elevator. See? Easy!!!
Just like they deny real science with all the covid 19 and with globull warming, demoNcrats have their own made up “science” and their own made up faux morality and their own made up history....
Delusional.
Yep.
CO2 is what plants need for photosynthesis or food production.
Professor Yushan Yan
Going to really piss off vegetarians!
It's being done now. They have these ginormous plants (facilities) in the midwest that suck CO2 out of the air for "sequestration."
“How do these clowns know what optimal carbon dioxide concentrations is?”
Nor can these global warming freaks answer this simple question:
1. What’s the optimum temperature, humidity and cloud cover for Houston, Texas at 7pm on April 22? And why?
Plant haters!
And trees will die and grass won’t grow...Yup...that’s the solution...
Are you serious? What the hell is wrong with this lunatics??
It would be very useful on submarines.🤔
Pretty grim movie, no plants or animals, but hey! At least no more global warming!! lol lol
Green plants were not available for comment.
Why even invest in that technology? We have more than enough nuclear bombs between the USA, Russia and China to do the same thing. Or better yet, China and Mexico are producing enough fantynel every year to poison the entire planet’s air and water supply.
Our planet is apparently being terraformed, but not for us.
https://www.1pointfive.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu-Os8_Lz9QIV6z6tBh2OlwDpEAAYASAAEgIlvvD_BwE
https://heartlandgreenway.com/
Geoengineering can be used for evil, like anything else.
Exactly, but it doesn't change its state. It's a CO2 molecule that is simply blocked from the fuel cell, but then has to get released back into the atmosphere. It's still a gas molecule, not a "Particle" that can be swept up and thrown into a landfill. It takes more energy to break a carbon atom from a CO2 molecule than you get from burning the carbon. Biden will have to repeal the Second Law of Thermodynamics before that can happen, and he can't even find his own butt.
“Remove 99% of CO2 from the air? WTF is qrong with these people?”
Even if it could remove 99% of the CO2 from air, you only have to remove whatever the “excess” is that they claim is causing global warming. Probably only 100 ppm.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.