Chemical Engineering September 2020 - 8

architecture to improve access for
heavy resid molecules and improves
the metals tolerance of the catalyst.
Linking the AIM technology together
with
IZY
technology
creates
this
unique catalyst, says the company.
methaNol SyNtheSiS
Although the copper/zinc-oxide/aluminum
oxide catalyst used for methanol
synthesis has been deployed for
decades, it has not been possible to
analyze the structure of the surface of
these catalysts under reaction conditions.
Now, researchers from RuhrUniversität
Bochum (RUB; www.
techem.rub.de) and the Max Planck Institute
for Chemical Energy Conversion
(MPI CEC; Mülheim, both Germany;
www.cec.mpg.de) have learned about
the structure of the catalyst's active
sites, which they reported last month in
Nature Communications.
The team showed that the zinc component
of the active site is positively
charged and that the catalyst has as
many as two copper-based active
sites. " The state of the zinc component
at the active site has been the
subject of controversial discussion
since the catalyst was introduced in
the 1960s, " says professor Martin
Muhler, head of the Dept. of Industrial
Chemistry at RUB and Max Planck
Fellow at MPI CEC. " Based on our
findings, we can now derive numerous
ideas on how to optimize the catalyst
in the future, " he says.
The study was performed as part
of the Carbon-2-Chem project,
which aims to reduce CO2 emissions
by utilizing metallurgical gases
produced during steel production
for the manufacture of chemicals.
In combination with electrolytically
produced H2, metallurgical gases
(Continues on p. 9)
New Japanese project targets CO2 and
brine utilization
A
new project has
been selected
by the New Energy
and Industrial
Technology Development
Org. (NEDO; Tokyo, Japan;
www.nedo.go.jp) that aims
to recover useful salts from
desalination brine or seawater,
as well as mineralizing
CO2 into a useful product.
The project is led by professor
Takao Nakagaki, at
the Faculty of Science and
Engineering, Waseda University
(www.waseda.jp),
with industrial partners JGC
Corp.
Concentration and Gypsum Recovery
Evaporative Concentrator
Water
Desalination plant
or seawater
Waste brine
Liquid
Gas
Solid
Hydrochloric
acid (internally
produced)
Salt and Potash Recovery
HCI
injection
Cooler
Salt (NaCl)
Potash (KCl)
CO2 point sources
or ambient air
(Yokohama; www.
jgc.com) and Sasakura Engineering
Co., Ltd. (Osaka;
www.sasakura.co.jp).
Among the goals of the project are to
develop a technology to react CO2 with
the magnesium recovered from seawater
to produce MgCO3, a resource
that can be used as a building material,
such as the aggregate in concrete. If
this technology is established and commercialized,
it is expected to lead to a
significant reduction in CO2 emissions
while effectively utilizing waste.
Because seawater and desalination
brine are abundant, this technology is expected
to provide a significant amount of
CO2 reductions. The other major ions in
seawater and brine (calcium, sodium, potassium
and sulfur) are also converted into
industrial products (gypsum, salt, fertilizer,
sodium sulfate and hydrochloric acid)
without adding any additional chemicals.
Additional fresh water is also produced.
S
8
ilicon is seen as a promising alternative to graphite
in lithium-ion battery (LIB) anodes, due to its
abundance and higher energy-storage capability -
silicon is said to store ten times more energy than
graphite in LIB applications. However, manufacturing processes
for silicon-based battery materials have been hampered
by complexity, toxicity and high costs, making them
infeasible for large-scale production. Advano (New Orleans,
La.; www.advano.io) is addressing these scale issues with
their new processing technology. " Advano eliminates the
toxic process of producing silicon, as well as harmful mining
or quarrying of silica sand, by upcycling scrap silicon
waste from semiconductor and solar-panel manufacturing, "
explains Alexander Girau, Advano founder and CEO. " By leveraging
manufacturing technologies and infrastructure that
already exist, Advano can provide batteries that output more
power and are cost-efficient, " adds Girau.
CO2 lean gas
CO2 mineralization
conveyor
CO2 rich gas
Magnesium carbonate
(MgCO33H2O)
Gas-solid CO2
mineralization
MgO
Hydrochloric
acid (HCI)
HCI
recovery
Magnesium
chloride
slurry
Gypsum
(CaSO4
·2H2O)
Drying
chamber
MgCl2
Salt
(NaCl)
MgO Production and
HCI Recovery
·2H2O
Glauber's Salt
(Na2SO4
Decomposition
chamber
HCl
Crystallizer Crystallizer
Salt and Glauber's Salt Recovery
Cool crystallizer
JGC
·10H2O
Air water
This production of multiple commodities
increases profitability of the process.
Among the tasks for developing the
overall process (flowsheet), Waseda University
is responsible for: the development
of a process to produce MgO from waste
brine and MgO from MgCl2; the development
of a process for gas-solid mineralization
of CO2 using MgO; and the evaluation
of MgCO3 usage in concrete. JGC will
evaluate the usefulness of MgCO3, as well
as study the feasibility for process scale-up
and implementation. Sasakura Engineering
will develop a low-energy nanofiltration
(NF) method for producing MgCl2. NF
membranes selectively allow monovalent
ions, such as Na+ and Cl−, to pass through
while preventing the transmission of divalent
ions and pigments. This makes it possible
to extract magnesium efficiently.
Upcycled silicon improves LIB energy storage
Advano has applied a proprietary surface-functionalization
platform to its silicon material, A-SiFx, which enables precise
manipulation of material surface and supports compatibility
with polymer and solid-electrolyte components, making it
easier to incorporate into an anode. " Advano has engineered
a silicon solution to prevent swelling and create a permeable
solid-electrolyte interphase layer, overall enhancing the
battery charging cycle, " says Girau. Advano's A-SiFx is currently
used as an additive to improve the energy storage of
LIBs, and eventually will be used to fully replace graphite,
resulting in optimized anode energy density. Earlier this year,
Advano opened its first manufacturing facility, located in
New Orleans. The new facility is slated to produce 10 ton/
yr of A-SiFx by the first quarter of 2021. The company also
recently announced its first commercial partnership, with
Mitsui Kinzoku SBI Material Innovation Fund, a joint venture
between Mitsui Kinzoku and financial services firm SBI.
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com September 2020
http://www.nedo.go.jp http://techem.rub.de http://www.waseda.jp http://www.cec.mpg.de http://www.jgc.com http://www.sasakura.co.jp http://www.advano.io http://www.Chemengonline.Com
Chemical Engineering September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering September 2020
