Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Canada benefits tremendously from its fossil fuel resources, deriving revenues from crude oil royalties, taxes, and sales of petroleum leases. In addition, there is associated employment and economic activity derived from the oil patch. On the other hand, Canada's energy utilization rate per capita is one of the highest in the world because Canada is a large northern country with a dispersed population base. Also, the majority of current and increasing energy needs is supplied by burning of fossil fuels, which have high carbon intensities, and their extraction and processing are not only very energy intensive, but also have a major impact on the environment. In particular, energy production from fossil fuels has recently been shown to be the key contributor of carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas (GHG), which has a direct influence on climate change and global warming. Currently, there is a huge challenge in finding a solution that will allow Canada to benefit from its large fossil fuel resources in an environmentally sustainable manner as a clean fuel. CO2 capture and storage (CCS) is a major component of the approaches that can be used to address this challenge. However, the main obstacle to this approach is that it is currently not efficient because of large energy penalty and plant size, leading to a high cost for CO2 capture. Recently, we have developed a novel, breakthrough, game-changing catalyst-aided amine-based technology that achieves a dramatic reduction in energy requirements and temperature for solvent regeneration, and the potential for a large reduction in equipment size. This low temperature enables the use of hot water for solvent regeneration, and creates the possibility for the CO2 capture plant to be used as a cooling tower for the electrical power plant. These are to drastically reduce the cost of CO2 capture. However, there are additional challenges as some of the more energy efficient amine solvents used in the operation could generate nitrosamines, a harmful by-product of the CO2 capture process. Nitrosamine formation could also lead to amine degradation and the deactivation of the catalysts used in the operation. This research will develop the strategies and operating process configuration that can use the best catalysts and the most energy efficient amine solvents to achieve the best performance in CO2 capture without any adverse results. This research will help to train and maintain a strong CO2 capture qualified personnel in Canada. It will also help to significantly improve the new catalyst-aided amine-based CO2 capture process leading to its implementation by industry. Further, it will lead to huge savings in capital and operating costs in CO2 capture thereby making a business case for CCS and increasing economic activities. In addition, it will lead to energy security for Canada enabling them to exploit their rich fossil fuel resources in an environmentally sustainable way.