Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Canada's proposed Clean Air Act tabled in the parliament on October 19, 2006, proposes a long term Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction target of between 45 to 65% from the 2003 levels by 2050. However, according to the 2006 report on Climate Change, prepared by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, as of 2004, Canadian's GHG emissions are up by 26.6% above 1990 levels. For Canada to be able to achieve its GHG reductions goals, development of new technologies and adoption of existing energy efficient technology in energy production, transportation and use, is a must. I propose to undertake two important projects, one with near term application potentials to help Canada meet its Kyoto objectives through carbon capture and sequestration, and a second one with a longer time horizon for possible application. The main objective of the first project is to develop design and scale up criteria for mass transfer enhancement by mixed solvents in Carbon Dioxide absorption. The aim is to provide design tools for industrial use within the 5 year time frame of this project. The second project to be undertaken is the development of a hybrid absorption/membrane system. The membrane to be used will be a chemically reactive membrane with superior Carbob Dioxide separation efficiency. At the end of the five year period, it is anticipated that a hybrid process involving the reactive membrane will be ready for pilot testing.