Carbon storage using ash, seawater, and alkali activator as a non-cement-based building materials

Abstract

Carbon dioxide and ash are two major waste by-products from coal fire production. Presented herein is are methods, material, and devices for storing carbon using high ash-content building material. The idea is to generate materials with commercial values to offset the cost for carbon capture. Ash with alkali activator (geopolymer) concrete has been studied extensively for its superior performance (higher strength) than ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete. However, most geopolymer concrete needs energy input in the forms of pressure and heat, which in turn are usually based on electricity produced through power plants.

Claims

1. A process for creating geopolymeric concrete, the process comprising: adding salt water to a mixture of geopolymer concrete; adding coal ash; and curing the mixture with CO2.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements and in which:

(2) FIG. 1 depicts an example of some of the methods for a Material Mixing Procedure to create a material in accordance with some embodiments presented herein.

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates Sorption of An Acid-Strong ACC (Ash Carbon Concrete).

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates Sorption of ASAAC (Ash Seawater Alkali Activated Concrete).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(5) The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

(6) Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

(7) In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.

(8) In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

(9) The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.

(10) In preferred embodiments, the system presented herein comprises an alkali activator (mix of NaOH, Na2SiO3 and sea water), ash, GGBFS to make concrete building material. In our design, no additional energy input (heat or pressure) is being applied. The molar concentration of the activator is critical and suggestions range from 2 M Na2SO4 to 16 M NaOH. Different combinations of bottom ash/fly ash/GGBFS can also be used to optimize the material design. This invention suggests the use of percolators such as aluminum powder to make the material porous, so that CO2 can flow through the material and form carbonates within the material. The carbon capture/entrap/sequester mechanism is by the formation of sodium carbonates. Using seawater has the advantage of providing additional sources of sodium for the formation of sodium carbonates.

(11) Several attempts in making the right mix were conducted in the laboratory. Current accepted product consists of 6 M concentrated NaOH and 1.5 M Na2SiO3 and sea water as activator. Bottom ash, slag and metal shavings can be added to increase the strength of the mix. The proportion of percolating agent such as aluminum powder can be added to increase the porosity of the material. FIG. 1 shows the process of the manufacturing of ASAAC material.

(12) Carbon dioxide sorption test results show that by comparison, the ASAAC sorption is 10 times faster than the ACC, which can be accelerated by increasing the acidity (lowering of pH) of the material (FIGS. 2 and 3).