PRODUCTION OF CARBONATE-CONTAINING COMPOSITIONS FROM MATERIAL COMPRISING METAL SILICATES

• US 20090301352A1
• Filed: 07/10/2009
• Published: 12/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arelac, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Calera Corporation
• Inventors: Omelon, Sidney, Farsad, Kasra, Ryan, Cecily, Fernandez, Miguel, Clodic, Laurence, Geramita, Katharine, Constantz, Brent R., Monteiro, Paulo, Tuet, Philip, Brown, Gordon E. JR.
• Granted Patent: US 7,749,476 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 106/668
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2251/402 of magnesium
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2251/404 of calcium
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2251/60 Inorganic bases or salts
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2251/602 Oxides
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/302 Sulfur oxides
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/404 Nitrogen oxides other than dinitrogen oxide
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/60 Heavy metals or heavy metal compounds
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/505 in a spray drying process
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/62 Carbon oxides
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 33/187 by acidic treatment of silicates
• CPC Class Codes: C01F 5/24 Magnesium carbonates
• CPC Class Codes: C01P 2004/60 Particles characterised by their size
• CPC Class Codes: C01P 2006/80 Compositional purity
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 14/26 Carbonates
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 28/006 containing mineral polymers, e.g. geopolymers of the Davidovits type
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 28/18 containing mixtures of the silica-lime type
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 28/26 Silicates of the alkali metals
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 7/02 Portland cement
• CPC Class Codes: Y02C 20/40 of CO2
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 20/129 Energy recovery, e.g. by cogeneration, H2recovery or pressure recovery turbines
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 40/10 : Production of cement, e.g. improving or optimising the production methods; Cement grinding

Abstract

Provided are methods for producing carbonate-containing compositions comprising silicon-based material (e.g., pozzolanic material) from a source of carbon dioxide, a divalent cation-containing solution, and a source of proton-removing agents. In such methods, divalent cations of the divalent cation-containing solution are provided by digestion of material comprising metal silicates. Also provided are methods for producing carbonate-containing compositions comprising little or no silicon-based material. In such methods, silicon-based material (e.g., silica, unreacted or undigested silicates, aluminosilicates, etc.) may be separated and processed separately from carbonate-containing compositions. Silicon-based material and carbonate-containing material may be blended at a later stage to produce a pozzolanic material, which may be further processed and blended with, for example, Portland cement.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

a) digesting a material comprising a metal silicate with an aqueous solution to produce divalent captions and a material comprising SiO₂;

b) reacting the divalent cations with dissolved carbon dioxide to produce a precipitation material; and

c) drying the precipitation material.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising separating the material comprising SiO₂ from the aqueous solution after digesting the material comprising a metal silicate.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising comminuting the material comprising the metal silicate prior to digesting the material comprising the metal silicate.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the material comprising the metal silicate comprises a rock or mineral.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the material comprising the metal silicate comprises a mineral selected from the group consisting of an orthosilicate;

an inosilicate;

a phyllosilicate; and

a tectosilicate.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the orthosilicate comprises an olivine group mineral.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the phyllosilicate comprises a serpentine group mineral.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein digesting the material comprising the metal silicate comprises digestion with an acid to produce an acidic solution comprising the divalent cations and the material comprising SiO₂.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the acid is selected from the group consisting of HF, HCl, HBr, HI, H₂SO₄, HNO₃, H₃PO₄, chromic acid, H₂CO₃, acetic acid, citric acid, formic acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, ascorbic acid, and meldrums acid.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the acid is HCl.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the acidic solution is contacted with a proton-removing agent after digestion.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the acidic solution is made a basic solution by contact with the proton-removing agent.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the proton-removing agent comprises a hydroxide selected from the group consisting of NaOH, KOH, Ca(OH)₂, and Mg(OH)₂.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the hydroxide is NaOH.

15. The method of claim 5, wherein digesting the material comprising the metal silicate comprises digestion with a proton-removing agent to produce a basic solution comprising the divalent cations and the material comprising SiO₂.

16. The method of claim 12 or 15, wherein the divalent cations comprise alkaline earth metal cations.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the alkaline earth metal cations comprise Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, or a combination thereof.

45. The method of claim 2, wherein separating the material comprising SiO₂ from the aqueous solution comprises separation with a first liquid-solid separation apparatus.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein separation with the first liquid-solid separation apparatus is a continuous, semi-batch, or batch process.

47. The method of claim 1 or 45, further comprising isolating the precipitation material after reacting the divalent cations with dissolved carbon dioxide.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the precipitation material is isolated from the basic solution with a second liquid-solid separation apparatus.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein isolation of the precipitation material with the second liquid-solid separation apparatus is a continuous, semi-batch, or batch process.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the precipitation material comprises a material comprising SiO₂, and further wherein the precipitation material is a pozzolanic material.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein separated material comprising SiO₂ and isolated precipitation material are combined without drying to produce a pozzolanic material.

52. The method of claim 49, wherein one of separated material comprising SiO₂ or isolated precipitation material is dried prior to combining to form a pozzolanic material.

53. The method of claim 49, wherein each of separated material comprising SiO₂ and isolated precipitation material are dried prior to combining to form a pozzolanic material.

54. The method of claim 50, 52, or 53, wherein the precipitation material, the material comprising SiO₂, or both the precipitation material and the material comprising SiO₂ are dried with a spray dryer to produce a spray-dried material.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein at least 70% of the spray-dried material falls within ±

50 microns of a given mean particle diameter, wherein the given mean particle diameter is between 5 and 500 microns.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein at least 70% of the spray-dried material falls within ±

50 microns of a given mean particle diameter, wherein the given mean particle diameter is between 50 and 250 microns.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein at least 70% of the spray-dried material falls within ±

50 microns of a given mean particle diameter, wherein the given mean particle diameter is between 100 and 200 microns.

58. The method of claim 55, further comprising fortifying the pozzolanic material with volcanic ash, fly ash, silica fume, high reactivity metakaolin, or ground granulated blast furnace slag.

59. The method of claim 51-53, further comprising blending the pozzolanic material with cement.

60. A composition produced by the method of claim 1.

18-44. -44. (canceled)

61. A composition comprising a synthetic carbonate, a silicon-based material, and a synthetic iron-based material.

62. The composition of claim 61, wherein the synthetic carbonate comprises a magnesium carbonate selected from the group consisting of artinite, magnesite, hydromagnesite, nesquehonite, and lansfordite.

63. The composition of claim 62, wherein the synthetic carbonate comprises nesquehonite.

64. The composition of claim 62, wherein the composition comprises up to 35% silicon-based material.

65. The composition of claim 64, wherein the silicon-based material comprises silica.

66. The composition of claim 65, wherein the silica comprises amorphous silica.

67. The composition of claim 65, wherein the synthetic iron-based material comprises iron chloride or iron carbonate.

68. The composition of claim 62, wherein the synthetic carbonate further comprises a calcium carbonate selected from the group consisting of calcite, aragonite, and vaterite.

69. The composition of claim 61, further comprising cement.

70. The composition of claim 69, wherein no more than 80% of the composition comprises cement.

71. The composition of claim 69, wherein no more than 55% of the composition comprises silicon-based material.

72. The composition of claim 61, wherein the composition is suitable for use in a construction material.

73. The composition of claim 61, wherein the composition comprises a construction material.

74. The composition of claim 72 or 73, wherein the construction material comprises cement, aggregate, cementitious material, or supplementary cementitious material.

75. A system comprising:

a) a processor for processing a material comprising a metal silicate;

b) a precipitation reactor for precipitating a precipitation material; and

c) a liquid-solid separator for separating the precipitation material from a precipitation reaction mixture,

wherein the precipitation reactor is operably connected to both the processor and the liquid-solid separator.

76. The system of claim 75, wherein the processor comprises a size-reduction unit for comminuting the material comprising the metal silicate.

77. The system of claim 76, wherein the size-reduction unit comprises a ball mill or a jet mill.

78. The system of claim 76, wherein the processor further comprises a digester for digesting the material comprising the metal silicate.

79. The system of claim 78, wherein the digester is configured to receive the material comprising the metal silicate, wherein the material has a reduced size.

80. The system of claim 79, wherein the digester is further configured to receive acid from a source of acid, proton-removing agent from a source of proton-removing agent, or a combination thereof.

81. The system of claim 80, wherein the precipitation reactor is configured to receive digested material comprising metal silicates.

82. The system of claim 81, wherein the precipitation reactor is further configured to receive carbon dioxide from an industrial source of carbon dioxide.

83. The system of claim 82, wherein the liquid-solid separator is configured to receive precipitation reaction mixture from the precipitation reactor.

84. The system of claim 83, wherein the liquid-solid separator is further configured to separate the precipitation material from the precipitation reaction mixture.

85. The system of claim 75, further comprising a dryer for producing dried precipitation material.

86. The system of claim 85, wherein the dryer comprises a spray dryer.

87. The system of claim 86, wherein the spray dryer is configured to receive a slurry comprising precipitation material from the liquid-solid separator.

88. The system of claim 87, wherein the spray dryer is configured to produce dried precipitation material, wherein at least 70% of the dried precipitation material falls within ±

50 microns of a given mean particle diameter, wherein the given mean particle diameter is between 5 and 500 microns.

89. The system of claim 88, wherein the spray dryer is configured to produce dried precipitation material, wherein at least 70% of the dried precipitation material falls within ±

50 microns of a given mean particle diameter, wherein the given mean particle diameter is between 50 and 250 microns.

90. The system of claim 89, wherein the spray dryer is configured to produce dried precipitation material, wherein at least 70% of the dried precipitation material falls within ±

50 microns of a given mean particle diameter, wherein the given mean particle diameter is between 100 and 200 microns.

91. The system of claim 87, wherein the spray dryer is further configured to utilize waste heat from an industrial source of carbon dioxide.

92. The system of claim 91, wherein the industrial source of carbon dioxide comprises flue gas from a coal-fired power plant.

93. The system of claim 86, wherein the spray dryer is further configured to provide a heat-depleted industrial source of carbon dioxide to the precipitation reactor.