Process and a plant for recycling carbon dioxide emissions from power plants into useful carbonated species
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A process comprising:
- a) combustion of a fossil fuel, thereby generating heat and a hot exhaust gas containing CO2;
b) converting said heat into energy;
the process being characterized in that it comprises the steps of;
c) cooling said exhaust gas; and
d) reducing the amount of CO2 contained in the cooled exhaust gas by biologically transforming said CO2 into carbonated species;
thereby obtaining a low CO2 exhaust gas, wherein step d) comprises the steps of;
catalyzing the hydration of at least a portion of the CO2 contained in the exhaust gas and producing a solution containing hydrogen ions and carbonate ions; and
wherein said hydration is catalyzed by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase or an analog thereof.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A process is disclosed for recycling carbon dioxide emissions from a fossil-fuel power plant into useful carbonated species The process primarily comprises the steps of: a) burning the fossil fuel, thereby generating heat and a hot exhaust gas containing CO2; and b) converting the heat into energy. The process is characterized in that it further comprises the steps of: c) cooling the exhaust gas; and d) biologically transforming the CO2 contained in the cooled exhaust gas into carbonated species, thereby obtaining a low CO2 exhaust gas and producing useful carbonated species. The low CO2 exhaust gas obtained in step d) can be released in the atmosphere without increasing the problem of greenhouse effect.
-
Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A process comprising:
-
a) combustion of a fossil fuel, thereby generating heat and a hot exhaust gas containing CO2; b) converting said heat into energy; the process being characterized in that it comprises the steps of; c) cooling said exhaust gas; and d) reducing the amount of CO2 contained in the cooled exhaust gas by biologically transforming said CO2 into carbonated species;
thereby obtaining a low CO2 exhaust gas, wherein step d) comprises the steps of;catalyzing the hydration of at least a portion of the CO2 contained in the exhaust gas and producing a solution containing hydrogen ions and carbonate ions; and
wherein said hydration is catalyzed by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase or an analog thereof.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A power plant comprising:
-
a combustion unit for burning fossil fuel, thereby producing heat and an exhaust gas containing CO2; means for converting said heat into energy; the plant being characterized in that it comprises; means for cooling the exhaust gas; biological means for biologically transforming at least a portion of the CO2 from the cooled exhaust gas into hydrogen ions and carbonate ions; and precipitation means for precipitating carbonated species from the carbonate ions, wherein said biological means comprises a bioreactor including a reaction chamber filled with the enzyme carbonic anhydrase or an analog thereof to catalyze the hydration of dissolved CO2 into hydrogen ions and bicarbonate ions. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification