Research Project Profile

Development of State-of-the-Art NMR Spectroscopy and Imaging for Utilization and Sequestration of CO2

PI: Prof. Mark Conradi, Washington University in St. Louis
Co-PIs: Assoc. Prof. Sophia Hayes, Washington University in St. Louis; Asst. Prof. Phil Skemer, Washington University in St. Louis

Project summary

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is currently being pursued as a means of reducing net carbon dioxide (CO₂) output from power plant sources by capturing the CO₂ then utilizing it or sequestering it. Geological sequestration and chemical utilization of CO₂ as a feedstock chemical are actively being explored as possible mechanisms for reducing net anthropogenic CO₂ release.

CCS has a number of technical and scientific challenges involving CO₂, which our research aims to address. These questions span a broad range of topics, including:

1. Geological sequestration

• How is CO₂ stored, and what happens to it after injection?
• What geological conditions are favorable for geochemical trapping (i.e., mineralization) versus physical trapping (i.e., containment in underground reservoirs)?
• How is the permeability of geologic reservoirs affected by carbon sequestration?
• Under what conditions will a physical trapping site release CO₂ and at what rate?

2. Utilization

• Are there specific reaction conditions that favor conversion of CO₂ into a chemical endproduct?
• What are the mechanisms and kinetics governing such reactions?
• Can conditions be optimized to favor product yields?
• Can the endproducts be adequately characterized to enhance the reaction condition?

We are currently developing a new and unique set of in situ spectroscopic tools which will be able to study these different mitigation systems using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements.