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Na/Ca/K Pollution Scrub: A Domestic Approach to Chemical Carbon Capture

CSEF · 2019 Environmental Engineering

Dimple Amitha Garuadapuri · Roosevelt (Eleanor) High School, Eastvale, Riverside County

Overview

Objectives Every day you charge your phone and drive your car, but have you ever wondered about the amount of CO2 you release into the air by doing those actions? Atmospheric levels of CO2 have never been higher than today during the time humans have lived on Earth. Many processes and methods have been developed to capture CO2 from the air, and some industrial power plants have been made. I want to find a way to redesign those processes to be used in a domestic (home) setting. My goals were to prove that a chemical process could capture CO2 and find the best concentration/chemical/material to be used as an absorbent in a prototype. Methods The chemical process outlined by Prof. Lackner and Prof. Zeman is made of multiple steps/processes to capture CO2 from the air, which I broke down into phases. To experiment with the first Phase, I created a closed environment in which I exposed different concentrations of different chemicals to the ambient air within it. A CO2 monitor recorded the CO2 PPM and computer software allowed me to analyze changes that were caused by the solutions. The same environment was used when testing with a cheese cloth as well. I am currently testing the second step which allows us to separate the CO2 from the solutions used above to eventually sequester the CO2. Results NaOH may be used to capture CO2 and higher concentrations yield better results. The solutions also have maximum capacities, which differ based on the concentration. KOH can also be used and seems to be better than NaOH, when one compares maximum capacities. Carbonate can be found in the resulting chemicals, which is a foundation to continue to eventually sequester CO2. Using cotton cheese cloth that is saturated with KOH can be used as an effective air filter. Conclusions Though initially there was minimal data to support this study, tweaking and altering protocol led to positive results. Domestic carbon capture is possible, and separating the CO2 is the next phase of this process. With that study, and information already gathered, a prototype can be developed in the near future.

Summary statement

Repurposing a chemical process developed to capture carbon dioxide from the ambient air to function in a domestic setting had many steps and so far, this study has shown results that support the development of a domestic pollution scrub.

Help received

I was supervised by Mrs. Bowles when dealing with raw chemicals in school and my parents when performing trials at home. I was also advised by Prof. Lackner and Prof. Zeman, who shared journals and gave me some additional insight on the chemical process.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2019 Environmental Engineering · Entry S1108

Resources

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