Simulation of CO2 conversion process by mineral carbonation using aqueous NaOH

Abstract

The mineral carbonation technology is considered as a prospective CO2 capture technology, which converts CO2 to stable materials. However, the technology has some obstacles to be overcome such as slow carbonation rate and great potential environmental pollution to surrounding areas. Carbon capture and storage by mineralization (CCSM) process producing aqueous alkaline and using it for capturing CO2 is suggested in this work. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which can be steadily supplied from chlor-alkali process, could be an innovative solution because of its ability to absorb CO2 quickly. In this work, the CCSM process, which uses NaOH as an alkaline feed stock, was implemented in AspenPlusTM in order to identify the technical feasibility and CO2 conversion capacity of the process. The sensitivity analysis was performed to find the major operating parameters.