The increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and the rapidly growing amount of waste (industrial and electronic) are two major environmental challenges faced by humanity today. Carbon capture, storage, and utilization (CCUS) aims to address the CO2 challenge and has been shown to be a promising means of CO2 mitigation. For carbon capture, amine scrubbing is an example of an effective means to separate CO2 from other gases, particularly natural gas and hydrogen. Carbon storage entails the injection of CO2 into natural geologic formations, such as basalt, to form permanent, harmless carbonates. Lastly, carbon utilization involves conversion of carbon to chemicals and fuels through a variety of pathways, such as carbon mineralization. Many large-scale projects on CCUS have been conducted, with ongoing research in the aforementioned areas of CCUS. The first half of this dissertation addresses carbon storage and utilization, specifically focusing on carbon mineralization, in order to evaluate the potential for CO2 storage in basalt and CO2 utilization in the transformation of industrial waste to valuable carbonates.
https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-vdsz-8s70