SBIR Phase I: Optimizing Composition of Novel Molten Alkali Metal Borates for Carbon Dioxide Capture

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of a molten salt-based carbon capture system that can be applied to a number of different emission sources with easy integration into the existing site. The technology can be applied to hard-to-abate industries such as industrial heat, cement, steel, and hydrogen production, or in hard-to-abate geographies where coal, oil, and natural gas are likely to remain prevalent fuels for decades. The technology can also support carbon dioxide removal from biogenic sources. Net-negative emissions can be achieved in sectors such as pulp and paper, waste-to-energy, and bioenergy. The molten borate carbon capture technology can be used to decarbonize heavy industry by capturing carbon dioxide at the source. These industries dominate global carbon dioxide emissions emitting over 23 billion tons per year, a greater than $1 trillion market at $50 per ton of carbon dioxide. The advancement of this molten borate carbon capture technology could have the potential to decrease the costs of carbon dioxide capture by solving the efficiency penalty associated with high temperature separations in carbon capture. The intellectual merit of this SBIR Phase I project resides in the discovery of a molten borate composition that can reduce the cost and increase the design flexibility of future carbon capture systems. The addition of other metals and or changes to the mixing ratio are expected to lead to reductions in melting point and the ultimate working temperature of a system where these salts are employed. This research aims to probe this unexplored phase space by synthesizing and testing an array of salt compositions that have modified alkali metal and mixing ratio content compared to the reference. Reductions in molten borate melting point have the potential to mitigate freezing concerns and reduce upper material temperatures, ultimately decreasing the cost, and increasing the potential for widespread adoption of this novel carbon capture technology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.