CARBON CAPTURE FROM GASEOUS LANDFILL EMISSIONS
PART 1: CO2 CAPTURE FROM LANDFILL GAS

PI: Prof. J. N. Kuhn (jnkuhn@usf.edu; 813 974 6498) &
co-PI: Prof. B. Joseph (bjoseph@usf.edu)
University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave ENG030, Tampa FL 33620

Student Researchers: Yetunde "Tosin" Sokefun (PhD), Umadevi Gopalakrishnan (MS), Olusola Johnson (MS), and Madeline Van Dyne (BS)

Sponsor: William W. Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management at the University of Florida

Research Description: Landfill gas (LFG) is increasingly used and proposed for a variety of traditional and proposed Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technologies. A challenge for all of these processes is that carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced in similar quantities as methane (CH4), the primary energy carrier. As a result, the lowered energy content either hampers the performance of the WTE process (e.g., electricity generation) or necessitates purification. The high costs of purification is especially prohibitive for production of compressed natural gas (CNG) and pipeline quality natural gas, due to the stringent purity specifications.

Scope of work: In this work, we propose to develop an efficient, low-cost adsorbent for CO2 removal from biogas. Amine-immobilized silica adsorbents are anticipated to be highly selective for CO2 removal from methane and require minimal energy input for regeneration. The amine and silica structure will be evaluated on the performance, in terms of selectivity, regeneration ability, and stability. The results of the experimental studies will feed into a techno-economic feasibility study (with and without carbon capture) in the context of using landfill gases for energy recovery purposes including CNG, power, or liquid fuels. Subsequent efforts (Part 2) beyond this currently proposed work would focus on carbon capture from gaseous emissions from WTE processes and the cost of CO2 recovery and sequestration. The proposed effort leverages previous and ongoing efforts on research and demonstration of LFG to diesel fuel through thermochemical catalytic processes, contaminant removal from LFG, and economic and environmental impact from WTE technologies, which have been funded by the Hinkley Center, Florida Energy Systems Consortium (FESC), the Department of Energy, VentureWell and T2C-Energy, LLC.

Pictures:

 

Technical Awareness Group (TAG):

Our first TAG meeting was held on 3/20/19. LINK

The second TAG meeting (picture below) was held on 10/15/19. LINK

 

Researcher Olusola Johnson presenting this work at FL SWANA (left) and NOBCChe (right)

 

TAG members

John Schert	Director	Hinkley Center
Wester W. Henderson	Research Coordinator III	Hinkley Center
Devin Walker	Process Engineer	BASF
Matt Yung	Researcher	Nat. Renewable Energy Lab
Tim Roberge	Vice President of Corporate Development	T2C-Energy
Richard K Meyers	SWRS Program Manager	Broward County Solid Waste and Recycling Services
Lee Casey	Chief of Environ. Compliance (Retired)	Miami Dade County Dept of Solid Waste
Canan “Janan” Balaban	Asst. Director	Florida Energy Systems Consortium
Ron Beladi	Vice-president	Neel-Schaffer, Inc.
Rebecca Rodriguez	Engineer Manager II	Lee County Solid Waste Division
Linda Monroy	Project Manager Associate	Lee County Solid Waste Division
Sam Levin	President	S2LI
Charles “Peb” Hendrix	Chief Operating Officer	LocatorX
Tony Elwell	Staff Engineer I	HSW Engineering, Inc
Nada Elsayed	Scientist, PD	Catalent Pharma Solutions Inc
Yolanda Daza	Process TD Engineer	Intel Corporation
James Flynt	Chief Engineer	Orange County Utilities Department
Gita Iranipour	Engineer Associate	Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department
Luke Mulford	Water Quality Manager	Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department
Ray Oates	Solid Waste Compliance Manager	Citrus County Division of Solid Waste Management

 

 

We thank the members of our TAG for their service and input.

 

Progress Reports:

First Quarter - LINK

Second Quarter - LINK

Third Quarter - LINK

FINAL REPORT - LINK

 

Project supported in funding by William W. Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management at the University of Florida