Carbon Capture from Gaseous Landfill Emissions Part 2: System Design Guidelines for Carbon Repurposing

PI: Prof. J. N. Kuhn (jnkuhn@usf.edu; 813 974 6498) 

University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave ENG030, Tampa FL 33620

Student Researchers: Olusola Johnson  (PhD) and Fernanda Pimenta (PhD)

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 Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technologies either developed or in the process thereof. A challenge for all of these processes is that carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced, by mass, in higher quantities than methane (CH4), the primary energy carrier, and CO2 amounts tend to increase from aging landfills. Thus, this low energy content either hinders the performance of the WTE process (e,g, electricity generation) or necessitates purification for value-added products. The high costs of purification are especially prohibitive for production of renewable natural gas (RNG) for pipeline quality natural gas, due to the stringent requirements. In this work, we propose to apply the efficient adsorbents for CO2 removal from biogas that were developed in Part I of this project. In our earlier Part I of the project funded by the Hinkley Center, amine-immobilized adsorbents prepared and demonstrated to purify biogas (both surrogate and real LFG) to pipeline/vehicle grades. In the present effort, we propose to employ the materials to integrate CO2 removal into application areas such as bio-methane (i.e., RNG) production via extended stability tests and economic projections and 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):

The first TAG meeting was Feb 2, 2024. Here is a link to the recording: LINK 

 

The second TAG meeting was reschedued to Oct. 22, following a delay due to Hurricane Milton. LINK        

 

Dr. Tim Townsend	Director	Hinkley Center / UF
John Banks	Senior Business Development Manager	ESG
Travis Barnes	Solid Waste Sustainable Materials Management Manager	Hillsborough County
Ron Beladi	VP	Neel-Schaffer, Inc.
Yolanda Daza	Senior Engineer	Dow
Nada Elsayed	Consultant
Tony Elwell	Staff Engineer I	HSW Engineering INC
Dr. Gita Iranipour	Engineer Associate	Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department
Wei Liu	PE	CDM Smith
Sam Levin	President	S2LI
Linda Monroy	Project Manager Associate	Lee County Solid Waste Division
Luke Mulford	Water Quality Manager	Hillsborough County Public Utilities Department
Rebecca Rodriguez	Engineer Manager II	Lee County Solid Waste Division
Corina Sheridan	Project Development Director	Waga Energy Inc
Devin Walker	CEO	T2CE
Matt Yung	Engineering Manager	NREL

 

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

 

Progress Reports:

First Quarter - LINK

Second Quarter - LINK

 Third Quarter - LINK

The final report - LINK

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