Conference Dates

May 16-21, 2010

Abstract

Predictions of global energy usage and demand trends suggest that fossil fuels will remain as the main energy source for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the increased amount of anthropogenic carbon emitted during the energy production leads to environmental issues, including climate change. Thus, reducing carbon dioxide emissions in order to stabilize atmospheric CO2 levels is crucial, and this would not be achieved without significant changes in the energy conversion processes and the implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Currently, the geological storage of carbon dioxide is considered to be the most economical method of carbon sequestration, while mineral carbonation is a relatively new and less explored method of sequestering CO2. The advantage of carbon mineral sequestration is that it is the most permanent and safe method of carbon storage, since the gaseous carbon dioxide is fixed into a solid matrix of Mg-bearing minerals (e.g., serpentine) forming a thermodynamically stable solid product. The current drawback of carbon mineral sequestration is its relatively high cost. Therefore, this study focuses on tailored synthesis of high purity precipitated magnesium carbonate (PMC) to mimic commercially available CaCO3-based filler materials, while sequestering CO2. The effects of pH, reaction time and reaction temperature on the mean particle size, particle size distribution, and particle morphological structures, have been investigated for the synthesis of magnesium carbonates as carbon-neutral filler materials.

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